Staffan Nordstrand

Bodies for Sale

Behind the Scenes: Bodies for Sale is the second of a four book fact-based suspense novel series which exposes the criminal exploitation of the people behind the façade of many of the tourist paradises in Southeast Asia. The books describe how the poor of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos do their best to survive, often growing opium, smuggling weapons and selling their daughters, sometimes before they are even born. The plight of these people is made more complicated because this criminality is often sanctioned by official organisations in existence to protect them, not to take advantage of them. Bodies for Sale continues the series, telling the story of one poor family from a small village in Laos, during a time of increasing drama in the aftermath of the Vietnam War: – Grandfather Songchai and his efforts to take his transport of hidden arms for buyers in west Africa, through Thailand in the company of a driver unknown to him. – Lu, his daughter-in-law, whose help for two Americans, Will and Frank in their quest to find the remains of US soldiers lost in the War has now led to terrible personal consequences for her. – Prim, Lu’s daughter and her teenage friends Lek, Moa and another girl called Bee, who have now all become involved in the bars of the sex trade with no easy way out. The characters’ fates are interwoven in a colourful and harsh narrative that moves towards its resolution as relentlessly as the mighty Mekong River flows forth and the Indian Ocean cascades east with catastrophic impacts just after Christmas 2004. The series is inspired by real people and based on real life stories.