A thoroughly satisfying thriller with revenge as its motive and martial arts as the backdrop. Martial arts action scenes are very difficult to write because of the terminology and the unfamiliar movements, but the author handles this information beautifully, weaving it into the story until it becomes as interesting as the story itself.

In Kisaeng, Marc Olden has created one of the most chilling villains in recent memory: Park Song, on the surface an urbane, charming Korean multi-millionaire who is, in reality, the world's foremost counterfeiter of U.S. currency. But his secrets go deeper. At his core he is a perverse killer-deviant, obsessed with the search for the perfect woman. He collects beautiful untouched women to act as his kisaeng (Korean for "recreational creature"), and when his pleasures have been sated he disposes of them quickly, brutally.NYPD homicide detective Manny Decker is investigating the murder of two undercover cops when the daughter of the woman he loves suddenly disappears. He discovers she had been kidnapped by white-slavers on behalf of Song, who has settled on her as his next kisaeng. The search for the young girl leads Decker from New York to Korea, following a trail of dark eroticism and violence with, he is surprised to find, ties to his own past in the jungles of Southeast Asia.