A Lust For Life

‘A Lust for Life’ is the story of Toby Stark, a saga of 210,000 words, spanning five decades, and five continents, with most of the action taking place in South East Asia, primarily in Thailand.

It is the tale of a troubled, hard drinking Englishman who was born to an abusive father in post war, economically depressed London, and whose considerable escapades take him to America, Canada, Africa, The Middle East and Indonesia, before arriving in Thailand where he decides to spend the remainder of his life.

Along the way Toby lurches from poverty, to wealth, and back to poverty again; is subjected to spells in many of the world’s jails; wins and loses countless women - including five wives, four of whom are Thai - and develops an unhealthy addiction to alcohol.

In later life he becomes inextricably involved with two beautiful women from rural Thailand.
The first is ‘Ying’, born in impoverished circumstances in Eastern Thailand, and at the age of eight witnessed her gangland father being shot down in front of her. Ying’s eventful life takes her to Bangkok at the age of twelve to work as an indentured servant, and later to the south of Thailand where she suffers constant abuse by the father of her child. She eventually escapes and moves back to Bangkok where she becomes a popular hostess at one of Bangkok’s nightspots.

The second is ‘Na’ was also born into incredibly poverty in the North East of Thailand, and moves to the resort City of Pattaya at a very young age. Despite her appalling suffering at the hands of paedophiles and other criminal elements, she survives to become a highly sought after ‘working girl’ in one of Pattaya’s premier red light districts.

The two women meet by chance and reluctantly join forces to try and save Toby from almost certain death in a Pattaya jail, after he is arrested for causing a fatal road accident.

Their efforts to rescue him and their subsequent adventures are an exciting, roller-coaster of a ride, which exposes the sordid underbelly of Pattaya’s criminally controlled, lawless, sex industry where death, human trafficking and unspeakable depravity are the order of the day. The thrilling and shocking climax of the saga is both uplifting and distressing.

A Lust for Life’ leads the reader deep into the dark side of Thailand’s corrupt and morally bankrupt society. It explores the fatal culture clashes that are experienced by thousands of eager westerners who flock to Thailand, only to learn that their dreams of happiness in a tropical paradise are largely an illusion.

It also delves into the causes and the punishing effects of alcoholism in both eastern and western civilizations.

At its heart, ‘A Lust for Life’ is a novel of abuse and its long lasting effects, of desire, of love, of greed, of adventure, of heartbreak and shocking violence - the bread and butter of daily life in the exotic ‘Land Of Smiles.’