Novelist Eliot Pattison really knows how to spin a story. He also wants you to sympathize with the plight of Tibetans, which is not difficult to do. "Bone Mountain," Pattison's third novel set in Tibet, is categorized as a mystery, but it's also very much a vehicle to espouse a cause, with little attempt at subtlety.
Due in large part to its sheer remoteness as well as to the powerful hold of Buddhism on its populace, Tibet has long held a fascination for Western adventurers. After its annexation by China in 1951, the country became a natural venue for novels of intrigue, such as works by a prolific but nearly forgotten British author, Simon Harvester (nom de plume of Henry St. John Clair Rumbold-Gibbs, 1910-1975). More recently, thriller fiction set in Tibet appears to have tapered off, perhaps in inverse proportion to its accessibility. After all, with a few mouse clicks on a travel agent's Web site, you can fly to Lhasa, tour the Potala, haggle for souvenir prayer beads and spend the night at a comfortable hotel.
Pattison eschew the Holiday Inn, taking the reader along precipitous yak trails that transit remote valleys and windswept plateaus. His authentic settings, realistic character portrayals and lyrical prose helped win him the Mystery Writers of America "Edgar" Award for Best First Novel with "The Skull Mantra" (1999), which was followed by "Water Touching Stone" (2001).