<DIV><p>&ldquo;[Cotterill&rsquo;s] stories may glide by on their humor and wonderful characters, but the reason his books come alive, the reason his series continues to be worth reading, is the author's deep understanding of these people and their beautiful, troubled land. This depth enables him to bring us there for a brief vacation, make us feel, and still keep us laughing. Like Dr. Siri, Colin Cotterill has a touch of magic about him.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>The Boston Globe</I></p> <p>&ldquo;Cotterill&rsquo;s approach in <I>Curse of the Pogo Stick</I>&mdash;so measured and offhand&mdash;actually achieves a remarkable feat: It cuts through all the never-again media saturation genocidal regimes often generate, and it makes us take notice once more. We wind up caring about Cotterill&rsquo;s characters, because they&rsquo;re mostly either decent or at least understandably flawed and therefore human. By avoiding the nastiness and nihilism of noir, they reach a sympathetic, soulful reality writers rarely pull off.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>Paste Magazine</I></p> <p>&ldquo;Cotterill&rsquo;s ironic pen [is] as sharp as ever.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>Kirkus Reviews</I></p> <p>Auntie Bpoo, the transvestite fortune-teller of Vientiane, Laos, has foretold that the seventy-three-year-old newlywed Dr. Siri and his equally mature bride will have children by the end of the year. When Siri helps Hmong villagers in peril, the prediction comes true.</p> <p><B>Colin Cotterill</B>, author of five previous books in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series, lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with his wife. His books have been Book Sense picks, and he won the Dilys Award for <I>Thirty-Three Teeth</I>.</p></DIV>