Monday, November 1, 2021

Books: Bangkok 8 By John Burdett


(Drivebycuriosity) - Bangkok is full of miracles and a yielding well for interesting stories. I just finished "Bangkok 8" by John Burdett (amazon ). The plot is set in Bangkok´s red light scene. Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep
 is inquiring the murder of an American, a black Marine, who got killed by a bunch of drugged snakes.

The bizarre murder plot is of lesser importance. But I enjoyed following detective Jitpleecheep - a smart and philosophical guy. He is the son of a Thai prostitute and one of her "Johns", an anonymous American. Because he grew up in company of his mothers international clientele he mixes a well diversified world view with Buddhist thinking. The plot -  told in first person - is spiced with dark humor. I found the frequent funny references to karma & reincarnation entertaining, even though they are full of clichés and remind to "Buddhism for Dummies".  The frequent mentions of Thai dishes are a bonus.

Burdett is English. But apparently he knows a lot about Thailand and the Thai way of thinking. Maybe Burnett was a Thai in a former live.


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