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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781400032907
ISBN number: 1400032903
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: July 13, 2004
Publishing house: Vintage
Release Date: July 13, 2004
Sale Popularity Level: 9732
Studio: Vintage
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
A thriller with attitude to spare, Bangkok 8 is a sexy, razor-edged, often darkly hilarious novel set in one of the world’s 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 partner’s 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, Sonchai’s quest for vengeance takes him into a world much more sinister than he could have ever imagined.
Amazon.com:
When a U.S. Marine is killed in Bangkok, the task of finding the murderer falls to Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, seemingly the only member of the Royal Thai Police Force whose idea of justice precludes his fellow officers' customary system of bribery. This assignment's especially important to the devout detective for during the investigation of the murder scene, the methamphetamine-stoked snakes that bit the marine also kill Sonchai's police partner, best friend, and Buddhist soul-mate Pichai. Sonchai's pursuit of revenge will team him with a sexually frustrated FBI agent and leave them at the mercy of yaa-baa-fueled motorcycle-taxi drivers as they hurtle through neon-lit Bangkok and into the labyrinthine and deadly machinations of the international jade and drug trades in search of the killer.
As Sonchai himself notes at one point, 'This isn't a whodunit, is it?' And, no, it isn't, but author John Burdett (A Personal History of Thirst, The Last Six Million Seconds) infuses the plot with enough suspense, detail, and dry Asian insight to keep readers rapt as the story careens about the bars and brothels of Thailand's flesh trade, through its cut-rate plastic surgery parlors, and ends in a climax with a fittingly Buddhist twist. Bangkok 8 is highly recommended for readers in the mood for Thai. --Benjamin Reese
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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The majority of the book was a serious, taut, thriller. At a certain point, a weak feeling snuck up in the text and it went downhill from there to the ending, which was fluffy and disapointing. Not that it would stop me from re-reading the beginning, but I was disappointed.
Rated by buyers -
I read Bangkok Tattoo very first so this was "catch" up. Thought Tattoo was hilarious in places. This one was not as funny but so many twists and turns my head was spinning.
Rated by buyers 
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Forget about whether or not this book accurately depicts Bangkok life, or is slanted by the misconstrued vision of the author. After all, it is not a travelogue, it is a work of fiction very first and foremost. And it is a work of fiction of extreme ingenuity. The writer is highly talented. He is also highly complex, and so is his story.
And he is funny as all get out. I can't count the many times this book got a laugh out of me, either for its outright humor, or its subtle, more hidden ironic meanings.
Yes, I agree with some other reviewers that there is a tendency to bash "farangs" in grey and white terms. They are facilely pigeonholed. Although this view is seen through the eyes of his fascinating main character (fascinating because it is impossible to guess what he is going to say or do subsequent - the unexpected is always forthcoming), the reader senses (correctly or incorrectly) that the main character expresses the views of his creator. Only Mr. Burdett himself can confirm or deny the truth of this impression.
This book is about divides and contradictions; finding, losing and searching again. Confusion? Yes. But always in the cloak of ingenuity.
The only weakness that I can point out is that the male characters are drawn very three dimensionally, while the female characters always remain somewhat in the mist. None are clearly wholly defined. They don't come out into the sunlight as do the males. In fact, one can almost say they are drawn stereotypically. Almost, but not quite.
As the writer is exceptionally gifted, he has created an exceptional book. Its uniqueness ensures that this novel has no predecessor, and it is not likely there will ever be another one even resembling it. For its complexity, its genius, and for just a plain old-fashioned fascinating read, I would highly recommend it. It is full of contradictions that have yet to be resolved. And it leaves it's reader (and perhaps the author as well) with the responsibility of doing so.
Rated by buyers -
This cleverly written series debut pushes the envelope in all ways, especially character and setting. Sonchai is an engaging biracial, polycultural detective; Bangkok a locale of vast exoticism, where the protagonist is intimately familiar with every nook and cranny, however dark or sleazy, and yet for evident reasons never in face feels at home at all. Over the top in premise and plot it may be, but intentionally so; and the everyday and not-so-everyday sharp details, East and West, make it work and enchant, and then some.
Rated by buyers -
I picked up this book in Hong Kong en route to Bangkok a few years ago and read and LOVED it. The different writing, true to life details, and wonderful characters interwoven with the idiosyncratic Buddhist beliefs and practices of the the main characters is enchanting, just like Bangkok the city. I have recently read Bangkok Tatoo and love it equally.
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