Christopher G. Moore: Gambling on Magic (Thailand 2005)

From the Publisher:
Gambling on Magic is set in Bangkok where life is more than good for Joey Balfour, ex-patriot gambling king, former TV personality, and the current owner of the mysterious and exotic Feng Shui Flower Shop in downtown Bangkok. Then ex-chief of security arrives in Bangkok to reopen an old unsolved Las Vegas casino theft. The thief has disappeared in Thailand and the conventional wisdom has it that Balfour holds the key to tracking him down. Caught in a web of deception and betrayal, Balfour discovers that other forces - more sinister and deadly - are slowly entangling him. The stakes are high, the odds are long, and for his greatest gamble, Balfour bets his own life on winning.

Set in the steamy, erotic underworld of Bangkok, Gambling On Magic is a thinking person's thriller and a brilliant literary portrait of contemporary life inside Southeast Asia's most famous city. The rogue's gallery of whacky, wonderful, and original characters will stick with you long after you finish this page-turner.

Christopher G. Moore: Gambling on Magic. A Novel. Heaven Lake Press, ISBN: 9749294254, 320 p., $13.95.