Rating: 
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: A daring and inventive ride
Review: Sonchai Jitplecheep might have become a Buddhist monk, but instead his abbot sent him and his friend Pichai to become incorruptible members of the Bangkok police force. This is quite a challenge because the Bangkok police force is shockingly corrupt even by Asian standards. Pichai is about to return to the monastery for his vows when he is killed by a snake bite to the eye, and Sonchai must avenge him. It's not a new plot device, but it certainly gets a fresh coat of paint in this wild and eye-popping trip through the Thai take on sex, religion, traffic, drugs, and past lives (Sonchai can see what people have been and what life they're in for next). It is Thai noir in a saffron robe. An African-American Marine is murdered in a Mercedes-full of hopped-up cobras. Sonchai, who speaks excellent English and whose father obviously was a foreigner of some sort, would be just the man to work with the FBI on this one. The agent is a sexy young woman, and together they uncover some really weird and fascinating stuff which will not be revealed in this review. Readers will want to find out for themselves. "Bangkok 8" is original and thrilling, but for some reason John Burdette still felt that he had to make standard choices to appeal to Western readers. Why does Sonchai have to be half white? It seems likely given his mother's profession that he wouldn't be pure Thai, but readers would be able to empathize with him no matter what his racial makeup. Of course the FBI agent is an attractive woman and of course there is sexual tension. Perhaps Burdette thinks he must use stock situations to help readers relate this exotic world, but it really isn't necessary. His characters are so immediately empathetic and so fully rooted that you would find life on the planet Splok comprehensible through their eyes. "Bangkok 8" is like a motor-taxi ride at full speed through a neon jungle. The colors blur and your heart's in your throat, but you wouldn't have missed the trip for the world.
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: 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: 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: 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: 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.
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