Review: Satisfying Mature-Theme Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 7, 2010
This is Lantin's first published book and what a story!  Edwards is a former Secret War soldier and expatriate who gets enticed into returning to the lands along the Mekong River where he reconnects with former comrades to resolve an inheritance matter.  This guy has no sense of political correctness which improbably makes him a magnet for dangerous women.A lot of the action takes place in some of the countries along the Mekong including Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.  We get to know places where Lantin spent some of his formative post-RAF years such as Sihanoukville (literally, city of sandalwood), a port city of Cambodia and Vientiane, the capital of Laos as well as jungle highlands where remnants of the Hmong people are in hiding to this day.  These are some of the places where belligerents of the Vietnam War operated in an unofficial proxy war fueled by the Cold War powers.Edwards, like many expats, enjoys a "coupla beers" whenever the situation allows, which is quite often.  He is single and has a kind of zest for life that one often finds in those that have seen their share of war like Hemingway, Dieter Dengler (Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War) and Zorba the Greek (Zorba the Greek).  In short, he doesn't pass up an opportunity with beautiful local women.  However, this novel is neither graphic nor filled with profanity.  I found Edward's uninhibited style disarming and a great vehicle to lose myself in escapism, an experience that has become darn hard to find.Having finished reading Come Here...and I'll Show You, I felt inspired to check out some famous scenes from Clint Eastwood movies on `Y-Tube.'  I had forgotten how politically incorrect Eastwood's characters were.  However, I was reminded of the magnetism they created.  Such characters are far from amoral.  They get into scrapes because they stand for something.  That maybe why it's believable that women are attracted to them and what allows them to live in a way we can only imagine.I couldn't easily put the book down.  It's filled with information that would be helpful for one trying to survive in a jungle, in places like Laos or in cash-economy environments.  Mainly it's great escapist entertainment.