Rating: 
Summary: Wow! What a great read!
Review: This is a book I did not want to finish because I liked it so much. I simply didn't want it to end. Bangkok 8 was such a pleasant surprise to me that I am recommending it to everyone I know. Loved the characters and loved the plot, a little wayward at times but I was really pleased with this book. Maybe Burdett will continue with Sonchai's character in another book! Highly recommended!
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Summary: this is a wonderful read, ignore critics
Review: I just finished this this afternoon, what a delightful read. great conversation, ideas, plot and just wonderful. Ignore the overly critical critcs and settle down for a good bbok.
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Summary: Unforgettable read
Review: Bangkok 8 is a fantastic book, read it!
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Summary: The ¿flesh trade¿ made real.
Review: Burdett is covering a lot of territory with Bangkok 8, and raising many interesting issues to do with our sexual mores, spiritual differences between the East and West, corruption of the rule of the law, exploitation of third world people, and the effects of American style capitalism on countries like Thailand. I had mixed emotions about this book, and in many respects, I agree with some of the other reviewers, that the novel has some good things to say but is perhaps kind of flawed as a literary thriller. Sonchai, the hero of the novel is a terrifically portrayed character - complex, moral, compassionate, emotional, and weak yet also remarkably spiritual. His efforts to find and avenge the horrific murder of his partner Pichai and William Bradley really are quite riveting and involving. But, generally, I found that the story became encumbered with just too many plot twists and too much background story, resulting in an overly cluttered scenario. There's just too much of the ethnic fighting, the Chinese/Tai relationships, the Russian crime syndicates, and American/Tai relations from the Vietnam War. The conclusion seems stretched and becomes almost farcical, as Kimberley Jones, the straight-laced American agent, returns to Thailand and makes a life decision that seems to be so out of character for her. Another major flaw in the narrative is that Bradley's murderer and the link between Bradley, and Warren - the stereotypical rich, wealthy capitalist - is exposed so early on. Although entertaining, I also had a hard time with the character of Fatima, and buying the fact that she could end up being so wealthy and exercising so much control over the other main protagonists. There is, however, a lot to admire in Bangkok 8. Burdett does a fantastic job of describing the sights and sounds of the red light district of section 8. And he really makes you experience what it must feel like as a tourist wondering down one of the streets of "Krung Thep." With a strong sense of honesty and authenticity Burdett depicts the dance bars, the sexual activity of the prostitutes, the necessities of illegal drugs - ganja and the met amphetamines - and the mainly Western clientele who frequent these neighborhoods. And the author does this without ever passing judgment on the lifestyles of the girls or their clients. Burdett effectively uses Sonchai - and to a lesser extent, some of the other characters - as a window and a cipher showing that in many ways that the capitalist needs of the West are, in fact, feeding the economies and "flesh trades" of the East; each serves and to an extent needs the other. He talks a lot about the reasons why the girls turn to prostitution and why the men go to them. Countries like Thailand, while retaining their deep-seated spiritual values, are finding themselves adopting and catering ever more readily to the materialism and wealth that the West is offering. Although flawed, Bangkok 8 is still and important and serious read; and it's a story that explores dark and violent emotional terrain in city that Burdett had bought to life in disturbing and memorable ways. Michael
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining though flawed...
Review: One becomes suspicious upon discovering an Apology at the beginning of a work of popular fiction. In this case, the author reminds the reader that the work their about to embark on is a work of fiction, and that his criticisms are merely poetic licence, tools to carry the story along. Burdett borders on obsequiousness in his efforts to justify his portrayal of the Royal Thai Police Force. Strangely, most people with knowledge of world affaires are aware of corruption in these sectors, and warnings from travel agencies and home governments before travelling to South East Asia, is common practice. However, after reading this entertaining novel, to my surprise, Burdett's apologies were misplaced. He certainly presents the Thai police force as corrupt, but in a light that justifies this system as somehow workable and much less hypocritical than our Western system. In fact, for all his criticisms of America, his Apology should have been directed at Western society in general, as he presents American's as consumerist, puritan, insensitive, greedy and inept. To make an apology before presenting your creative endeavours, really show's that the artist is extremely insecure about their creation. Art should stand on its own without pre-emptive explanations and apologies regarding its subject matter. These criticisms aside, ~Bangkok 8~ is a crime thriller from an Eastern perspective. For this genre, telling a crime story from Buddhist eyes, including and using the tenets from this religion to solve the mystery, is indeed a fresh approach. Our narrator, Detective Sonchai Jiteecheap, is an 'arhat', a Buddhist who is a '...fully realized (person), who voluntarily pauses on the shore of nirvana, postponing their total release in order to teach wisdom.' In other words, a holy man, who must workout his remaining karmic lessons, before their final step into the abyss. Jiteecheap is a likable character, despite his arrogance and evident sense of superiority over Westerner's, particularly his FBI assigned partner, Kimberly Jones. Unfortunately, the Jones character is presented as a cardboard cutout, representing the modern American woman as ambitious, exclusively right-brained, Anglo-centred and crass. I found Burdett's conscious perpetuation of Western and Eastern stereotypes extremely annoying. As a reader of this novel, if you can somehow ignore the stereotypes and sociological biases, concentrating on the mystery itself, the book is an entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Ingrediants in Over Cooked Potboiler
Review: Intrigued by the premise of a Buddhist detective solving a murder in the lurid red light district of decadent Bangkok, my interest was initially rewarded. Burkett paints a fascinating portrait of an international city filled with culture and contradiction. His depiction of crime, corruption and society in Thailand are worth the read. The background is great, but as a action/mystery the plot and story fail to keep pace. The author overreached and tried for spiritual depth, social commentary, cultural analysis and lost sight of suspense, tension and credibility essential to a mystery novel. The ending was like some tacked on silly Hollywood resolution.
