Charles Benoit gives us another thrilling jaunt through the far eastern countries of Thailand and Malaysia, countrysides that were all but emblazoned into our minds immediately following the tsunami that hit there a few years ago. This novel entails Mark meeting up with, and ultimately going to work for, a young American lady who is in search of her brother, who went underground when he was supposedly lost to the tsunami in Phuket. But she saw a picture of him in a newscast that was filmed very recently, and has come all the way from the States to search for him and bring him home. Mark can earn some fast money, and the gal will not find her brother, or so the plan starts... but as with all the best laid plans of mice and men, many more things become pressing and the twists start happening and lives start getting lost as the scope and trail of her brother's situation is widened, and the search is on.

Mark and Robin, the sister of Shawn Keller, get going on the hunt only to find that Shawn was married and his wife was kidnapped. She has to come with them, along with her grandfather and nephew who are also in danger, but in danger from whom? Is it Shawn who is the bad guy, or is it Robin who has handed Mark an impossible task to do, or is it the people of Phuket with their inscrutable Thai ways and mannerisms? Or is it the boss of the whole area, a man named Jarin? Or did Robin completely mislead poor Mark, the unsuspecting Desert Storm decorated vet, into believing her, taking him down a path of destruction and putting his head on the chopping block for adventure or for true sisterly love? Are double-dealings and lies sold to the highest bidder for the prize of fixing a family or to maintain a one-man dynasty of crime and corruption?

Noble Lies is indeed a really fast, Goodwill Hunting sort of book that brings in many truths that most Americans are totally unfamiliar with because of our insular nature. Our eyes believe the truth told to us without looking behind the story to a history clouded with half-truths and slavery and injustice. Charles Benoit plays all of the angles in this story of the hunt and brings many untold half-truths to the surface where they can be looked at and examined. Maybe Americans will someday open their eyes and see the Noble Lies that go on all around us, all the time.

A very well-written, exciting book, and one that I would encourage many people to read. Job well done, Mr. Benoit...