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In Malevolence Peter Jaggs has written a powerful and compelling novella that convincingly portrays a number of unnervingly real characters as they encounter a sociopathic devil hell-bent on gaining power through brutal violence and subtle manipulation.

Peter Jaggs claims to have gotten the tale, piece by piece, from an aging mamasan and has fictionalized the astonishing true story of a malevolent young man as he rises to destructive power in Pattaya.

As the unwanted son of an American G.I. and a Thai bargirl the protagonist is sold as an infant and raised by the brutal hand of a Soi Cowboy bar owning farang, quickly earning the nickname Pi Saat, or ‘Devil,’ through his vicious and violent personality.

Malevolence is a story of violence, revenge and loyalty set in the seedy underbelly of Thailand’s bar scene and in my view it is a story that could not have been told any better, signaling Peter Jaggs as a highly skilled writer supremely confident in his craft.

At just over one hundred pages I completed it in one sitting but suspect that had it been double in length I probably would not have stopped given the writer’s ability to draw the reader into such an authentically rendered tale.

Jaggs is the author of a number of very well received books on Thailand ranging from guides on freshwater fishing and metal detecting to short stories and real-life anecdotes. Malevolence is a little different but it is an absolute triumph of Thai-centric storytelling.

Reviewed by John Daysh
Thailand Writing and Book Reviews
http://www.thailandwritingreviews.com