Crime Asia

Munoz provides new insight into Benazir Bhutto’s unprecedented rise and an unflinching, minute-by-minute narrative of the assassination itself. With impeccable research, Munoz also situates Bhutto in the decades-long history of U.S.-Pakistan relations and the emergence of global terrorism, pinpointing her death as the moment when those relations changed forever. The result is a gripping narrative of Pakistan’s turbulent political realities and the death of its leading politician.

In the wake of World War II, the Allied forces charged 28 Japanese men with crimes against humanity. Correspondents at the Tokyo trial thought the evidence fell most heavily on 10 of the accused. In December 1948, five of these defendants were hanged, while four received sentences of life in prison. The tenth was a brilliant philosopher-patriot named Okawa Shumei. His story proved strangest of all. Among all the political and military leaders on trial, Okawa was the lone civilian.

Riki Maddox is not your average tomb-raiding treasure hunter. Her targets are carefully chosen to wound her father’s killers, the Japanese Yakuza. Working for the Department of Homeland Security, Special Agent Dallas Landry is a rare breed. He had a perfect success rate recovering stolen art and antiquities—until he came up against a menace known as Riki Maddox. The two will cross paths once again in Australia—on a quest for the legendary Phantom Pearl, a priceless mammoth tusk carved by 15th century monks.

Although the west often dismissed the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial as "Communist Propaganda", it was the first time the scientists from the "Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department" of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) came forward with the crimes they committed during World War II. The Khabarovsk War Crime Trials were hearings held between 25-31 December 1949 in the Soviet Union's Stalinist courts, and lasted for five days. It unearthed cruel biological weapon development and human experimentation practices by the Japanese Imperial Army.

Since the beginning of civilization, crime and injustice has existed. At the same time, gangs in all shapes and sizes have been around, from rebels, dissidents, and rogue soldiers to the average circle of miscreants loitering in alleys and behind convenience stores. In Japan, a gang of a different breed would arise - one underscored by honor, respect, family, and a code of ethics. They are the Yakuza. The Yakuza claim to be the Robin Hoods of the Far East. While they may lean towards the other side of the law, justice is all they truly aim for.