IT STARTED THE WAY A SPY STORY SHOULD START. ON A MISTY NIGHT IN PHUKET. IN A LITTLE BAR. Jack Shepherd was a politically connected lawyer until he traded the fierce intrigues of Washington for the quiet life of a college professor. Everything is going pretty well for him, too, until he walks into a little bar on the jet-set island of Phuket and finds the world's most famous fugitive waiting for him. Plato Karsarkis was once an international celebrity straight out of Vanity Fair , but a New York grand jury indicted him for racketeering and murder. When Karsarkis suddenly vanishes, the world's media whips itself into a frenzy searching for him. Karsarkis is waiting for Shepherd in that Phuket bar because he thinks Shepherd's connections to the White House just might be his ticket back. But the US Marshals are in Phuket looking for Shepherd's help, too. The Marshals need for Shepherd to set a trap for Karsarkis so they can arrest him. Shepherd just wants them all to go away and leave him alone. At least he does until he discovers a chilling secret. The Marshals aren't really in Phuket to arrest Plato Karsarkis. They're there to kill him. "KILLING PLATO shifts the Eric Ambler style of spy novel into a cynical world of financial crime, casual murder, and spiraling conspiracies." -- International Noir Fiction "Mr. Needham seems to know rather more than one ought about these things." - The Wall Street Journal "Jake Needham is Michael Connelly with steamed rice." - The Bangkok Post "Jake Needham has a knack for bringing intricate plots to life. His stories blur the line between fact and fiction and have a ripped from the headlines feel." - CNN "Jake Needham is Asia's most stylish and atmospheric writer of crime fiction." - The Singapore Straits Times "Needham writes so you can smell the spicy street food mingling with the traffic jams, the sweat, and the garbage." - Libris Reviews "Tight and atmospheric, Needham's novels are thrillers of the highest caliber, a perfect combination of suspense and wit." - The Malaysia Star "I love Jake's writing and I love Sam Tay. The Sam Tay novels transcend most police procedurals and espionage thrillers and leave them in the dust." - James Lawler, former member of CIA's Senior Intelligence Service, and author of LIVING LIES "When it comes to atmosphere, character and slow-burning suspense, few do it better than Jake Needham. The smells, tastes, and sounds of Asia fly out of every page. Needham knows his stuff and gives it to us with great style." - Humphrey Hawksley, former BBC Beijing Bureau Chief and author of The Dragon Strike series "Jake Needham is an author we should all treasure, a classic master of suspense who makes readers hunger for more." - James Grady, international bestselling author of SIX DAYS OF THE CONDOR JAKE NEEDHAM received the Barry Award at Bouchercon 2024, the world's largest convention of mystery readers, for BEST PAPERBACK MYSTERY OF 2024.     He is a three-time Barry Award nominee, as well as a nominee for the International Thriller Writers' award for BEST PAPERBACK THRILLER OF THE YEAR .   Needham is an American screen and television writer who has lived in Thailand for over thirty years. He started writing crime novels when he realized he really didn't like movies and television all that much.    Since then, he has published sixteen popular mysteries and thrillers in two different series — The Inspector Samuel Tay Novels, and the Jack Shepherd Novels — as well as the international bestseller, THE BIG MANGO.