The Adversary by Michael Walters

From the Publisher

In Ulan Bataar, the head of Mongolia's largest and most powerful crime empire is finally about to get his comeuppance. But it seems that the wealthy Muunokhoi has friends in high places.

When Muunokhoi's trial begins to fall apart, Nergui, the former head of the Serious Crime team, and Doripalam, his replacement and onetime protégé, are forced to look internally to find out who in the justice system has submitted to the lure of the crime lord's power-only to realize that Muunokhoi's deadly influence is much stronger than either of them could have envisioned...

Publishers Weekly

Nergui, the former head of the Mongolian Serious Crime Team, and his successor and protégé, Doripalam, take on Muunokhoi, Mongolia's top crime boss, in Walters's nifty follow-up to The Shadow Walker(2008). The vacuum left by the breakup of the Soviet Union created an opportunity that Muunokhoi was quick to exploit, and since then he's become so powerful that he's virtually untouchable. Nergui and Doripalam, who face an uphill battle to reform Ulan Baatar's corrupt and inept police force, are embarrassed when faked police evidence ruins their case against the gangster in the courtroom. A race for long-hidden (and perhaps nonexistent) evidence that might incriminate Muunokhoi leads to kidnappings and murder. Nicely plotted with interesting secondary characters, this mystery is also notable for glimpses of the turmoil the ancient Mongolian nation is undergoing in its transformation to a modern democracy. (Mar.)

Jo Ann Vicarel - Library Journal

In this sequel to Walters's debut, The Shadow Walker, Nergui, the former head of the Serious Crimes Team, is pitted against his old enemy, Muunokhoi, the most dangerous criminal mind in Mongolia. Corruption in high places adds to the air of suspense and suspicion in this tautly told tale. For collections where mysteries with foreign settings are popular. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ11/1/08.]

Kirkus Reviews

A police officer goes up against a crime family whose tentacles stretch from modern Ulan Baatar to the primitive steppes. When the fix is on and the trial of master criminal Muunokhoi goes belly up, Doripalam, of the Special Investigative branch, is not best pleased to have his former boss and mentor Nergui, now promoted to the Ministry of Security, back on his old patch to set matters right. For his part, Nergui has more than Doripalam's hurt feelings to worry about. He has to maneuver carefully because there are traitors at Muunokhoi's beck and call working within the service, and his former associate may be one of them. Further complications arise when Mrs. Tuya, who has reported her teenaged son Gavaa missing, is tortured and killed and her four brothers take off. Nergui, who has been pursuing Muunokhoi for more than two decades, gets an inkling that the criminal's whereabouts may be connected to the missing boy's. But it will take many trips to abandoned yurts and the disentangling of seemingly unrelated lives before he can piece together the patchwork of trouble. Just when you thought nothing new could be added to the police procedural, along comes an intriguing glimpse of Mongolian culture, politics and scenery through the eyes of a deeply complex protagonist (The Shadow Walker, 2006).

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