Written in 1979, this tells the story of Charles Sobhraj. It's a fictionalised true story - you can look Charles up on the internet and find what he got up to. Basically, he was a psychopath who started off as a con artist, robbing people all over Asia, and ended up as a serial killer. He was not a pleasant guy.
   He had a genius for convoluted and largely successful plans; he seemed to hook people effortlessly. The trouble is, the book itself is pretty convoluted; almost every page starts off with some (new) character doing something... perhaps something of their backstory... then eventually meets up with Charles, who is probably using one of his zillion aliases. Then we meet another character, with a different backstory, who eventually meets up with...
   It's quite well written, and interesting in its own way, but becomes a bit stolid. I'd say this is one to read only if you are a fan of fictionalised true stories, and have a penchant for finding out how this serial killer became so notorious... and, of course, what eventually happened to him.