Buddha's Money

If you pick up wierd off the wall stuff every so often just so you can leave home a long way behind, this is one of those. I cannot figure out any good reason I picked it up except that it was a wierd shape, a wierd color, and about a wierd place to me --- South Korea in the 1970's....a place and a time I admit I truly just don't care about....which made for perfect escapist reading. A whole new place and I admit, I had never contemplated what being an MP in SoKo in 70's might be like. Funny, fast, although the misogynist attacks and torture of women was over the top and unnecessary.....

I really, really like Martin Limon's series and his irrascible protagonists George Sueno and Ernie Bascom. Limon is an extremely talented writer who has not received the attention and acclaim he deserves; he can transport you to a time and place (in this instance, 1970's Korea) and make you feel instantly at home. George and Ernie are military investigators nominally tasked with keeping an eye on the free-wheeling black-market and barter economy outside Korean army bases and insuring US servicemen neither get in too much trouble nor cause too much trouble. Their intrepretation of their role is a lot less rigid than probably what their supervisors had in mind and so they often turn a blind eye to much of what they are supposed to police, nor are they are not above having a good time in the adult wonderland themselves. Their attitude to policing vice outside the army bases is simply a very realistic assessment on their part because there is only so much you can do when a country is flooded with 19 year old soldiers with big paychecks and the local populace is only too accomodating in finding compelling and interesting means to separate them from their money. George and Ernie, two fun rogues if there ever were any, do take their job seriously though. They may not try to fight human nature if a seviceman wants to barter cigarettes for sex, but they do take violent exception to kidnapping the daughters of US servicemen and beating, torturing, and raping the local Koreans. Our villains in this outing are evil Mongol Buddhists (isn't an evil Buddhist an oxymoron somehow?) and George and Ernie blow out all the stops in this action-packed adventure as they track down and come to grips with their adversaries. I really enjoyed this book and adventuring again with the boys but..........this book is also fairly dark, much darker than the previous two novels. There are some scenes in this book that are very disturbing involving torture and rape of women and children that I found very hard to deal with. George and Ernie also find it hard to deal with these events and very naturally lose much of their light-hearted banter and sense of fun in the face of events. This is actually a grim and disturbing book and while I would recommend the first two novels whole-heartedly I am not sure I would recommend this one to anyone, not because it is a bad book; it definitely is not, it is actually an excellent book. But there should be a big red sticker on this one though that warns of some very disturbing scenes. Granted, half of what is published now is chock full of serial killers and brutal, violent, senseless tortures and gratuitous, gore-spattered homicide of minors. It's not really my cup of tea though and I didn't expect it when picking up this book. I didn't even expect it even while I was reading this book until it actually happened. The acts I am talking about are not gratuitous here, they do propel the plot forward but even so I was deeply bothered. So I give t

Twenty years have passed since the cease fire, but some things never change even when the demarcation line representing the front is not far away. For instance in the Itaewon red light district of Seoul, South Korea, the brass "protects" young soldiers from their own desires; Criminal Investigation Division Agents Corporal George Sueno and Sergeant Ernie Bascom are assigned to insure GIs do not barter liquor and cigarettes for sex. However, Sueno and Bascom ignore the inane military rules; if a grunt wants to barter for local flavor they look the other way unless they perceive danger; that includes the "business girls". Thus when ally peddler Sooki tells them something bad happened, the twosome ignores duty and go into hero mode. They soon perceive a connection between thugs beating up a Buddhist nun and the kidnapping of nine year old Mi-ja, adopted daughter of former NCO Herman "Father" Burkowicz. That entangles the CID agents with the kidnapper's quest to own a Ghengis Khan jade scull possessed by the self-anointed Queen of the Chinese Dragon Throne, who refuses all offers even violent ones. BUDDHA'S MONEY feels like a madcap 1950s serial movie as the two agents dash from one incident to another in their quest to bring justice not military law to the back allies of Seoul in the 1970s. The two mavericks are at their best beating up bad guys, but their opponents are two dimensional stereotypes from B movies. Still this action packed pulp thriller provides a fine look at Korea during a period when Viet Nam is the hot spot and containment is America's foreign policy. Harriet Klausner

US army Inspectors George Sueno and Ernie Bascom walk the beat in Itaewon, Seoul's `neon supermarket,' the pleasure center of Seoul. They get mixed up with Herman `the German' Burkowicz, an army retiree who is living off his pension and his thriving business smuggling Korean antiques out of the country when his `adopted' daughter is kidnapped by a group of Mongol cultists, who seek a priceless skull supposedly inscribed with a map to Kublai Khan's lost treasures. Unfortunately, Herman doesn't have the skull, which is why he needs Sueno and Bascom.Martin Limon has put together a story of high adventure, weaving together a tale with more twists than the Korean alleys in which the action is set. BUDDAH'S MONEY is a tightly written, fast-paced, fun-filled romp told in a tough guy style that you're guaranteed to enjoy. I know I enjoyed it.Reviewed by Judith Ann Cole

Reading both Martin Limon's "Slicky Boys" and "Buddha's Gold" took me back over 20 years. Korea was then, and still is today, a facinating ancient culture while running full out in anarchy.Limon accurately describes the social tensions and delicate balance between the Koreans and the Americans. Most of the Americans were contemptuous of the Koreans; treating them as a sort of second class citizens in their own country. Meanwhile, the Koreans treated the Americans as foolish, and overgrown children. There were no rules and both sides played the game as it came. The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) was drafted to protect both American and Korean interests, but was frequently referred to as "Screw Over The F'ing Americans."Special Agents Bascom and Sueno operate in the 'Ville. Itaewon is a real place where sex, booze and even life is cheap. A favorite saying was, "The 'ville ain't no place for amateurs." Limon has caught the flavor, the action and the real world of what life around a US military base really is like. I can hardly wait until Bascom and Sueno get involved in places like "Dog Town," "TDC," Toko-ri and Paju-ri. When that happens, strap in and hang on for a wild ride. Truth is stranger than fiction!