While this book is never likely to be counted among the classics, I don't really think the author meant it to be. The violence aside, I think he intended it as an amusing piece of fluff in the adventure genre, and that is certainly is.

He has presented a colourful, overblown group of characters with little complexity, playing out an unlikely sequence of events in an exotic setting, well described. And it works. That can't be an accident.

There's little depth here--in fact it stops just short of farce--but if you're looking for an entertaining read, I'd recommend it.