As the second novel in Lee Weeks’ Detective Johnny Mann series, THE TRAFFICKED is a solid page-turner. It starts with a Chinese schoolgirl being kidnapped at her English boarding school, but takes our characters into the land of sex clubs in the Philippines. See, that youth was not just some run-of-the-mill girl, but the illegitimate daughter of C.K. Leung, a high-ranking Triad member.

C.K. calls in a few favors to get Mann on the case, even though Mann wants nothing to deal with this Triad leader. Mann is sent off to England to help the investigation, knowing full well the case is not just some mere kidnapping plot, but a power play with the child as a pawn that will be cast aside, unless he can figure out who the kidnappers really are.

Mann is teamed up with British officer Becky Stamp, whose marriage has more bumps than an unpaved road. Their investigation takes them to the heart of the sex trade in the Philippines, dealing with the local boss, aka The Colonel — a man who is not only a sadistic boss, but a pervert in the highest degree. Even when confronted by one of his early conquests, he will use all his power to put them back in their place.

While all this goes on, we follow the kidnapped girl Amy, who sits quietly, doing what she is told. She seems to be an innocent girl who can barely fend for herself … but remember what kind of person her father is. It’s determined that her captor is a new Triad trying to move in and claim all of the Philippines as his own, trying to cut out everyone else, especially when someone with whom Mann has had a previous experience (from, I’m guessing, the previous book, THE TROPHY TAKER) shows up with his own agenda.

THE TRAFFICKED never gets too graphic, which can always throw some readers. It plays up more of the thriller aspect for the bulk of the plot. Weeks never goes for the cheap thrill or titillation to keep you hooked, saving what little graphic depictions for the end of the story. Weeks is a talented writer whose prose breezes along so quickly, you won’t realize how fast you go through this lengthy tale. For a book more than 400 pages, it did not feel like it in the least. It never drags, which is a godsend for that length.

Weeks paces the story perfectly, balancing all the little plots that are all interconnected to the central story, with Mann being a standout lead character and not some generic police officer. He has his demons, but it appears as though the author will slowly reveal the truth behind her creation as the series continues. She is definitely a writer who will gain a new audience when her books become available in the States. —Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon UK.