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Bangkok 8

From Bangkok 8 by John Burdett:

A mighty leap causes the wooded house to shake and ends with the knife stuck in the panel and his visor clopping back over his face. Compared to my own problems, his next decision is hardly taxing: whether to wrestle the knife out of the wall with visor up or down? I watch fascinated while he attempts both at the same time, pushing the annoying visor up with the left while he pulls at the knife with the right. That thrust of his was quite something; the knife is stuck so fast between planks he needs a foot to press against the wall to pull it out, which requires two hands; whoops, that visor again. I have the feeling that things are not quite as urgent as I had thought, but decide to try a charge anyway.

That was a pretty long quote, but I think it gives you a good idea the tone of this book. Bangkok 8 is a fun read that centers around the Thai Buddhist detective Soncahi Jitpleecheep, the son of a prostitute and a farang (White person) and his quest for vengeance after the calculated murder of a U.S. marine leaves his partner dead as well. This book doesn’t really play like a murder mystery, our narrator, Sonchai, himself states, “This isn’t a whodunit, is it? More like a whatwillshedonext.” It’s an interesting read as Sonchai’s constant meditations lead to figuring out the “who’s” early on, but not the “why’s.” Lots of talk about the jade trade, prostitution in Thailand, corruption, even gender identity. This is also one of those books that just has a really satisfying ending. This is a fun crime thriller infused with a bit of dark humor and I recommend that you go ahead and read it!

Now… on to Gates of Fire…