Lyle likes people, but the world of gadgets leaves him cold. Despite the challenges of living like a throwback, he refuses to be a late adopter, never mind an early adopter. Until he meets a girl. And until he learns that not meeting the expectation that everyone has a cellphone might prove physically dangerous.
He makes his living playing poker and although the game stays the same, everywhere he goes the house rules are different.and so are the dangers.There is always some kind of hustle going on and it takes time to learn the players, the movers and shakers, the traps and pitfalls. His helper is a whore named Chatty Kathy and the people who make things happen are gangsters, politicians, and petty officials. And it’s Asian rules.And this time it’s serious.Poker in Phnom Penh.
A life well-lived deserves a dignified end. A pair of American businessmen come to Thailand to evaluate a business opportunity. Each comes with his own preconceptions and both find that Thailand follows them home. They learn the lessons they need to learn about life and death. And while this is fiction, truths learned in other places do follow you home, and this story is, itself, an example. You see, there’s an inspirational place at the far end of Koh Chang Island, in Thailand, right on the Gulf of Thailand. It’s called Elephant Bay Resort and that is where this story was born. Lee and Ed met up there to write in a place that made work more fun. But chilling out with Thai whisky (and beer, never forget the beer) and laptops in a beach hut, going to Muay Thai matches in the evening, somehow sparked this story. Maybe it was all the fine massages, or too much whisky, or just too much fun., all mixed with bittersweet memories of the last days of old friends. Whatever the chemistry we each took the story with us—Lee to Cambodia and Ed to New Mexico—to polish and savor. And in some ways, to relive the experiences and emotions. And now to share.