from the book's website:

The Dharma King is an epic chase to find and bring the baby Panchen Lama, the spiritual counterpart to the Dalai Lama, to safety.

A young American man, Samuel Falk Simms, Jr races against time, a vicious Chinese Colonel, and his own demons, to save what may be the last hope of a religion and culture in peril.

Searching Buddhist temples, foreign cities, and crossing the Himalayan plains, he is guided by a fleeting glimpse of a map, a new love, and the long buried truth within him.

I struggled to read this book.  I really gave it an honest effort, but I just can't get into it.  I tried to read it under the premise of educating myself on another religion and lifestyle and such.  I couldn't get through it.  I don't really know why, because the author seems very well educated on this topic as well as generally (vocabulary and such).  I think that for me, it's just not where I am in my life.  Now, I can see my brother gobbling it up and gaining all sorts of insights and knowledge from the author's perspective.

Disclosure: The Dharma King was graciously sent to me by the author.