Behind the Scenes Book 3: Rich & Poor

Behind the Scenes: Rich and Poor is the third of a four-book fact-based suspense novel series which exposes the criminal exploitation of the people behind the façade of many of the tourist paradises in Southeast Asia.  The books describe how the poor of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos do their best to survive, often growing opium, smuggling weapons and selling their daughters, sometimes before they are even born.  The plight of these people is made more complicated because this criminality is often sanctioned by official organisations in existence to protect them, not to take advantage of them.  Initially, Rich and Poor focuses on the plight of a small group of Cambodian beggar children; the feisty Samnang and his friends. The children become pawns in the plans of their owners to sell children like them into illegal activities of other Southeast Asian countries.  The book continues telling the story of the poor family from a small village in Laos, featured in books 1 and 2. In book 3, the family becomes involved with the beggar children:  – Fong, husband of Lu and father of Prim, is released from prison and finds himself made responsible for the group. He makes a decision which will have serious consequences for him.  - Ignorant of his son’s new path, Grandfather Songchai, Fong’s father, decides to find him. His trip will seek retribution and closure, utilising some extreme methods from his past.  - Bee, kidnapped in book 2 alongside Prim, Songchai’s granddaughter, now extricated from the sex trade, looks to create a new life for herself as nurse and carer. This leads her to meeting Samnang and an important relationship begins.  The characters’ fates are interwoven in a colourful and harsh narrative that moves towards its resolution as relentlessly as the mighty Mekong River flows forth.  The series is inspired by real people and based on real life stories.