Moon the Night – by Stu Glauberman

https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Night-Novel-Stu-Glauberman-ebook/dp/B08KGRD7WZ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Moon+the+Night+by+Stu&qid=1607631998&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Moon the Night is the surprising contemporary sequel to Hustle the East, the richly detailed historical novel about Laos originally published two years ago.

While Hustle the East unspooled three narratives covering the 1960s and 1970s, Moon the Night is set against events in 2018. The new novel follows the exploits of the three original narrators — the bumbling idealist Benny Bendit; Sangkhom, the Lao man who served Communists and Americans in times of conflict; and Chansamone, the headstrong Lao woman they both loved.

Depressed after divorce and bankruptcy in Chicago, Benny returns to Laos to make a clean start, selling village-made soap for a non-profit. Repeating past missteps, Benny is living with a Lao woman he doesn’t trust. When Joyy comes home after a week away, she finds Benny dead, his body mutilated and his stomach stuffed with bamboo chips.  Eerily, a government official proclaims that the American died after being attacked by a legendary female vampire ghost with backward feet.

Sangkhom, now a university lecturer called Sam, and Chansamone, an Asian-fusion chef called Chan, decide to travel from Hawaii to investigate their friend’s mysterious death in Vientiane.

Chef Chan learns from a fisherman that Benny’s body was found floating in the Mekong River before it was attacked by a vampire. She identifies suspects who might have wanted Benny dead including his girlfriend’s knife-wielding lover; a half-crazed Corsican who thinks Benny is flirting with his ex-wife; and a Korean assassin armed with a 9 mm pistol.

Whereas Hustle the East focused on northern Laos, Moon the Night meanders through the south of Laos. In late July 2018, Chan travels to Attapeu to inquire about Benny’s activity, ostensibly as a soap-seller. Unaware of each other’s involvement, Chan and Sam join relief and rescue efforts with unforeseen results for each of them.

Back in Vientiane, Chan learns new details from the Coroner who filed the death-by-vampire–ghost finding in the case of Benny’s murder. Sam is lured to a rendezvous with a shady government agent cum wedding singer named Whisky Soda, who has laid a trap for Sam.

Readers who are familiar with Vientiane will recognize many of the restaurants and watering holes described in the story, from the Namphu Fountain and Don Chan Palace Hotel, to the riverfront Bor Pen Nyang Bar.