Bangkok 8

John Burdett

I finished Bangkok 8 last night (my reading this past month has been soooo slow) but the number of days it took me to finish this had nothing to do with the pace of the story, it just sizzles. The one thing I recall when turning the last page of this novel is that Burdett is a wonderful writer. Bangkok 8 has so much to offer, characters who become as real as the book you hold in your hands, a murder which takes in so many elements, prostitution, corrupt law officials, snakes, sexual perversion, Buddhism, American industrialism, gender change, jade, to name a few. That sounds as though you've walked into a room with too many pictures on the wall, but Burdett weaves all of these elements together so gracefully and with such skill you never notice the white space between all those pictures. He then takes all of this and pours it into in an exotic locale, rich and dark with atmosphere. This is one book you shouldn't miss, it definitely makes a Top Ten slot this year.