Venom

by Colin Falconer Book 14 in the Epic Historical Adventure series.

First published 1990

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Saigon, 1946. Michel grows up abandoned amid poverty and political violence, learning to survive through adaptability and calculated retaliation. Each humiliation becomes part of a private account he intends to settle when he has acquired the education and influence to move between colonial and local worlds.

Valentine, the daughter of a diplomat, appears protected by privilege but carries secrets tied to Michel's past. Their attraction develops into a psychological contest stretching from Saigon to India, where the distinction between justice and revenge disappears as Michel turns intimacy into another means of control.