Bangkok 8 by John Burdett
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Bangkok 8 is a pulpy sort of detective story, set in (shockingly enough) Bangkok, following the investigative methods of Buddhist detective, Sonchai Jitpleecheep, as he looks into the death of a jade obsessed Marine murdered through the use of snakes. It's hard not to be intrigued with a setup like that. Sadly, too much of the book feels like an attempt to fetishize Thai culture and justify Western attitudes towards Thai women. Maybe Bangkok really is like Burdett describes, but I'd be surprised if it is.
Everyone (except Sonchai) is extremely corrupt and looking for a way to get one over on everyone else. Everyone is constantly drunk, smoking pot, or doing meth. The only female character we meet who isn't in the sex industry is the FBI agent, and all of them love what they do.
While I was intrigued by the premise, the execution felt very off-putting, and I finished the book feeling a little dirtier than when I started.
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