I recently finished reading Currency, a novel about a Thai man and 20-something American woman who get tied up in an exotic animal smuggling ring. It’s been awhile since I read a novel for fun, but I was given a copy of this book and the cover intrigued me (though it’s not particularly relevant to the story), so I dug right in.
In the story, the Thai man (named Piv) and American backpacker, Robin, are intimately involved and, for the most part, devoted to each other. But Robin, being the starry-eyed backpacker that she is, runs out of money and has to leave the country because her visa is about to expire, but schemes with Piv about ways the two of them can continue to live the dream of traveling the world. Doing that requires money, which is where the animal smuggling comes in.
The chapters in Currency alternate between Piv’s voice and Robin’s point of view. I found the chapters told by Piv to be a bit jarring and awkward to read, and though the book started out a bit slow, I couldn’t put it down by the time I reached the end. The concept of smuggling terrifies and grips me, and the story contained in Currency was no exception.
Happy couples walk along the beach in the 
