The Godfather of Kathmandu

August 17, 2009
The vivid portrait of 21st-century Thailand in part redeems the meandering plot of Burdett's fourth thriller to feature corrupt Bangkok police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep (after Bangkok Haunts
). Jitpleecheep, a marijuana-smoking Buddhist whose marriage collapsed after his young son's death, investigates the peculiar murder of Frank Charles, a Hollywood director who regularly visited Thailand to sample the sexual delights offered by its young women. Someone disemboweled Charles, then cut his skull open and dined on his brains. Among the victim's books at the crime scene are The Silence of the Lambs
and Hannibal
. Too much musing on spiritual awakenings and Tibetan philosophy as well as commentary on mundane details of daily life distract from the search for Charles's killer and a related subplot involving the heroin-smuggling operation controlled by Jitpleecheep's boss, Colonel Vikorn. Hopefully, Burdett will regain his usual narrative snap next time.

This funny and compelling continuation of BANGKOK 8 finds Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep balancing his Buddhist beliefs, specifically his hope of cleansing his soul, with the duties of his new job as "consigliere" to his crooked boss. Stephen Hogan doesn't skip a beat or miss a syllable as he weaves through Thai politics and corruption and Nepalese religions and mountains. Hogan's pitch-perfect sensitivity to each scene makes the listener feel a part of the book, experiencing the heat, the fear, and the sensuality as our own. Any mystery that starts with a gigantic corpse having its brain removed and eaten with a plastic spoon is bound to please a listener's sense of macabre. A great listen for a summer vacation while swigging lots of lemon sweet tea along with our hero. B.H.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine