A Tiger in Eden is the first novel by Irish/Australian author, Chris Flynn. Set in 1996, the story is told by Billy Montgomery, a 23-year-old Loyalist hard man plucked from the harsh environment of his youth and lying low in Thailand, on the run from the Belfast police. We follow Billy through bus-trips, brawls and one-night stands as, after a year on the run, he begins to consider his future and his violent past. We watch as he is transformed, in this paradise, by his encounters with tourists, acquaintances from his former life, Thai locals, wildlife and the Buddhist religion.

Billys voice comes through strongly with the use of Belfast street fighter idiom: some readers may be initially put off by the liberal use of strong language but persistence is richly rewarded with a moving tale. Billys descriptions of his many sexual encounters are explicit and matter-of-fact, with, perhaps, a hint of masculine bragging, and the brawls are described in similarly graphic manner. The surprisingly likeable Billy seems to be full of contradictions: he admits to being poorly educated but actually reads Proust, Camus and Kerouac, and not just to impress the honeys; hes been a terrorist but is respectful of women, the environment and the Thai locals; he appears to feel more guilt about the possibility of having inadvertently ruined the reputation of a Thai woman than about all the maiming and killing he did in Belfast. While there is horror, there is also the odd dose of irony and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments: Billy asks Tony ..are you a Catholic Buddhist or a Protestant one? Billys check-in to the Buddhist monastery is absolutely hilarious!

A Tiger in Eden has an original plot with a cute twist, realistic dialogue and genuine characters. Flynn touches on several interesting topics: sex tourism; how a persons context can change their values and standards; respect for the beliefs of others; what lies beneath the mask that tourists wear; whether it is possible to change the direction of your life. Flynns knowledge of his subject is evident. This excellent debut novel has been described as uplifting and I wholly concur. I read it in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed this unique perspective on life.