Gaijin Cowgirl Tour

Publisher: Crime Wave Press  (March 8, 2013)
Category: Action/Adventure, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Crime Thriller
Tour Date: Mid May, 2013
Available in: Print &  eBook, 380 pages

Working Tokyo nightclubs is easy money for beautiful and troubled American Val Benson – until a client with a rather unusual hobby – painting the private parts of his female liaisons – reluctantly gives up a map to a stash of Japanese war loot and tempts his favourite girl into a dangerous treasure hunt.

The Congressman’s daughter is not the only one interested in the map: yakuza, bent cops, human traffickers, rogue CIA agents and her father are hot on her trail, snapping at her high heels.

So begins the dark, epic journey of a new anti-hero of Asian Noir, a protagonist both ambiguous and courageous, and utterly unreliable. From comfort women and tomb-raiding in Japanese-occupied Burma to the murderous echoes of the Vietnam War, long forgotten crimes come roaring back to life, as Val leaves a trail of destruction and chaos in her wake.

Together with her best friend, the equally unreliable nightclub hostess Suki, Val travels through Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok to the Thai-Burmese borderlands for a dramatic showdown with her pursuers. Finding the treasure before everyone else does is her only hope for survival, and perhaps redemption.

Review

Gaijin Cowgirl begins with Val, a rich woman who is trying to outrun her past.  I have to say when the book began I really didn't like her.  She seemed oh so selfish and into herself.  There is a bit of a time jump in the beginning where we go back to before Val started hostessing, and we meet up with Charlie, her ex/not so ex.  Then we are back to where we began with Val hostessing in a Japanese bar.  

This book is NOT for youngsters.  It is a thriller which keeps you turning the pages.  There are some historical references some of which I wasn't quite sure why they were mentioned.  But the main character and her companions were just so great once you were into the action.  I have to say I really liked Muddy and Suki.  To find out who they are you'll just have to grab your own copy of this book.  

Now I must say that for a first time novel this book was well done.  The violence is done in a very nice manner, yes I know violence and nice just don't seem to go together but hey they do in this case.  And while there is a tad bit of sex it isn't over the top and it more often than not leaves you in your own mind for what happened next.  This book truly is a gripping story, and you won't want to put it down until you turn that last page.

Truthfully, the only thing I didn't like about this book was the main character, and that was probably due to the fact that she just seemed to draw negativity to her like the plague.  Other than that, which isn't actually a bad thing, this book was a great action packed read.

Details/Disclaimers: I received a copy of this book for free for my honest review.  This free book held no determination on my final review.

Praise for Gaijin Cowgirl:

“Val Benson – a rich kid with a few family secrets in her locker winds up in a Japanese hostess bar before entangling herself in a treasure hunt for lost gold in the Thai / Burmese jungle. Along for the ride are Suki (great name) her Japanese hostess friend, Muddy (again great name choice) a gritty Australian treasure hunter, and Simon- a sarf Londan kick boxer.

Reminiscent of Karin Slaughter’s Tokyo the beginning opens with Val arriving in Tokyo, finding her feet in a hostess bar, and meeting an old flame who happens to be a lawyer working on busting former Japanese war criminals. One of whom is also Val’s number one customer, painter of female genitals, and holder of a lost treasure map. Val goes to the client’s home, takes the treasure map along with a bag of cash, battles C.I.A agents, watches the old war criminal nearly die, and escapes with her life, the cash, and the map. Her diplomat father gets her out of the country to Hong Kong where she meets up with Muddy and then onto Bangkok where the search for treasure starts proper.

Gaijin Cowgirl is a high-octane chase thriller; the action level only drops when the author fills us in with historical details – all of which are probably not a hundred percent essential to the plot – interesting nonetheless. The cast is wide and colorful and the backdrop always illuminating. This is a fine first novel by author Jame DiBiasio who moved to Hong Kong from New York in 1997. DiBiasio has researched and structured his novel well, tension rises and lowers, the plot is strong and well resolved. Val finds out something about herself, her family and her place in the world during this adventure. And that, my fellow readers, is what writing character adventure fiction is all about.”-J. Newman, Amazon.com Reviewer

About Jame DiBiasio:
Jame DiBiasio is an award-winning financial journalist and editor. He is author of the non-fictionThe Story of Angkor (published by Silkworm Books in 2013) and blogs at http://asiahacks.com. He lives in Hong Kong.

Jame on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JameDiBiasioJame on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/jamedibiasio.author

About the publisher:
All info can be found on the website of Crime Wave Press: www.crimewavepress.com
Crime Wave Press on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CrimeWavePress

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Gaijin Cowgirl