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Bangkok 8: A Novel
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price:
$13.95
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$11.16
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Manufacturer: Vintage
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781400032907
ISBN: 1400032903
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2004-07-13
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: 2004-07-13
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Reviews:
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A thriller with attitude to spare, Bangkok 8 is a sexy, razor-edged, often darkly hilarious novel set in one of the world’s most exotic cities.
Witnessed by a throng of gaping spectators, a charismatic Marine sergeant is murdered under a Bangkok bridge inside a bolted-shut Mercedes Benz. Among the witnesses are the only two cops in the city not on the take, but within moments one is murdered and his partner, Sonchai Jitpleecheep—a devout Buddhist and the son of a Thai bar girl and a long-gone Vietnam War G.I.—is hell-bent on wreaking revenge. On a vigilante mission to capture his partner’s murderer, Sonchai is begrudgingly paired with a beautiful FBI agent named Jones and captures her heart in the process. In a city fueled by illicit drugs and infinite corruption, prostitution and priceless art, Sonchai’s quest for vengeance takes him into a world much more sinister than he could have ever imagined.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Taut, intense (90%) then stupid (10%).
Comment: The majority of the book was a serious, taut, thriller. At a certain point, a weak feeling snuck up in the text and it went downhill from there to the ending, which was fluffy and disapointing. Not that it would stop me from re-reading the beginning, but I was disappointed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bangkok fan
Comment: I read Bangkok Tattoo first so this was "catch" up. Thought Tattoo was hilarious in places. This one was not as funny but so many twists and turns my head was spinning.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A HODGEPODGE OF INGENUITY!
Comment: Forget about whether or not this book accurately depicts Bangkok life, or is slanted by the misconstrued vision of the author. After all, it is not a travelogue, it is a work of fiction first and foremost. And it is a work of fiction of extreme ingenuity. The writer is highly talented. He is also highly complex, and so is his story.
And he is funny as all get out. I can't count the many times this book got a laugh out of me, either for its outright humor, or its subtle, more hidden ironic meanings.
Yes, I agree with some other reviewers that there is a tendency to bash "farangs" in black and white terms. They are facilely pigeonholed. Although this view is seen through the eyes of his fascinating main character (fascinating because it is impossible to guess what he is going to say or do next - the unexpected is always forthcoming), the reader senses (correctly or incorrectly) that the main character expresses the views of his creator. Only Mr. Burdett himself can confirm or deny the truth of this impression.
This book is about divides and contradictions; finding, losing and searching again. Confusion? Yes. But always in the cloak of ingenuity.
The only weakness that I can point out is that the male characters are drawn very three dimensionally, while the female characters always remain somewhat in the mist. None are clearly wholly defined. They don't come out into the sunlight as do the males. In fact, one can almost say they are drawn stereotypically. Almost, but not quite.
As the writer is exceptionally gifted, he has created an exceptional book. Its uniqueness ensures that this novel has no predecessor, and it is not likely there will ever be another one even resembling it. For its complexity, its genius, and for just a plain old-fashioned fascinating read, I would highly recommend it. It is full of contradictions that have yet to be resolved. And it leaves it's reader (and perhaps the author as well) with the responsibility of doing so.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sonchai's debut
Comment: This cleverly written series debut pushes the envelope in all ways, especially character and setting. Sonchai is an engaging biracial, polycultural detective; Bangkok a locale of vast exoticism, where the protagonist is intimately familiar with every nook and cranny, however dark or sleazy, and yet for evident reasons never in face feels at home at all. Over the top in premise and plot it may be, but intentionally so; and the everyday and not-so-everyday sharp details, East and West, make it work and enchant, and then some.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Read For Lovers of Thailand
Comment: I picked up this book in Hong Kong en route to Bangkok a few years ago and read and LOVED it. The different writing, true to life details, and wonderful characters interwoven with the idiosyncratic Buddhist beliefs and practices of the the main characters is enchanting, just like Bangkok the city. I have recently read Bangkok Tatoo and love it equally.
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