"If you are reading this letter it could only mean that I'm dead and I suspect the circumstances of my death were less than natural," begins the letter from Simon to his dear friend Peter.

Peter, appointed the executor of the deceased's estate, uncovers more about Simon's life during the administration of his Last Will and Testament than during the lifetime they had shared as friends. Simon's reflections, codified in a small, black notebook, of the variety that Hemingway and Picasso were purported to have used, provide insights into the deepest recesses of Peter's own life, allowing him to find love and meaning in an existence that had to that point been marked by loss.

From the insidious room salons that discreetly litter the side streets in Midtown Manhattan, to the cafes and night clubs frequented by young Asian professionals and kyo-pos, War With Pigeons artfully immerses the reader into a segment of American society that is rarely seen.

At its heart, the book is a story of love, loss and hope, whether it's in the context of one courageous woman's hardships in coming to America, the sufferings of her son to secure love in an unsympathetic world or the struggles of a beautiful woman to continue on the path of life after her beloved has departed.

This debut novel from writer Tae Kim is a tribute to the tradition of storytelling, using prose that is entertaining and sensually romantic at times, heart-wrenching and poignantly riveting at others, but always passionate and beautifully written.