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4 Burnside Mystery- A to Z

Bangkok 8

by

Bangkok 8 Cover

ISBN13: 9781400032907
ISBN10: 1400032903
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

 

Synopses & Reviews

From Powells.com:

"Though we know it as Bangkok, the Thai refer to their capital as Krung Thep, which translates as City of Angels. It's an unhappy coincidence. Just like our own City of Angels (Los Angeles), Krung Thep is a once-idyllic city that in recent decades has metastasized into an unwieldy concrete megalopolis. As a result, Bangkok is the perfect setting for that quintessential LA genre, the urban noir. In Bangkok 8, John Burdett takes full advantage." C. P. Farley, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)

Publisher Comments:

A thriller with attitude to spare, Bangkok 8 is a sexy, razor-edged, often darkly hilarious novel set in one of the worlds most exotic cities.

Witnessed by a throng of gaping spectators, a charismatic Marine sergeant is murdered under a Bangkok bridge inside a bolted-shut Mercedes Benz. Among the witnesses are the only two cops in the city not on the take, but within moments one is murdered and his partner, Sonchai Jitpleecheep—a devout Buddhist and the son of a Thai bar girl and a long-gone Vietnam War G.I.—is hell-bent on wreaking revenge. On a vigilante mission to capture his partners murderer, Sonchai is begrudgingly paired with a beautiful FBI agent named Jones and captures her heart in the process. In a city fueled by illicit drugs and infinite corruption, prostitution and priceless art, Sonchais quest for vengeance takes him into a world much more sinister than he could have ever imagined.

Review:

"A stunning thriller! Bangkok 8 is suspense at its best: a masterfully written tale set in a world that's perfectly evoked and populated with compelling, flesh-and-blood characters." Jeffery Deaver, author of The Stone Monkey

Review:

?The wildest ride in modern crime novel exoticum. A novel so steeped in milieu that it feels as if you?ve blasted to Mars in the grip of a demon who won?t let you go. Read this book, savor the language — it?s the last — and the most compelling word in thrillers.? James Ellroy

Review:

"Bangkok 8 is one of the most startling and provocative mysteries that I've read in years. The characters are marvelously unique, the setting is intoxicating and the plot unwinds in dark illusory strands, reminiscent of Gorky Park. Once I started, I didn't want to put it down." Carl Hiaasen, author of Basket Case

Review:

"The novel's plot is twisty, and there's sex and violence along the way. But personally, I'd read a book that followed Sonchai around Bangkok on a day he spent writing up parking tickets. His take on the Thai way of looking at the world is that beguiling and illuminating, his affection for the funky, overwrought yet strangely laid-back city he roams is that contagious....[T]here's a pretty good detective story in there, too, but it could have withered away and I'd barely have missed it amid the stories of soccer-mad call girls who want to watch the game while servicing their clients, pit stops at the book-stuffed apartment of a drunken Russian panderer, and disquisitions on the Chiu Chow Chinese....I have no idea how accurate Burdett's depiction of the Thai outlook may be (he's a British ex-lawyer who lives in Hong Kong), but Bangkok 8 nonetheless feels like a deliciously fresh breath of air in the often musty halls of detective fiction, as well as a more-than-fond tribute to a people whose charm is already legendary." Laura Miller, Salon.com

Review:

"Mr. Burdett...seems to have read a lot of detective stories...and watched a lot of movies, and he has folded all this knowledge into a stew pot of a thriller with uncommon energy and an alarming lack of discrimination....But as the case grows increasingly Byzantine, Mr. Burdett's plotting goes into manic hyperdrive, and his narrative and character development become increasingly slapdash." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Review:

"Burdett evokes an intriguing and exotic Bangkok where hungry ghosts and capitalists throng the busy intersection of the eightfold path and the red-light district....The pace never flags, every page unfolding fresh mysteries of the psychological, cultural, metaphysical, and locked-room varieties." Library Journal

Review:

"Enjoyable, mostly, with a savage payoff and a smoky, acidic aftertaste." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"A thriller as exotic as it is enthralling, and as provocative as it is obscene....This is a novel for anyone who admires the Zen Buddhist Amsterdam mysteries of Janwillem van de Wetering, the Yellowthread Street Hong Kong mysteries of William Marshall, and Michael Dibkin's Aurelio Zen." Harpers

Review:

"Burdett's few missteps — including a key revelation handled too matter-of-factly and a woefully farcical coda — can't trip up an otherwise surefooted and satisfying tale." Frank Sennett, Booklist
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About the Author

