∎ PDF Free Bangkok Tattoo A Royal Thai Detective Novel John Burdett Books

Bangkok Tattoo A Royal Thai Detective Novel John Burdett Books

Download As PDF : Bangkok Tattoo A Royal Thai Detective Novel John Burdett Books

Bangkok Tattoo A Royal Thai Detective Novel John Burdett Books

Like any good story taking place in Thailand, this book is written on a number of planes of existence. It is a mystery, it is a trip into Thai culture, it is an insight into Buddhism, and certainly a front row seat into the Bangkok flesh trade. The main character (Sonchai) is likeable, and we share his struggle as he attempts to resist the corruption of the corporeal world on his path to enlightenment. I enjoyed this book (and the first in the series), but will likely not read further.
The cultural and spiritual insights are what kept me reading in the first place. They are fascinating but in this book there is a lot of finger wagging at the reader, scolding and admonishing the farang reader that we just don't get IT, whatever IT is. This get a little tiring because Burdett is also a farang, which begs the questions, what makes Burdett so damn insightful? So these increasing admonishments from the author get pretty tiring. The spiritual and sleaze aspects (which provide most of dramatic tension) are also getting "as read." Sonchai's struggle is interesting, but hardly goes anywhere. So fun for a while, but not sustainable.
What we're let with then is the mystery, and on this front, Burdett's books can't stand. The plot meanders into needless dead ends with subplots that really do nothing more than fill pages. None of the characters really care who done it, so there is no imperative to find the truth. Why then should the reader care? Further, the mystery is solved at the end with information withheld from the reader until the end, so unless you possess Sonchai's mystical abilities to see the unseen, you'll never have a chance to puzzle out the mystery; even if you cared to.
Very little new ground was broken in this book, so I really don't expect much the rest. I think this is my stop.


Tags : Amazon.com: Bangkok Tattoo: A Royal Thai Detective Novel (2) (9781400032914): John Burdett: Books,John Burdett,Bangkok Tattoo: A Royal Thai Detective Novel (2),Vintage CrimeBlack Lizard,1400032911,Mystery & Detective - General,Bangkok (Thailand),Intelligence officers - Crimes against,Mystery fiction,Police - Thailand - Bangkok,Prostitutes,Crime & mystery,ENGLISH MYSTERY & SUSPENSE FICTION,FICTION Mystery & Detective General,FICTION Mystery & Detective International Crime & Mystery,FICTION Mystery & Detective Police Procedural,FICTION Thrillers Crime,Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Fiction-Mystery & Detective,GENERAL,General Adult,MysterySuspense,United States,mystery books; police; thrillers; crime; crime fiction; crime books; police procedural; hard boiled; detective novels; detective; thriller; murder; suspense; swedish; noir; murder mystery books; mystery thriller suspense; mystery and thrillers; mystery and suspense; mystery; fiction; fiction books; mysteries; thriller books; mysteries and thrillers; mystery novels; suspense thriller books; mystery and thriller; suspense fiction; kidnapping; crime thriller; prison; drugs; mafia; corruption; action; bosnia; translation; nordic,mystery;crime;crime fiction;thriller;police;thrillers;suspense;thriller books;mystery books;detective novels;mystery and thrillers;mystery and suspense;murder mystery books;suspense books;crime books;mysteries and thrillers;mystery novels;fiction;novels;mysteries;fiction books;books fiction;police procedural mysteries;books mystery;suspense thriller books;crime novels;mystery thriller suspense;police procedural books;mystery and thriller;suspense fiction;crime thriller books;murder;swedish;noir,FICTION Mystery & Detective General,FICTION Mystery & Detective International Crime & Mystery,FICTION Mystery & Detective Police Procedural,FICTION Thrillers Crime,Fiction - Mystery Detective,English Mystery & Suspense Fiction,Fiction,MysterySuspense,Crime & mystery

Bangkok Tattoo A Royal Thai Detective Novel John Burdett Books Reviews

Sequels seldom live up to their predecessors.

This may be an exception.

Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep is back and just as engaging as he was in his previous incarnation in "Bangkok 8."

There probably isn't another detective like him anywhere in the world. How many other police detectives are also Buddhist arhats and pimps? It's been said Buddhists revel in contradictions and Sonchai is a prime example. And, that's part of the joy of reading his adventures.

