Exchanging Western values for far-off Thailand, Gunnar Ray plans to
teach in the countryside and absorb the country's ancient wisdom. When
monsoon rains flood the lands above his adopted village, catastrophe
strikes. Gunnar's innocence is swept downstream along with hundreds of
Thai lives.
Spiritually adrift, he washes up in the offices of the Bangkok Times,
a crusading reporter hell bent on derailing corrupt officials at war
with the Thai environment. He is not alone. A summons from an enigmatic
Buddhist monk with rumoured mystical powers and a near militant love for
the jungle is just the sort of lead that Gunnar thrives on. In a
forgotten province, he will test whether his pen is indeed mightier than
the military's sword. When the forest-protecting monk of the Northeast
is arrested, Gunnar sets off on a cross-country journey to summon
support.
With the monk's beautiful niece as his guide, he navigates the currents
and eddies of remote provinces that few Westerners have penetrated.
Gunnar's articles aimed at freeing the first-ever imprisoned Thai monk
transform him into a high profile activist-and target. Ultimately he
must choose: his growing love for the monk's niece and commitment to the
cause, versus the now daily threat of an assassin's bullet.
Ecological thriller, love story, spiritual journey, Samsara scratches
the bloody underbelly of a nation in conflict.