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Summary: Bangkok Comes to Life in Little Incidents
Review: What I loved about Bangkok 8 were the snippets of Thai life and culturally-driven attitudes of the everyday people, especially the prostitutes and the members of the drug network. Sonchai, too, is a character study of a man having solid values and beliefs that are melded by experiences. Here's where the touching humor of the book is revealed. I had no problem with what some consider an attack on Western ideals. On the contrary, it's our boldness, combined with a lack of understanding of other, and older belief systems that causes so much mis-communication. At one point Sonchai says this is not so much a Who-done-it as a Why'd-they-do-it. And Bangkok 8 is exactly that. It's not your traditional murder mystery. And this vehicle allows the author to examine cultural differences among the various characters, Asian and American. It's very thought-provoking about lots of issues, from the sex trade to police procedures, to economic exploitation, politics, and international diplomacy. That John Burdett can handle all of these issues adroitly in a single 300-page book is a tribute to his skill and tight-editing. I read the book thinking that it was more a man's book. I guess I still think so, only now I'm a little less sure.
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Summary: anti-american rant or planet splok?
Review: I came to Amazon searching for a copy of the excellently titled "A Personal History of Thirst" - another alleged 'first novel' by former Hong Kong lawyer John Burdett, and was surprised by a few of the US based reviewers of Bangkok 8. I guess some are still tingling with righteous anger and feel sensitive to criticism (I note the date of one review - 9.11) however historically accurate. What is this criticism? That the CIA set-up the heroin run out of Laos - there's a surprise. That some SE-Asian economies are still corrupt and in tatters thanks in part to post Vietnam War political chaos - really? This is tamely handled, and quite non-judgmentally described as background explanation for the Thai attitude to the west in Burdettt's superb police procedural. Burdett was careful to apoligize in advance to the Thai police and people, fearing he might ofend them with this tale of endemic and institutionalised corruption, and I am sure he didn't anticipate cultural sensitivity coming the other way. As an expat swimming to and from Thailand all the time, I appreciate Burdett's ear and eyes for the goings-on in the seedy parts of Bangkok that we business-class tourists know and exploit so very well. His observations ring with genuine experience and he shows an empathic fondness for the working girls and their sorry situation. I read in the South China Morning Post just this morning that Burdett decided to refocus his novel as he found out more about these girls. They are amazing people and prostitution in Thailand is an amazing business. "The sequel is a continuing conversation with them," he is quoted as saying. I was recommended this book for the entertaining cultural commentary it provides and I enjoyed it for that plus the nicely tuned sexual tension, and the fact that I was lying by the pool in my Phet-Buri Rd hotel as I read it. Bangkok is not Planet Splok to me, but a place I know well, and it is here described finely and astutely. When I see those criticisms I think that maybe, despite Burdett efforts to explain it to the world, Bangkok remains, as Australian band Cold Chisel used to sing, a place, an atmosphere, an attitude "that only other vets would understand." However the some of the world so convincingly described in Bangkok 8 has already been reshaped. For those who didn't know, Prime Minister Thaksin has recently been cleaning up the streets of Bangkok. The girly shows are nowhere as raunchy and the bars shut promptly at 2am. There has been a sharp rise in the "extra-judicial" deaths (about 2000 shot in Feb and March) of suspected drug dealers in shoot-outs conveniently not involving the police or the justice system. And if they had made it through the courts, Thailand's offical death penalty is by machine gun. Back to the novel. The weakness is not in the ending, which I thought refreshingly off-beat, but the unrelenting tendency for the various suspects to sit down with Officer Sonchai and a bottle of Mekong for some extended and contrived confessional monologues which burn my plot-device sensitive palate worse than the fieriest Thai prik (chilli). However, it remains an excellent example of the recent explosion of Bangkok low-life lit that is choking the bookstores in Don Muang airport terminal's shopping areas. For me, the best is the older stuff, particularly John Ralston Saul's hard to find "Paradise Eaters", from 1988 or so, when the political rot was settling in nicely (prior to the most recent coup and well before the Baht's crash.) Now where was Burdett's other first novel again?
Rating:
Summary: Anti-Western ranting kills an otherwise excellent novel
Review: I found myself thoroughly enjoying this book about 10 pages in, when I was jarred out of a captivating read by the first bitter rant about the futility of the western mindset compared with enlightened, relaxed Thai attitudes towards life. I dismissed it and read on, only to have the same sensation again and again. I disliked this book for the same reason I disliked Ayn Rand's novels: if I wanted to be periodically force-fed doctrine about the Eight-fold Path (or the virtues of Objectivism), I would have went to a different section of the library. This book comes off as a bitter, culture-centric indictment of Western thinking by an angry Eastern writer, until one realises that the writer is not Eastern, merely another Westerner enthralled with Eastern culture and inspired to take pot shots at the futility of his own native culture. Witness Madonna, Sting, et. al... This ruined an otherwise entertaining read for me, and ended up being a chore to finish the book. Frustrating. I'm giving it 3 stars because the parts of the book that actually furthered the story were fascinating, as was the in-depth look into Bangkok life.
Rating:
Summary: Exotic mystery with great character
Review: Bangkok is an overwhelming and exciting city. This book has that same overwhelming excitement to it. From the beginning when the lead character's partner is killed in a crazy way to the wild twists and turns of the end this book is a delight. What sets it apart from the usual procedural fare, however, is the characterization of the protagonist and the social commentary on Thai Prostitution.
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