Here Sonchai is called upon by his chief, Police Colonel Vikorn (who is also his mother's partner in The Old Man's Club, one of the more unusual brothels in Bangkok) to "investigate" the murder of an American CIA agent. The victim had been gutted, The murderer appears to have been Chanya, the highest earner at The Old Man's Club, who went to a hotel with the man and returned with her clothes soaked in blood.

Vikorn, apparently not willing to give up Chanya's value to the club, concocts a scenario in which the killer is not the girl but Al Qaeda, a cover-up that suits other representatives of the CIA who soon join the fray.

Struggling to find balance between his own ambition, pragmatism, Buddhism and feelings for the girl, Sonchai is dispatched to Thailand's dangerous southern border to seek a handy Muslim suspect or two.

Several sub-plots add spice to the mix - Sonchai's efforts to help Lek, his new cadet, a katoey (transsexual in progress); Vikorn's feud with his arch-enemy, Army Colonel Zinna; Sonchai's growing love for Chanya. There's another murder or two, an intriguing array of characters - prostitutes, Muslim fundamentalists, Japanese Yakuza, a mad tattooist - and not a boring page in the novel.

The best part is, Sonchai gets the girl and, since the last sentence ends without a period, we may hear more of him.
To date, I've read (and reread) the first four of Burdett's Bangkok novels, and found them all fun, diverting, and at times, fascinating reads - primarily for the protagonist's semi-comic philosophical musings about the differences of view between East & West, North & South on everything from love, sex, violence, corruption, prostitution, etc.

Of the first four, the second, "Tattoo," remains my favorite - it's certainly the funniest of the first four - though I'd still recommend that the curious reader start with "Bangkok 8," before jumping into the fun of "Tattoo."

Looking forward to reading the fifth...
Bangkok Tattoo is the follow-up to John Burdett's acclaimed Bangkok 8 featuring Thai police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep.

This novel finds Sonchai investigating the gruesome murder of a CIA operative Mitch Turner - with the twist that the prime suspect, a Thai prostitute called Chanya, works in the strip club part owned by Sonchai, his mother, and the corrupt police captain Vikorn. As he untangles this little mystery he in turn runs across the Muslim troubles in south Thailand where Turner was a CIA operative, the drug trade, the corrupt army, and his corrupt police Captain who he must appease, not to mention the U.S. CIA.

Where does it all lead? In a completely unexpected direction eventually, making for another rather interesting visit with Sonchai. As readers of Bangkok 8 will know, Sonchai is not corrupt, but walks a grey area in the seedy areas of life as he empathizes with the travails of others - particularly given he is the son of a former Thai prostitute who now owns a strip club (read brothel). His empathy for others and his unique outlook make for a rather interesting character where the first person narrative, in which this novel is written, works very well.

Bangkok Tattoo is as good, and in some ways, better than Bangkok 8 and well worth reading.
Like any good story taking place in Thailand, this book is written on a number of planes of existence. It is a mystery, it is a trip into Thai culture, it is an insight into Buddhism, and certainly a front row seat into the Bangkok flesh trade. The main character (Sonchai) is likeable, and we share his struggle as he attempts to resist the corruption of the corporeal world on his path to enlightenment. I enjoyed this book (and the first in the series), but will likely not read further.
The cultural and spiritual insights are what kept me reading in the first place. They are fascinating but in this book there is a lot of finger wagging at the reader, scolding and admonishing the farang reader that we just don't get IT, whatever IT is. This get a little tiring because Burdett is also a farang, which begs the questions, what makes Burdett so damn insightful? So these increasing admonishments from the author get pretty tiring. The spiritual and sleaze aspects (which provide most of dramatic tension) are also getting "as read." Sonchai's struggle is interesting, but hardly goes anywhere. So fun for a while, but not sustainable.
What we're let with then is the mystery, and on this front, Burdett's books can't stand. The plot meanders into needless dead ends with subplots that really do nothing more than fill pages. None of the characters really care who done it, so there is no imperative to find the truth. Why then should the reader care? Further, the mystery is solved at the end with information withheld from the reader until the end, so unless you possess Sonchai's mystical abilities to see the unseen, you'll never have a chance to puzzle out the mystery; even if you cared to.
Very little new ground was broken in this book, so I really don't expect much the rest. I think this is my stop.