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Bangkok 8 A Royal Thai Detective Novel John Burdett 9781400040445 Books

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Bangkok 8 A Royal Thai Detective Novel John Burdett 9781400040445 Books

A unique mystery-thriller unlike anything I have ever read, Bangkok 8 is the first of a series starring Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, who in the opener is following, with his cop partner Pichai, a shady American marine sergeant in Bangkok, when the marine is - right in front of them, in a car bolted shut - slaughtered by a nasty nest of cobras trapped with him in his Mercedes. When Pichai is also killed in the ensuing chaos, Sonchai - a devout Buddhist arhat - makes it his life's mission to not only find out what happened, but to himself kill Pichai's murderer to avenge his partner's death. But the deeper Sonchai digs, even with the help of attractive FBI agent Kimberley Jones, the more the increasingly twisted trail seems to lead toward an American jeweler with untold wealth and influence - influence that extends even over Sonchai's own superiors in the police force. As said, I have never read a novel like Bangkok 8; never read a piece of fiction that so solidified in me the essence of a people, culture, way of life - even religion - as this novel does of Thailand, tying it all into not just Sonchai and those he encounters and where he goes, but even the mystery itself. It's a book that makes you think deeply, yet also has touches of dark humor and plenty of thrills; even conversations between characters, at length, never come off boring or as filler, as the characters are so exceptionally well-drawn - what they have to say so revealing of them or the story - you must read word for word. Sorry for the gushing, but yet again: have simply never read anything like Bangkok 8. And I certainly can't remember when I was last so absorbed in a book that, while reading it, I completely forgot about the real world surrounding me. *****


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Bangkok 8 A Royal Thai Detective Novel John Burdett 9781400040445 Books Reviews

A wonderful breath of fresh air. Burdett recreates modern day Bangkok from a Thai perspective rather than a cliched foreigner's view.
Detective Jitpleecheep is that rare breed - an honest cop and an honest man in a society that requires 'corruption' (at least to Western eyes) to function.
He also happens to be a fairly good detective, adroit at balancing the needs of justice and his superiors while solving a horrific crime.
This is a terrific book. I read all my books by audio and B.D. Wong of Law and Order, SVU fame is an excellent reader on this one (the reader adds a salient dimension to the spoken book). The protagonist, Sonchai Jitpleecheep, is a complex, intellectual, compassionate, procedurally brilliant, humorous pot smoking buddhist (what more can you ask?). He fascinates, and so do the characters around him. Settings are Thai--beautiful, outrageous, perspective expanding--so different from the West. Satisfying action pace, peppered with spiritualism, philosophy, and deep losses sustained. Original story lines will surprise you. I love the "newness" of his books when comparing them to the many other procedurals, mysteries, paranormal etc etc books I've read. Burdette himself is interesting too, a life arc both wise and actualized. See also The Godfather of Kathmandu read by Stephen Hogan, another reader who pegs it. Glad I discovered Burdett. I hope to see all his books as audio books available in my library. Read him!
I purchased this three years ago after another big reader suggested the trilogy. I sat on it for awhile (I don't read much fiction, and certainly not thrillers), but I took it with me on an international trip and read it after I finished everything else.

As someone who has spent a decent amount of time in Thailand, I can say that it captures some aspects of the culture quite well. The characters are interesting and well developed. Some of the conversations are excellent, particularly about Buddhism, reincarnation, East-West differences, the sex trade, and power. The weakness of the story is the plot, which is a bit ridiculous (but on par for thriller books/movies). I kept reading because I liked the characters and observations.

A quick, breezy read. A few laugh out loud moments. Several nice deep thoughts.
The best of the Sonchai Jitleecheep books and, IMHO, a minor masterpiece of the detective novel genre. While I know little of Thai culture, there is a strong feeling of authenticity here. The narrator straddles the western and eastern worlds due to his parentage, and he does so well. This book has it all great, distinctive characters, wonderful locations, intensely vivid description, and a great plot. Sonchai's wry asides about both his and western cultures alone make this book worth reading. If only Burdett had been able to reach this level in his other Royal Thai novels...
As these surrealist crime novels go, this one is a cut above Larson’s MILLENNIUM TRILOGY. It hovers on the brink of literature in the same way that Graham Greene’s novels do, and the narrator evokes Greene in sidelong (possibly self-reflexive) illustration of this. Family values are conjured up in the context of a pornographic enterprise and the novel constantly engages with the complexities of Buddhism, so if you are looking for moral certitude, pass on to fare less rich, less nuanced. The plot unravels through a series of second- and third-level narratives recounted to the main character, a Thai detective who refuses to take bribes. It is not a cozy read, but an eminently satisfying one, living down to the worst in human nature and up to the best in human storytelling. It’s a grim, lipsmacking, otherworldly yarn that manages to explore some dark and fascinating realties of the contemporary world with equal parts philosophical introspection and cinematic aplomb.
A unique mystery-thriller unlike anything I have ever read, Bangkok 8 is the first of a series starring Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, who in the opener is following, with his cop partner Pichai, a shady American marine sergeant in Bangkok, when the marine is - right in front of them, in a car bolted shut - slaughtered by a nasty nest of cobras trapped with him in his Mercedes. When Pichai is also killed in the ensuing chaos, Sonchai - a devout Buddhist arhat - makes it his life's mission to not only find out what happened, but to himself kill Pichai's murderer to avenge his partner's death. But the deeper Sonchai digs, even with the help of attractive FBI agent Kimberley Jones, the more the increasingly twisted trail seems to lead toward an American jeweler with untold wealth and influence - influence that extends even over Sonchai's own superiors in the police force. As said, I have never read a novel like Bangkok 8; never read a piece of fiction that so solidified in me the essence of a people, culture, way of life - even religion - as this novel does of Thailand, tying it all into not just Sonchai and those he encounters and where he goes, but even the mystery itself. It's a book that makes you think deeply, yet also has touches of dark humor and plenty of thrills; even conversations between characters, at length, never come off boring or as filler, as the characters are so exceptionally well-drawn - what they have to say so revealing of them or the story - you must read word for word. Sorry for the gushing, but yet again have simply never read anything like Bangkok 8. And I certainly can't remember when I was last so absorbed in a book that, while reading it, I completely forgot about the real world surrounding me. *****