Rating: 
Summary: An Entertaining Read
Review: An unusual murder and the concomitant death of a partner who was also a cherished, life-long friend - so begins an intriguing, garish, yet sympathetic look into the underside of life in Bangkok. These deaths occurred in Bangkok's 8th police district (hence the title). As summarized on the front end flap, "Under a Bangkok bridge, inside a bolted-shut Mercedes: a murder by snake - a charismatic African American Marine sergeant killed by a methamphetamine-stoked python and a swarm of stoned cobras. Two cops - the only two in the city not on the take - arrive too late. Minutes later, only one is alive: Sonchai Jitpleecheep - a devout Buddhist, equally versed in the sacred and the profane - son of a long-gone Vietnam War G.I. and a Thai bar girl whose subsequent international clientele contributed richly to Sonchai's sophistication." The unusual circumstances behind the two deaths are matched by a variety of compelling, occasionally surrealistic characters Detective Jitpleecheep encounters as he works his way through seemingly disparate clues - bargirls who use the only resource available to themselves as they try to find a better life, an international art dealer who uses his power to satisfy his sado-sexual fantasies, a transsexual driven by a desire for revenge, and police officials that use and perpetuate institutionalized corruption as a vehicle to achieve personal wealth and power. Along the way he ruminates on his past, his close relationship with his now-dead partner, subtleties of Thai culture, and an uncertain future as he struggles to reconcile his inner conflict: his Western biological roots versus his deep affinity for Thai culture; his role in a tangled world versus his longing for self-enlightenment and inner peace. His struggle mirrors the broader struggle that is Burdett's central theme: the longing for a spiritual Buddhist past versus the increasing encroachment of Western technological consumerism. The plot is contrived, somewhat larger than life, but luckily doesn't get in the way. It holds one's interest, but the beauty of the book is the story of the seamier side of Bangkok's culture. Burdett has captured the turmoil, the inner conflict, of a spiritual people who avoided outright European colonization (one of a small handful of Asian countries to do so) only to succumb to Western wealth in the second half of the twentieth century. The conflict within Detective Jitpleecheep mirrors this broader Thai conundrum. Burdett's style is readable; the story well paced. The ending is a bit strange, but the descriptions of Thai culture and life in Bangkok that season the book throughout are a delight. It has the makings of a movie along with a sequel or two. One hope's we have not heard the last from Sonchai Jitpleecheep.
Rating: 
Summary: An Exotic Banquet of a Book
Review: John Burdett's BANGKOK 8 is an exotic murder mystery wrapped in what amounts to a detailed and riveting character study of a city at the intersection of the old world and the new. Burdett's Bangkok is a place where Thai culture and American culture meet like two rivers in a great, chaotic swirl. The title refers to a police district in the teeming city, the territory of police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. Sonchai is the son of an unidentified American GI and a Bangkok [street walker]. As the story opens, Sonchai and Pichai Apiradee, his childhood friend and police partner, are assigned without explanation to follow William Bradley, an American Marine sergeant. They lose track of Bradley's Mercedes, but pick up the trail not long after, only to find him dead in the back seat, wrapped in the deadly embrace of a seventeen-foot python. When Pichai opens the car door to investigate, he is attacked by one of several dozen small but highly venomous cobras, and dies on the spot. In the aftermath, the grieving Sonchai quietly and serenely swears vengeance on those responsible for his friend's death. Sonchai is as fascinating a character as you are likely to find in fiction. A gentle and devout Buddhist, he lives in near poverty. But as a youth, thanks to his mother's talent and business savvy as a prostitute, a series of wealthy and sophisticated European johns provided Sonchai with an education in Western culture --- as experienced by those with great wealth and great connections. Sonchai's Buddhist beliefs and essential Thai mindset keep his Western influences --- particularly a fondness for Italian clothing designers --- in check. Sonchai has James Bond's sophistication, but a pauper's budget. As protagonist in this remarkably rich and detailed story, Sonchai serves as the personification of the modern day city of Bangkok. The story is told from Sonchai's distinctly Thai perspective, a technique that works to great effect in portraying the American characters, particularly FBI agent Kimberly Jones, as fish out of water, struggling to understand the complexities, contradictions, and ironies of Thai culture. Sonchai steadfastly refuses to take part in the [crime]and influence peddling that define Burdett's Bangkok. But this [crime]has evolved as a solution to the city's many social and economic woes. Police [crime] is seen simply as the status quo, a system that has practical benefits: the cops on the take never complain about miniscule salaries, which in turn makes tax increases unnecessary. The upper echelon officers of the police department --- the big money guys --- regularly donate a portion of their take to charities and are also careful to distribute their wealth on the street to build networks of popular support. Where the Thais accept [crime] and bribery as a fact of life, the Americans in this story (and let's face it, in real life) say one thing and do another. They profess astonishment at the level and sheer visibility of the [crime] in Bangkok, while telling Sonchai that his investigation of the murders of Bradley and Pichai must steer clear of a wealthy and well-connected American businessman with an interest in jade and a taste for [criminal] violence. Burdett weaves flashbacks of Sonchai's youth into a powerful narrative that delivers the sensual and meteorological heat of Bangkok at a measured yet unrelenting pace. It is a place of mystery and mysticism, of [physical contact] and spirituality, of life and death, and of revenge and rebirth. Burdett's prose is rich in metaphor, sly wit and insight, and he has written an exotic banquet of a book. If your midsummer travel plans extend no further than your patio, porch, fire escape or sofa, you'll do well to venture into the pages of BANGKOK 8. It ain't Kansas, Toto, and you may not want to send your mother the snapshots, but you're going to have a very good time. --- Reviewed by Bob Rhubart
Rating:
Summary: Terrific cultural mystery
Review: Make no mistake: this is a genre book--a mystery. It does not transcend the genre, but it is among the best mysteries I have read. I love mysteries that take place in other (than American) cultures and exhibit a real understanding of that culture. Having been to Thailand several times, Bangkok 8 fits that bill. It is enthralling: sex, murder, rebirth, Buddhism, corruption, drugs, gems, revenge.
