A compulsive traveler, occasional scuba diver, and incurable beginner saxophonist, Charles Benoit has worked in education and advertising. He and his wife, Rose, currently live in exotic Rochester, New York. Relative Danger is his first novel. Visit his website at www.CharlesBenoit.com.
*STARRED REVIEW* Benoit (Out of Order) is at the top of his game in his witty third novel as he once again explores the travails of Americans abroad. Mark Rohr, a first Gulf War veteran now bouncing for a bar in the coastal resort of Phuket, Thailand, is a natural action hero. The damsel in distress is the pretty, blonde and very American Robin Antonucci, who offers Mark $5,000 to help her locate her brother, Shawn Keller, missing since the mighty tsunami inundated Phuket. Naturally, nothing and no one is exactly what it seems as Mark and Robin, linked by mutual distrust and different needs, visit dives and diving shops, deal with gangsters and pirates and manage to stir up trouble everywhere they look. Benoits good guys have their faults and the bad guys have surprising virtues, leaving room for lots of unusual twists and turns. The lovingly rendered exotic locale is the perfect setting for this rough and rollicking story of adventure and romance.-- Publishers Weekly (7.16.2007) A tense and efficient cat-and-mouse mystery from Benoit (Relative Danger, 2004, etc.), with liberal doses of exotic local color. --Kirkus Reviews of Noble LiesThis is a very good thriller, excitingly written with well-drawn characters, dialogue that rings true, and a story that's suspenseful and tragic. --Booklist of Noble Lies