Bangkok 8

By: John Burdett

Narrated by: B.D. Wong

Electrifying, darkly comic, razor-edged—a thriller unlike any other.

Under a Bangkok bridge, inside a bolted-shut Mercedes: a murder by snake—a charismatic African American Marine sergeant killed by a methamphetamine-stoked python and a swarm of stoned cobras.

Two cops—the only two in the city not on the take—arrive too late. Minutes later, only one is alive: Sonchai Jitpleecheep—a devout Buddhist, equally versed in the sacred and the profane—son of a long-gone Vietnam War G.I. and a Thai bar girl whose subsequent international clientele contributed richly to Sonchai’s sophistication.

Now, his partner dead, Sonchai is doubly compelled to find the murderer, to maneuver through the world he knows all to well—illicit drugs, prostitution, infinite corruption—and into a realm he has never before encountered: the moneyed underbelly of the city, where desire rules and the human body is no less custom-designable than a raw hunk of jade. And where Sonchai tracks the killer—and a predator of an even more sinister variety.

Thick with the authentic—and hallucinogenic—atmosphere of Bangkok, crowded with astonishing characters, uniquely smart and skeptical, literary and wildly readable, Bangkok 8 is one of a kind.

Critic reviews

"A stunning thriller! Bangkok 8 is suspense at its best: a masterfully written tale set in a world that's perfectly evoked and populated with compelling, flesh-and-blood characters."
--Jeffery Deaver, author of The Vanished Man and The Stone Monkey

"Bangkok 8 is one of the most startling and provocative mysteries that I've read in years. The characters are marvelously unique, the setting is intoxicating and the plot unwinds in dark illusory strands, reminiscent of Gorky Park. Once I started, I didn't want to put it down."
--Carl Hiaasen

“The wildest ride in modern crime novel exoticum. A novel so steeped in milieu that it feels as if you’ve blasted to mars in the grip of a demon who won’t let you go. Read this book, savor the language–it’s the last–and the most compelling word in thrillers.”
--James Ellroy

Up Country meets Raymond Chandler

An excellent unusual mystery with hints of Traditional Noir and Oriental Mysticism. Read It!!

Great book

I listen in my car, and could not wait for the next commute. You really get into the story, and the narrator does a great job. I immediately went to the next one (Bangkok Tattoo) after finishing this one.

Unfortunately abridged

The reader is excellent, really creating a compelling atmosphere for the story. The characters are well-developed, the plot a bit outlandish, but interesting, however...it's abridged. I found the gaps in the story to be very apparent. Having read "Bangkok Tattoo" I was aware of this author's voice, and it was extremely obvious that there were gaps, large gaps, in the pace and flow of the story. I would be enjoying the book on my commute, and then WHAM! there would be glitch in story flow, tossing me out of that engrossing world and back to reality. I will never buy an abridged copy of anything again.

OK story, interesting setting

This is an OK story; nothing special. The thing that sets it a off and raises the level of interest is the setting of Thailand, the religion, and the culture.

Bangkok 8 worth the listen

John Burdett presents an engrossing cast of characters in an intriguing city. The plot is somewhat outlandish, and the conclusion quite a bit less than satisfying, but these weaknesses are offset both by the excellent reading by B.D. Wong and the insights into the police force, racial influences, philosophy and sexual attitudes of modern Thailand.