Lost in Pattaya by Kishore Modak: a review

A picture of a girl in a very subtle colored background. The title ‘Lost in Pattaya’ and the blurb mixed together makes this book a must-read! Apart from all the mentioned attributes, I also think that the quality of the book has made this book an eye catcher. In the bookstores, though the color of the book might not catch the eye much but the name surely will and the book does not disappoint.

According to the blurb- It is every dad’s nightmare his little girl goes missing. For Palash, the sorrow compounds from the incessant replaying of the critical minutes when his ‘Daddy-eye’ faltered, distracted by his own weakness of substance abuse. The loss and the ensuing search sends him spiraling into a divorce and the loss of a steady corporate job. Scouring for his little girl in the brothels of Pattaya he is ensnared in the web of mafia that runs sex trade of Thailand. When he eventually finds her, will he be able to build back a wasted lifetime, or, is it too late for rescue, for him and his child?

Pattaya, as we all know is the base camp for all of Thailand’s sex trade and prostitution rackets. Starting from Child sex to everything one could think of. The people out there are infamous for all this. The book highlights it as a whole. Not only the negative side but also the positive side of it. And after that, one could very well understand what can a father feel when his daughter is lost in the streets of Pattaya.

Coming to the characters, I can complement the writer for the characters he has chosen and the way they had been described. Palash, Li Ya, Fang Wei, Miho, Thuy Binh and the characters of the doctor, Georgy etc have been very well described, maintained and kept till the end.
 The traits of the characters have been well preserved and every character has been given utmost importance in the storyline. My favorite was Thuy Binh maybe because I could connect to that character the best.

Though the unique names of the characters might sound odd in the tongue at the beginning making it a difficult read but slowly the tongue gets accustomed to the names. Coming to the narrating style, I personally loved the abstract way the story has been narrated. The narrating style reminds me of very selected prize winning writers and I believe that it is the writers’ talent that makes the readers remind them so.

For the story, I would say that this story has been very well thought of bringing with it a bolt of fresh air to the readers. The pain, anguish, fleet everything has been well described off and the book has all the qualities to be a wonderful read. How painful losing someone can be has been written in a very seamless way. Losing-Separation-Near to death experiences and getting lost again-Finding and losing again-Rebuilding and regenerating. This book has everything weaved into one. The whole process of child trafficking, prostitution gives the readers a very new feel and a nice insight on the world.

The second half kept me totally engrossed in the book and the end made me ponder onto it for a long time but compared to that, the beginning was a very low one. This is one of those books which have to be held on to a certain level in the beginning to cherish the book till the end. And the book doesn’t disappoint at all. Apart from all the plus points, I wish the book could capture the readers from the beginning and that would’ve made this book simply perfect. Thanking the author for such an amazing work of fiction, I give this book 4.5 out of 5.