Rating:
Summary: Drugs, Snakes, Jade, Sex, and the Buddhist Policeman
Review: I've always been a sucker for mysteries set in exotic locales, such as the Napoleon Bonaparte novels of Arthur W Upfield set in the Australian outback or the Inspector Ghote stories of H R F Keating. John Burdett's BANGKOK 8 bids fair, however, to take the grand prize. Not only is Bangkok as exotic a city as you'll find, but Detective Sonchai Jitleecheep is the only member of the Royal Thai police force who doesn't take bribes or visit prostitutes -- mostly because he is a devout Buddhist. When an American NCO is attacked and killed by a crazed python and a dozen cobras in his air-conditioned Mercedes of all places, Sonchai and his partner are sent to investigate. Sonchai's partner and soul brother dies from snakebite while investigating, leaving Sonchai to weigh the un-Buddhist possibility of revenge. Bangkok itself takes star billing in this intriguing novel. Traffic jams are so impossible that the only way to get around is either by helicopter or motorcycle taxis driven by meth-addicted drivers. Prostitution is an integral part of the landscape, and even Sonchai's own mother is an ex-whore who plans to become the mamasan of a brothel for older men. I challenge anyone to solve the plot. Until the very end, it just seems to get more tangled, but Burdett neatly ties all the loose ends. The only weak point is Kimberley Jones, a young female FBI agent who falls for Sonchai, largely because her character is too static while everything around her seems to change at the speed of light. By the end, it is Thailand that seems normal, and the U.S. that seems to be stuggling in a sea of apparent illogic: "What we don't realize, we Thais, is just how simple life is in the West. Too simple. The most modest of contributions -- a forty-hour week at the least demanding of mechanized tasks -- one earns a car, an apartment, a bank account. Other gifts of the system -- a spouse, a child or two, a small collection of friends -- arrive automatically and gift-wrapped with support of every kind. A whole hemisphere, in other words, lies dying from event-starvation."
Rating:
Summary: A Buddhist Sort of Mystery
Review: First the bad: I found the book to be less than gracefully written. At times the language is painfully stilted. I know that I am not used to the "hard-boiled" style that many detective stories employ, but too often the prose caused me to lurch to a standstill while my brain rotated the offensive sentence around in my head, unwilling to go on. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by how well Burdett used Thai Buddhism to add fascinating depth and nuance to the story. I have often been wary of Buddhism in general, mostly because my only experience with it is as a trendy religion, the accessory of Beastie Boys fans and cause-hungry hippies for whom the Free Tibet bumper sticker perfectly conceals the country club parking permit on the bumper of the Volvo. Burdett's Thai Buddhism, however, is both unassuming and universal. He presents it as inseparable from Thai culture, and naturally the Buddhist way of thinking, so different from our cold Western logic, becomes integral to solving the mystery (we are investigating the gruesome death by multiple snakes of an American marine, by the way.) It's not so tidy as most detective stories, but then that too, follows the Buddhist way of thinking and is the strongpoint of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: A strong city, a weak cast
Review: I picked this up when I saw that the blurbs on the back cover came from my two favorite crimes writers, Carl Hiaasen and James Ellroy. I suppose I was hoping for great things, either Hiaasen's light hand, or Ellroy's dark tales of intrigue. However, when a character takes a deep breath and delivers a one to three page sermon on, amongst other things, jade, prostitution or buddhist beliefs, you discover that you are not in the hands of an expert. It seems as if Burdett had almost too much that he wanted to impart to the reader and rather than work pieces skilfully into the plot, he opted for dense exposition. It is a shame, because Burdett can write well. Sochai Jitpleecheep comes across as a well developed character and would have held the book together had he not been surrounded by a paper thin supporting cast. Take your pick, the [attractive] FBI agent with a crush on our hero, the [prostitute] with a heart of gold, the evil millionaire sexual sadist. Most of Burdett's secondary characters are little more than B-movie types given the odd line of amusing dialogue. It's a shame, because Burdett does a fine job bringing the city and the culture to life. If only he had found the right characters to populate his streets.
