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The Godfather Of Kathmandu. John Burdett (2010)

by John Burdett(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0552153605 (ISBN13: 9780552153607)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Corgi Books

series

Sonchai Jitpleecheep

review 1: The fourth book in John Burdett's Royal Thai Detective series sees protagonist Sonchai Jiptleecheep torn between solving a gruesome crime in Bangkok, brokering a drug deal for his massively corrupt boss, Police Colonel Vikorn, and trying to save his devout Buddhist soul.Reeling from the death of his son and the desertion of his wife, Sonchai falls easy prey to both Vikorn and a powerful, charismatic Tibetan guru looking to fund his rebellion against occupying China with $40 million worth of heroin. The story moves back and forth between his quest for spritual salvation, his efforts to buy said heroin from the guru for his boss, and what almost seems to be a subplot around uncovering the killer of famous Hollywood director murdered in Bangkok. A traditional detecive story t... morehis is not.Sonchai's internal dialog remains deep, but here it is more focused on spiritual matters than in previous entries in the series, and "The Godfather of Kathmandu" suffers a bit for it. Sonchai is as compelling as ever, but the plot meanders, the roots of the crime are exposed as both cold blooded and somewhat forgettable, and even the conflict around Vikorn seems predestined to resolve, despite Sonchai's anzieties.The first two books in this series, "Bangkok 8" and "Bangkok Tattoo" are outstanding, but with the third book, "Bangkok Haunts," author Burdett's efforts began to fall just a bit short; that trend continues here, with "The Godfather of Kathmandu."If you are a fan of Sonchai Jiptleecheep, this is by no means a bad book, but it would serve as a poor point of entry for new readers, and is not up to the high standard set by the author's previous novels.
review 2: Being formerly a huge mystery fan at one time, I reached a point where except for a few writers, I just found too many plots going for shock value & for me, this being akin to a skip in a record, I gravitated towards genres where fresher things were happening. That is until the day I happened upon the Thai Royal Detective Series, bringing to life the complex Buddhist Thai-American cross in the form if one Sonchai Jitpleecheep. From, the very 1st in series, up to "Godfather of Kathmandu," this series has taken me into the mind of international criminals & also into the complexities where the Thai/American/Asian cultures collide. This particular book was slightly less compelling than those that precede it, however if the series should captivate, you'll likely not want to pass over a single one! less

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