Although quite different in terms of subject matter from what I usually read, this book was, to my mind, highly original, opening up worlds to me that I never dreamt would be deeply engrossing. This is the story of a young man researching the disappearance of an anthropology doctoral student in the middle of writing her dissertation. She has gone to study and live with one of the indigenous tribes of Thailand for that dissertation, along the way encountering a family of American Christian missionaries that have lived in the mountains of Thailand for generations. Christian missionaries are not my ideal characters for pleasure reading, but here they are wrought with such respect and psychological deftness by the author that one is painlessly pulled into their world.

In another feat of authorial pyrotechnics, the Diyalo tribe, whose customs, language and very existence the author credibly invents, provides a classroom in which the world of anthropological academe is subtly critiqued. The best praise I can give this book is to say that the plot is organic, arising from the original elements of character and plot that the author has chosen. But nothing is ever showy. Aside from that fact that the book has oblique autobiographical elements from the author, nothing in it feels labored. One of the best books I read last year. Highly recommended.

Coincidentally I received this book from the early reviewers program a few months before I went to Thailand for the first time. I visited Chiang Mai and the environs where this is set and I must say this book gave me an "anthropological eye" which added a deeper level of appreciation to the tribal people that I met. ( )

While I was taken by the dichotomy of two worlds colliding--evangelical-missionaries & cultural anthropology--I was disappointed that the author did not seem to come to any conclusions. It was a a definite winner in terms of learning about Thailand and the indigenous (albeit made up) tribe that is the focal point of the book. ( )

Very disturbing story of Martiya, an anthropologist who does her fieldwork for her doctoral thesis in a small village in northern Thailand. She becomes so charmed with this way of life that she returns to Thailand to live in her hut with the Dyalos. She ends up killing herself in a Thai prison where she is sent for murdering David Walker, missionary who converted her Dyalo lover and, therefore, changed his religion and her way of life. A reporter hears about her, visits her in prison and uncovers her story through other sources. Excellent gripping story. ( )

This highly-praised book I think receives its plaudits because of the youth of its author and because it's his first foray. Its descriptions and characterizations pass basic muster, I suppose, but it relies on sexual taboo to force the narrative forward. There just wasn't enough energy in that aspect of the plot, for me.

An anthropologist falls in love with a native Thai man and their sex relates to the rice-planting cycle. A Christian missionary comes along and converts the native man, (killjoy!) who in turn turns his back on the anthropologist. Of course, the anthropologist completes the cycle by killing the missionary.

This is not a bad read, but it is one of those inexplicably praised pieces that I just shake my head over. It's an average narrative that takes a Christian missionary to task for spreading the fetid faith. Perhaps that's why all the hubbub. Anyway, for my two cents, you're better off elsewhere. ( )

Art mirrors life in this novel of Thailand. The author's experiences in SE Asia lend rich colour to this fictional juxtaposition of a tribe of American missionaries and an independent Dutch anthropologist who clash over the future of a remote hilltribe. Beautifully written, vibrant, and entertaining, with a cast of colourful characters who keep the multi-stranded storyline tripping along. ( )