John Burdett is a nonpracticing lawyer who worked in Hong Kong for a British firm until he found his true vocation as a writer. Since then, he has lived in France and Spain and is now back in Hong Kong. He is the author of A Personal History of Thirst and The Last Six Million Seconds.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
Niki from NJ, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by Niki from NJ)
I really enjoyed the intriguing picture that that Burdett paints of Bangkok, his quirky characters and the many twists of his plot. I loved both the American-Thai Sonchai's unique, charming perspectives on Thai life, and the way that his world view contrasts and clashes with that of the American FBI he is teamed up with. The author's great sense of humor is apparent in the wonderful expressions he uses and in even in the simplest scenes that he describes. It was a wild ride and a satisfying read.
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jjudyfl, January 3, 2010 (view all comments by jjudyfl)
Gifted to/forced on more friends...Budhist cop/detective challenged in Eastern Sin City? An unsuspected ending that shocked me,grossed me out & left me smiling? I wallowed in John Burdett's satisfying book!
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Shoshana, January 11, 2008 (view all comments by Shoshana)
This is the first of three mysteries whose protagonist is Sonchai Jitpleecheep, a half-white, Buddhist Thai detective with a bar girl mother. Most of the action takes place in Bangkok.

What's most enjoyable about this mystery is how the narrator sees and describes the world from a cultural perspective that is likely to be very different from the Western reader's construct. This is highlighted by his interactions with the FBI agent assigned to work with him. Their assumptions frequently clash, not just around the case, but in terms of how each of them lives, their values, and their perceptions of the right course of action.

At times the action bogs down and there are several points of plot confusion. The ending is not credible and elides over many difficulties in a way that does not seem true to the characters. The basic plot, however, is interesting and enjoyable, and the book's atmosphere can't be beat.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400032907
Author:
Burdett, John
Publisher:
Vintage Books
Subject:
Thrillers
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - General
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled
Subject:
Police
Subject:
Thailand
Subject:
Mystery fiction
Subject:
Police - Thailand - Bangkok
Subject:
Mystery-A to Z
Copyright:
2003
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series:
Vintage
Publication Date:
20040731
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
336
Dimensions:
8.04x5.22x.73 in. .55 lbs.
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Related Subjects


Fiction and Poetry » Mystery » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Contemporary Thrillers

Bangkok 8 Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$9.50 In Stock
Product details 336 pages Vintage Books USA - English 9781400032907 Reviews:
"Review" by , "A stunning thriller! Bangkok 8 is suspense at its best: a masterfully written tale set in a world that's perfectly evoked and populated with compelling, flesh-and-blood characters."
"Review" by , ?The wildest ride in modern crime novel exoticum. A novel so steeped in milieu that it feels as if you?ve blasted to Mars in the grip of a demon who won?t let you go. Read this book, savor the language — it?s the last — and the most compelling word in thrillers.?
"Review" by , "Bangkok 8 is one of the most startling and provocative mysteries that I've read in years. The characters are marvelously unique, the setting is intoxicating and the plot unwinds in dark illusory strands, reminiscent of Gorky Park. Once I started, I didn't want to put it down."
"Review" by , "The novel's plot is twisty, and there's sex and violence along the way. But personally, I'd read a book that followed Sonchai around Bangkok on a day he spent writing up parking tickets. His take on the Thai way of looking at the world is that beguiling and illuminating, his affection for the funky, overwrought yet strangely laid-back city he roams is that contagious....[T]here's a pretty good detective story in there, too, but it could have withered away and I'd barely have missed it amid the stories of soccer-mad call girls who want to watch the game while servicing their clients, pit stops at the book-stuffed apartment of a drunken Russian panderer, and disquisitions on the Chiu Chow Chinese....I have no idea how accurate Burdett's depiction of the Thai outlook may be (he's a British ex-lawyer who lives in Hong Kong), but Bangkok 8 nonetheless feels like a deliciously fresh breath of air in the often musty halls of detective fiction, as well as a more-than-fond tribute to a people whose charm is already legendary."
"Review" by , "Mr. Burdett...seems to have read a lot of detective stories...and watched a lot of movies, and he has folded all this knowledge into a stew pot of a thriller with uncommon energy and an alarming lack of discrimination....But as the case grows increasingly Byzantine, Mr. Burdett's plotting goes into manic hyperdrive, and his narrative and character development become increasingly slapdash."
"Review" by , "Burdett evokes an intriguing and exotic Bangkok where hungry ghosts and capitalists throng the busy intersection of the eightfold path and the red-light district....The pace never flags, every page unfolding fresh mysteries of the psychological, cultural, metaphysical, and locked-room varieties."
"Review" by , "Enjoyable, mostly, with a savage payoff and a smoky, acidic aftertaste."
"Review" by , "A thriller as exotic as it is enthralling, and as provocative as it is obscene....This is a novel for anyone who admires the Zen Buddhist Amsterdam mysteries of Janwillem van de Wetering, the Yellowthread Street Hong Kong mysteries of William Marshall, and Michael Dibkin's Aurelio Zen."
"Review" by , "Burdett's few missteps — including a key revelation handled too matter-of-factly and a woefully farcical coda — can't trip up an otherwise surefooted and satisfying tale."
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