I’ve never actually been to the Philippines, even though my first cousin is married to a native, and is building a holiday home on Cebu, one of the larger islands in this amazing archipelago. Speaking of Archipelagos, did you know The Philippines is the second largest in the world, consisting of 7,000 islands. The largest is the Malay Archipelago, of which the Philippines is part of, it has 17,000 islands in total (they include Malaysia, Singapore, East Timor, and Papa New Guinea). So, if you didn’t realise that, you will when you see the title of this month’s first book review, It’s “A Crime In The Land of 7000 Islands” by Zephaniah Sole, and published by Black Spring Press (www.blackspringpressgroup.com ) in May.

Its 2015 and in Portland, Oregon, FBI Special Agent Ikigai Johnson, is trying to bring a case against a local teacher, who has been abusing children in detention. During their investigation, her team discover evidence the abuser has visited the Philippines and abused kids there. Now she has to travel there and find these victims, so she can get their testimony, to use as evidence against the accused. But this won’t be a quick weekend in Manila with a bit of touristy stuff on the side. It will take a couple of months to find the kids, so she must leave her 11 year old daughter, Junior, with her ex-husband. But Junior will only allow her to go, if Ikigai promises to tell her the full story on her return, thus the story of Ikigai’s adventure is related to her daughter in the format of a fantastical adventure, featuring warriors and mythical creatures. Will Ikigai succeed in bringing the abuser to justice, what adventures await her is this amazing land…

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you’ll have noticed, we’ve been on a bit of a hiatus over the past couple of months. Well, we’re back, and what a way to do it. When this book arrived in the post, I was delighted to see it was a thriller, but when I got into it, I was bowled over by Sole’s ingenuity in finding a great new way to make an already intriguing story more engrossing. Now maybe others have done this sort of thing, but this is my first-time reading a thriller, told this way, and it was brilliant.

The storytelling is both serious and amusing, I spent a good bit of my journey through this book trying to identify what was described. For example, an early mobile phone or satellite phone is described as a Garuda (a bird like deity associated with Vishnu, a Hindu god) , with blue glowing eyes, which can send texts and emails. Planes are described as Great Cranes of the West or East, while in one instance a turtle represents some sort of seagoing vessel. Ikigai’s story is also mirrored in her daughter’s life back home, as Junior tries to discover what dark secrets her mysterious new friend Lily has, a girl she was once accused of bullying. But this again, all ads to the books engrossing quality.

This is American author, and FBI agent, Zephaniah Sole’s ( @ZephaniahSole ) debut. He is a Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Author Fellow, as well as an alum of VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation) and Tin House Publishing. His stories have appeared in Epiphany, Gargoyle Magazine, Collateral Journal, and Vestal Review, among other publications. A graduate of New York University, he’s also been a filmmaker, and a public-school teacher. Born in Brooklyn, he now lives in the Pacific Northwest.

I was confused initially, because on the cover it clearly states it’s an ‘Ikigai Johnson Thriller’, trouble is it’s the only one at this stage. Then add to the fact that in the (no spoiler alert needed) opening pages you realise our heroine has been missing for a few years now. However, she recanted a number of stories to Junior beforehand. Like me, after reading this one, you will eagerly await the others if they are told in the same format. If not, we’ll be sorely disappointed.

So, summon your Garuda and order a copy online or just nip down to your local bookshop and pick up the first in what could be an amazing series of books, describing run of the mill thrillers and police procedurals in a fascinating and refreshing format.

Reviewed by: Adrian Murphy

This book review is part of a Random Things Blog Tour, to see what the other reviewers thought visit their blogs listed below. Then, if you get a copy, comeback and tell us what you thought. We’d really appreciate the feedback.