Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
HEY, IDIOT, DON'T FALL FOR A THAI BARGIRL!, 10 Sep 2006
"We may not be James Bond ... Our word is our Bond"
Such is the claim on the website for Thai Private Eye, a Bangkok-based private detective agency founded in the 1990s by an ex-horse trainer from New Zealand, Warren Olson. His accumulated case notes have been turned into CONFESSIONS OF A BANGKOK PRIVATE EYE by ghostwriter Stephen Leather, who, in real life, pens noteworthy thrillers out of the UK. Not wishing to make his British publisher cranky, Leather downplays his role in the creation of CONFESSIONS now published by Thailand's Monsoon Books.
Monsoon has previously released another of Leather's novels, PRIVATE DANCER (see my 11/22/05 review "Hey, Joe! Me love you long time."), based on the amorous pitfalls entrapping "farangs" (foreigners) that foolishly fall for the alluring bar girls of Thailand's famous sex-for-money industry. Here, in CONFESSIONS, Leather and Olson expand on that theme inasmuch as the vast majority of the cases involve a farang - usually a lovesick Yank, Brit, Aussie or Northern European - that hires Olson to investigate and confirm the fidelity of his bar girl/mistress, especially after returning home while continuing to send regular funds to his Thai honey as a token of everlasting commitment and in hope of hers.
The human male's biologic, moth-to-flame attraction to the neon-bathed Thai fleshpots being a given, it shouldn't surprise the reader that the vast majority of the individual chapters are repetitive. Only rarely is the mold broken, as when a very proper Thai lady is conned out of her life savings by a Western, bible-toting preacher turned scam artist. Otherwise, the victims are lovesick, middle-aged, white guys thinking with their genitals rather than their heads, and Leather's and Olson's lesson is "Don't let this happen to you, chummy!"
CONFESSIONS could have benefited from some editing. As it was, I didn't have to be reminded by the PI in every chapter that the "customer is always right", and I got the picture after reading for the first time early on that motor scooters aren't allowed on Bangkok's motorways. That said, the volume is both entertaining and illustrative of very basic cultural differences between East and West. Indeed, I'm fairly certain the Thai Tourism Board wouldn't place CONFESSIONS on its recommended book list as the country isn't painted in the best light. Olson himself gamely attempts to restore some balance in an Afterword in which he compliments Thailand as a beautiful and bewitching land that provided him with the loves of his life, his wife and daughter.
CONFESSIONS and PRIVATE DANCER should be required reading for any punter intending to sample the x-rated delights of Patpong, Nana Plaza, and Soi Cowboy.
In a personal email, Leather, evidently a hands-on kind of guy, inferred that he himself modeled for the book's front cover, and that he could personally introduce me to the two girls clinging to him should I ever wish to visit Bangkok. Would my wife let me go, you think, with our retirement savings converted into cash?
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unputdownable True Life Tales of Uncovered Infidelities. It's all here in Olson's excellent exposé., 8 Feb 2009
We all know what it's like to have our trust shattered. But what would it be like to make a living from investigating the infidelities of others? One need look no further than this book to find a very amusing, and deeply captivating exposé of life behind the captivatingly innocent smiles and "miss you my honey" (B.S.!) that all too many men fall for as regards certain night time ladies...
Olson discusses in depth the workings of his job as a private investigator in a country where (albeit unsurprisingly) his work as such is hardly ever quiet. From paying motorcycle couriers to pass on sightings of the alleged cheater to how much he is charging for assignments - it's all here. He is even paid to trace allegedly 'missing' persons who were, strangely enough, easily located before the money was sent...
A common theme runs throughout these tales: one side was too trusting and the other side abused that trust. But Olson never lets that foreknowledge become boring, as he maintains interest throughout the book with the most interesting anecdotes; beside, not everything went smoothly for him.
This book remains a most interesting warning to anyone whose heart has been overcome by a... certain type of lady. "A must read", particularly for those men whose passions for Thailand don't particularly include its temples, beaches, climate and fine food. So what else is left? Apart from the obvious, there's this book, of course... ;-)
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by Stephen Leather
by Jerry Hopkins
by Kit McCann
by Stephen Leather
