After the triumph of The Rainaldi Quartet
(2006), British author Adam delivers a routine thriller focusing on the continuing Chinese oppression of Tibet. Journalist Maggie Walsh, having barely survived being caught in the middle of a firefight in Colombia, happens on the story of a lifetime when she manages to infiltrate the Himalayan inner sanctum of the Dalai Lama and learns, to her astonishment, that the beloved spiritual leader has died. Maggie tags along as the search begins for the baby in whom he has been reincarnated. When word of the quest reaches the political leadership in Beijing, the dreaded Public Security Bureau frantically launches a massive military operation to thwart it. Numerous hairbreadth escapes and the predictable growing attraction between Maggie and one of the monks seeking the new Dalai Lama will have some readers eagerly turning pages, but others will find this outing strictly by the numbers. (July)
