BOOKLIST
‘Time for a trip to District 8 in the heart of Bangkok’s sex district ... outrageous yet bizarrely tender.’
The Times
'... A cracking exotic read.'
Book Description
John Burdett’s extraordinary head-spinning new novel featuring Sonchai Jitpleecheep, Thai Buddhist detective extraordinaire
Product Description
Bangkok, rich in history and spirituality, crowded with temples, markets and canals, is also a city shrouded in shadows. Polluted, corrupt, infamous as the sex capital of the world, it is a place where wealth, poverty and unimaginable evil walk hand in hand. In District 8, the underbelly of Bangkok’s crime world, a dramatically mutilated body is found in a hotel bedroom. It looks bad: the corpse – who’s been flayed - is CIA. And it gets worse when the self-confessed murderer is the beautiful Chanya – the best ‘working girl’ at The Old Man’s Club, a brothel owned jointly by Sonchai’s mother and his boss, Police Colonel Vikorn. Alerted by Sonchai, Vikorn quickly concocts a cover-up that involves an Al-Qaeda terrorist cell located in a southern Thai border-town where, since 9/11, the CIA has also had a covert presence. So far so good: but the truth will be harder to come by, and it will require Sonchai to find an ever more delicate balance between his ambition (western) and his Buddhism (eastern), while he runs the gamut of Bangkok’s drug-dealers, prostitutes, bad cops, even worse military generals, and the pitfalls of his own melting heart. Crowded with astonishing characters, redolent with the authentic, hallucinogenic atmosphere of Bangkok, with needle-sharp observations about the clash of cultures when East meets West, this is a literary thriller like no other.
From the Inside Flap
In District 8, the underbelly of Bangkok’s crime world, a dramatically mutilated body is found in a hotel bedroom. It looks bad: the corpse – which has been flayed – is CIA.And it gets worse for Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep when the murderer appears to be the most successful ‘working girl’ at The Old Man’s Club, a brothel owned jointly by Sonchai’s mother and his boss, Police Colonel Vikorn. Alerted by Sonchai, Vikorn quickly concocts a cover-up that involves an Al Qaeda terrorist cell – a ploy he believes will prove irresistible to the American spy agency. The bizarre truth that is eventually uncovered with a little help from the dead may be too challenging even for the wily colonel, as Sonchai is forced to run the gamut of Bangkok’s drug-dealers, prostitutes, bad cops, corrupt military generals, and the pitfalls of his own melting heart. Crowded with astonishing characters, redolent with the authentic, hallucinogenic atmosphere of Bangkok, with needle-sharp observations about the clash of cultures when East meets West, Bangkok Tattoo is a literary thriller like no other.
From the Back Cover
What the critics said about Bangkok 8: 'A cracking East meets West thriller introducing a half-Thai, half-American cop whose Buddhist beliefs are as important as his forensic skills. Terrific.' Observer ‘Impeccably researched . . . sometimes poetic, often exotic, and totally hardcore.’ Daily Mirror ‘A stunning thriller.Suspense at its best.’ Jeffery Deaver ‘One of the most startling and provocative mysteries I’ve read in years.’ Carl Hiaasen ‘A novel so steeped in milieu that it feels as if you’ve been blasted to Mars in the grip of a demon who won’t let you go. Read this book!’James Ellroy ‘A thriller as exotic as it is enthralling, and as provocative as it is obscene.’ Harper’s Magazine ‘A genuine grown-up work in a genre mostly populated by arrested adolescents . . . A tour de force.’ Washington Post
About the Author
John Burdett is a non-practicing lawyer who worked in Hong Kong until he found his true vocation as a writer. An Englishman by birth, he has lived in France and Spain, and is now back in the Far East. His previous novel, Bangkok 8, also features Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep.
