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| Bangkok Tattoo | 
 enlarge | Author: John Burdett
Publisher: Roca Editorial
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $22.40
You Save: $0.55 (2%)
New (3) Used (6) from $14.02
Avg. Customer Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 1499821
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Tra
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 8496284832
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9788496284838
ASIN: 8496284832
Publication Date: July 15, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
John Burdett's extraordinary head-spinning new novel featuring Sonchai Jitpleecheep, Thai Buddhist detective extraordinaire 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 Donburi - Full body Japanese Tattoo September 6, 2008
After reading 'Bangkok 8' by John Burdett, I was looking forward to read the next book in the series, 'Bangkok Tattoo'. Detective Sonchai Jitplecheep of The Royal Thai Police Force in District 8 is back with another case in his career. A farang(foreigner) is found dead in his mother's brothel Old Man's Club with his penis mutilated. Chanya, one of the girls of the club is a suspect. Colonel Vikorn, Sonchai's superior and co-owner of the club, orders him to carry out the investigation. The farang is a CIA operative in Bangkok recruited to report terrorst activities post-9/11 in Thailand. Sonchai starts his investigation and enters the world of terrorism and the japanese body art of Tattoo, which will help him to solve the case. Great read. Must read for the readers of 'Bangkok 8'. Sonchai gets better with time.
worth reading July 12, 2008
If you have enjoyed reading the other books featuring Detective Jitleecheep in Bangkok; you will also take pleasure in this fun, interesting and complicated story. John Burdett is a great writer who has plenty of interesting insights into Thailand. I didn't expect the (different) ending. Treat yourself!
 A Little Too Much Sex and Drug Use July 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
While I enjoy books about Southest Asia police work this one went a little over the top in its vivid descriptions of the sex life in Bangkok, and drug use. I often visit Thailand on business and have never seen the corruption the author tals about. Relative to drug use NONE of the Thai officers I know are users. The book gives a bleak desciption of Thai life and if believed could lead some not to travel there. The culmination with the mutilation style killing really ruined the mystery portions of the novel. I will buy no more John Burdett novels.
Another fascinating tale June 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've read several Burkett titles, and I'd recommend this one as a nice addition to his Asian tales. This would also make an excellent first selection to buy if it's your first taste of his writing. I admit my fascination with his writing has a bit to do with spending some time in Bangkok on business and sneaking out at night and tiptoeing through the jungle.
Having lived there for decades, John has an innate talent of penning intricate descriptions to truly capture the essence of this bizarre city and it's equally bizarre cast of characters. This book follows along the lines of the others, with the storyline beginning in search of one mystery, and numerous others unfold along the way. Great title if you're in the mood for something completely different.
Visit the Street Life in Bangkok June 1, 2008
Having lived in Bangkok one year as an expat, I was very curious about John Burdett and his three books set in Bangkok. I got ahold of the second one first, Bangkok Tattoo. I have since ordered the other two. The humor makes you laugh outloud! It is right on. I loved his calling the reader farang, or foreigner. It is a word I heard often in Bangkok as the Thais commented to themselves about the many foreigners in their midst.
Burdett has written an intriguing mystery. It contains, among other things, a humanized Thai whore; a mainly corrupt group of Thai cops and detectives; a CIA agent lost in his own mind; a philosophical Thai narrator and countless facts about the street life in Bangkok. The murders are horrendous and unique. The asides about Buddhism are wonderful. I can't wait to sink myself in to Bangkok 8, and I highly recommend this talented writer to mystery lovers everywhere.
Cheryl Smith
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