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Synopsis: Benton, a widowed African-American intelligence analyst from Washington, retires to Thailand. At an expat bar, he is captivated by Siri, a beautiful tribal singer. When Siri disappears, he discovers that she had been speaking out about the side-effects from drug trials conducted on her hill-tribe. Benton’s investigations draw him uncomfortably close to Pierre, the seriously disturbed Indo-Cambodian doctor running the trials. Becoming an unwilling guinea-pig in the trials, Benton is transformed by the genetically-engineered drugs and falls in love with Mimi, a stunning and gifted young Thai-Australian. As the genetic manipulations spiral out of control and spread to the botanical treasures of Thailand’s Golden Triangle, the forces of high-tech medicine, tribal healing, and love battle to determine who will survive.
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For fans of John Burdett (Bangkok 8) and John Le Carre (The Constant Gardener):
Toxic Spirits is a highly atmospheric thriller set in Thailand, a playground for colorful expats, beautiful women and limitless skullduggery.
Narrated with insightful meditations on nature and biodiversity, interspersed with macabre violence and dark hilarity, the novel is also a brilliant, genetics- and AI-inspired take on multiculturalism and personal identity.
Praise for Toxic Spirits:
“Mani tells his story in taut, highly descriptive prose, capturing his Thai setting’s cornucopia of sights and tastes … fans of more literary-tinged genre offerings like those of Chris Abani or John le Carré will enjoy Benton’s strange—even phantasmagoric—adventures in Thailand. … enjoyable thriller set in the shadowy world of medical experimentation.” Kirkus Reviews.
“A complex and enthralling international intrigue with a treasure of remarkable detail neatly packed into a short novel that dances on the edge of John le Carré territory. A rich read from start to finish.” Frederick Barthelme, author of New Yorker stories, five story collections, and eleven novels including There Must Be Some Mistake.
“Mani writes Thailand beautifully with heart and a lot of souls.” Colin Cotterill, author of The Coroner’s Lunch, from the Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery series, and sixteen other novels set in Laos and Thailand.
“Toxic Spirits is a striking debut. Its prose, fluid, will tug you along; its dialogue, rendered gracefully, sparkles with authority; its plot is loaded with much to love, plenty to leave you in the kind of wonderment your soul has sought in books.” Mark Wisniewski, Pushcart-prize winning short story writer and author of three novels, including Watch Me Go.
“It's rare to see an international thriller that captures the intricacies of a complex story so succinctly. Toxic Spirits achieves this and more, adding dashes of humor, social inspection, and insights into multiculturalism. Moody and atmospheric, compellingly swift and surprising, and steeped in intrigue and Thai culture, Toxic Spirits is an engrossing read on many levels.” Midwest Book Review (D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer).
“A fabulous writer whose sensuous and affecting prose both beguiles and transforms.” Tom Vowler, author of story collection The Method and novel What Lies Within.
“A unique and beautiful novel that takes the reader deep into the jungle that is the human soul. …A must read.” Amazon reviewer Livia P.
“Exceptionally crafted and impactful, this novel took me on a journey that I wanted to continue. The author described Thailand in such vivid detail that I could easily imagine myself living in the moment with Benton … The pace is fast, the suspense is magical and the narrative impactful.” Reader's Favorite reviewer Rabia Tanveer.
“Mani’s evocation of the exotic world of Thailand is reminiscent of the best novels of John Burdett (Bangkok 8 & Bangkok Tattoo). His prose is densely atmospheric and immerses the reader into the unsettling world of Thailand … filled with a foreboding sense of dread .. with masterful prose fleshes out multiple characters in a cinematic fashion.” Readers Remains: A Blog for the Joy of Reading.
“Haunting. The mix of expat and Thai characters is fascinating. The writing, which matches the luxuriance of the Thai landscape, makes for absorbing and disturbing reading. Recommended!” Goodreads reviewer Annie Zaenen.
“Exciting thriller — fun to read …riveting, fast-moving…Benton, a brilliant African-American who has spent his life working as a cog in his native country’s military intelligence machine, suffering the usual racism all the while, retires to Thailand in the hopes of escaping his past, only to become embroiled in a tragic collision of traditional East Asian medicine and Western biotechnology.” Amazon reviewer David W.
“Toxic Spirits is a truly original novel, concerned with saving nature from the destruction we continue to pour upon it. Benton becomes the environmental hero we would all like to be, and Mani’s writing makes you feel like you are Benton ...” Ian Graham Leask, publisher and author of novel House of Large Sizes.
“The characters and various mise-en-scènes are thoroughly engrossing …a very engaging read! .. greatly impressed by the accuracy and verisimilitude of the expositions on biomedical particulars, including drug development, FDA regulatory approval, sequencing, oncogenes, etc., as well as clinical situations and encounters.” Kanwarjit (KJ) Singh, MD, expert in cancer drug development.
Bio: Mani is an award-winning writer, scientist, and professor who retired early from Silicon Valley to Thailand, where he volunteered with the hill-tribe fictionalized in Toxic Spirits. The volunteer NGO and the children it served took an interesting turn and were featured in the documentary film The Wrong Light (2016) from Run Riot Films.
Born in India and educated across four continents, Mani studied creative writing at Penn (with Carlos Fuentes), at Bread Loaf (with Patricia Hampl), and at Harvard (with Paul Harding). Prior to working in Silicon Valley, he was based in Washington, DC and Boston as a professor as well as a scientist at a not-for-profit think-tank advising the US government on advanced AI technology. Mani’s six previous books (two of which have been translated into Japanese) include The Imagined Moment, on the computing of time in narrative, and other titles are from Oxford and MIT Press. His stories and essays have been published in 3:AM Magazine, Aeon, Apple Valley Review, Drunken Boat (Finalist for the Pan Literary Award, also one of Story South’s Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2007), Eclectica, New World Writing, Nimrod (Finalist for Katherine Anne Porter Prize), PANK, Short Fiction Journal, Slow Trains, Storgy, Unsung Stories, Word Riot, and many other venues. Check them out here .
Acknowledgements: The following literary magazines published early excerpts of four chapters of Toxic Spirits:
“Last Rites.” STORGY (April 15, 2018).
“Genes.” Eclectica, 21, no. 1 (January/February 2017).
“Mother’s Day.” Unsung Stories (September 16, 2016).
“Mimi.” Short Fiction: The Visual Literary Journal, no. 10, (2016): 68-79.
Mani’s Blog on Medium Essay in Aeon Entry in Poets & Writers
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