As the book opens, Fred Taylor finds himself awakening to a situation that doesn't seem quite right. It seems like a large snake has slithered over him . . . bringing back bad memories of protecting his rice from rats. Eventually, he finds the situation isn't quite as threatening as it seems . . . but there's also a mystery. Who is his companion?

From there, Taylor heads out in the middle of the night to get some fresh air. Torn over where to go, he stumbles onto an older man helping a younger man down the street. Suddenly, the younger man attacks the older man. Taylor steps in and settles everyone down. The older man is a local art collector, Clayton Reed. Once inside the younger man's apartment, life turns bizarre. The walls are covered with what seem to be valuable paintings. Reed expresses interest, but also negotiates for an old chest. Pulling out his money belt, cash changes hands. Taylor carries the chest for Reed.

With that opening, we enter into a world of international nastiness that reminded me at times of The Maltese Falcon.

The first 50 pages of this book are extremely slow going except for the first three pages . . . which although active, are totally formulaic. After about 100 pages, the book picked up enough steam to be an average mystery. From there, the artistic speculations and observations started to make the book move above average. When not dealing directly with artistic questions, the book is amateurish in its plotting and development.