Bangkok 8 by
John Burdett
hbk out July 03
Published by Bantam
at £10
It’s wonderful to go travelling and here’s a novel that is thick with the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the Thai city. An African-American Marine is killed in a car full of deadly snakes and when Sonchai and fellow cop (and soul brother) Pichai arrive to investigate, Pichai is bitten and killed by a cobra. Eager to avenge the death of his friend, Sonchai is sucked into a tangled plot that involves a beautiful and elusive woman, an American jade collector, the sex industry, superiors in his own police force, Chinese gangsters and an attractive FBI agent who fancies him. Sonchai, the son of a successful prostitute who is keen to know the identity of his farang (foreign) father, is an endearing creation and is acknowledged to be the only uncorrupted police officer in town. He is steadfast in his attempts to follow the Buddhist path to enlightenment (though he’s desperate for some decent designer threads and a room with a window). Much more thoughtful than your run of the mill international thriller especially in the way ex-pat lawyer Burdett filters the whole story through the meditative sensibilities of the young Sonchai. Droll in tone as he dissects the clash in style between the Westerners and their Eastern counterparts, and describes the sorry Westerners who flock to Bangkok for pleasures of the flesh and the US government agents who go about their dirty business protecting the interests of the homeland. Highly recommended.
Manchester Evening News 5.7.03
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries set on the mean streets of Manchester)
Bangkok 8 by
John Burdett