Rating:
Summary: A spicy, exotic murder mystery
Review: A black marine sergeant is sitting in the back seat of a Mercedes, dead from cobra bites, and his head in the mouth of a crazed python that is trying to swallow him whole. When detectives Sonchai Jitpleecheep and his best friend Pichai arrive on the scene, one cobra fastens on Pichai's eyeball, killing him instantly. Sonchai, the half-breed product of a brief liaison of a Thai prostitute and an American GI, wants to find the criminal and wants revenge for Pichai. With the help (or hindrance, depending on the situation) of an FBI agent named Kimberly Jones who has a crush on him, Sonchai traces the crime back to a wealthy American jade dealer named Sylvester Warren, who hobnobs with the high rollers on Capitol Hill and has a particularly nasty hobby of flaying prostitutes alive, and his protegée Fatima, an exquisite half-black, half-Asian transsexual who went from street urchin to diva, and now has a hidden agenda all her own. Sonchai, who is probably the only honest cop left in the graft-ridden Thai police force, quickly solves the "whodunit"; what he wants to know now is the "why". Turns out that Warren and the dead marine are linked together in some pretty shady enterprises, with the connivance and participation of Sonchai's chief Vikorn. Burdett shows us the sordid underbelly of Bangkok: the corrupt police, the sex bars that stay open all night, the drug dealing, the peculiarly Thai mindset that an outsider like Jones can never hope to understand. One of his Burdetts most interesting (and endearing, I have to admit) characters is Sonchai's intrepid mother Nong, a former bargirl who has parlayed her gift of languages, learned from living off Western lovers, and her shrewd head for business, into a venture that is sure to make her rich -- a brothel catering exclusively for the Viagra set. Is this immoral? Or is she simply filling an unmet need? It depends on how you look at it; just as one needs to put aside one's Western prejudices and read this book from an Eastern perspective. The one cavil I have with the book is Burdett's tendency to stereotype; the venal Vikorn probably doesn't represent all Thai policemen any more than the bitter and sexually frustrated Jones represents all American career women. It's the one jarring note in an otherwise very good mystery novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Long and verbose with a rambling plot
Review: Sonchai Jitpleecheep is a cop in Bangkok. He is of mixed extraction- father was a GI in Vietnam and is now long gone. His mother was a bar girl. He and his partner are called to investigate the death of a black marine sergeant who is found dead in his car after being trapped in the vehicle with many highly poisonous cobras and a deadly python. Sonchai's partner is killed by one of the snakes while trying to get the marine out. Sonchai wants questions answered- who is the marine and why was he killed? Who killed him? The answers will not only solve the crime but, to Sonchai's mind, allow him to seek revenge over the death of his partner.
BANGKOK 8 is a very long verbose book that delves into life in the dark underbelly of the city that lends its name to the title. We meet dozens of unsavory individuals as Sonchai searches for answers. The portrait of the city and its inhabitants are superbly and carefully rendered. However, as a thriller and as an entertainment, the book lacks a true pulse. The plot meanders through much explanation of Sonchai's philosophy on life. Of course these explanations slow down the pacing to practically a standstill. Getting through the book is rendered even more difficult by the sheer volume of characters the reader must keep track of.
Rating:
Summary: Bangkok Gr8 !
Review: This thriller has original characters, colorful settings, lots of action and suspense, hilarious moments, and a little Buddhist philosophy. It's a page-turner, and the main character, Sonchai, is very engaging. He's a good guy in a wild city, where bad things happen, as he tries to solve a case as well as avenge his soul-brother's murder. It's a good novel, with interesting twists and turns. You can almost feel Bangkok's heartbeat while you're reading, and you can't wait to see what will happen next. While reading this book, I just HAD to go out and get some pad thai, it's that absorbing. I agree with another reviewer who mentioned that the ending is weak. I think the loose ends were too neatly tied up. But with so many sub-plots and layers of the story, I think finishing the book would be disappointing no matter what. I hope Sonchai, and his mom, appear in a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Not A Masterpiece, But An Enjoyable Yarn
Review: I recently devoured Bangkok 8 in a couple of days. It is a compelling mystery with excellent use of local culture and customs to add color to the novel. It is literally overflowing with lurid and accurate details of Bangkok. He also manages to convey a lot about Buddhism. I liked how he used a radio call in talk show with a sociologist host to make observations and analysis about Thai culture and societal problems, rather than giving long speeches to characters. I like the fact that he made the main character half Thai and half Caucasian (or double if you prefer). This dual status gives him access and insight into Thai culture and western culture. Furthermore, it makes him an outsider in both cultures as well. He is also well steeped in the world of prostitution since his mother used to earn her living via the trade. In addition, his Buddhism and personal knowledge of the street makes him a pure cop, who doesn't take a bribe, but is tolerated for his ability to speak English, which can come in handy for the police department. The ending is somewhat anti-climatic, but somehow appropriate to the tone of the story.
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