Bangkok Tattoo

Paul Boehmer presents the sequel to last year's bestseller, BANGKOK 8. Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai, his brothel-keeper mother, and his corrupt boss, Colonel Vikorn, assist and battle each other again--this time over a CIA agent who has been murdered. Colonel Vikorn fabricates a cover-up that points to Muslim terrorists. Then things get complicated. Boehmer reads the dramatic story vividly and clearly, never losing the listener in the twists, turns, and flashbacks of the nonlinear plot. He uses the right lilting cadence for the English-speaking Thais and excels in creating vocal personality for both male and female characters. R.E.K. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 25, 2005
In Burdett's brilliantly cynical mystery thriller, the follow-up to Bangkok 8
(2004), Royal Thai police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep is called in by his supervisor, hard-bitten Captain Vikorn, to investigate the murder of a CIA operative, Mitch Turner, found disemboweled and mutilated. The prime suspect is a beautiful bar girl, Chanya, with whom Sonchai believes himself to be in love. When Turner's murder turns out to be far more complicated than originally thought, Sonchai must deal with his boss's rages and Chanya's gradually revealed secrets, along with CIA agents who have come to investigate the crime, a Thai army general with whom Vikorn has been feuding for years, Yakuza gangsters, Japanese tattooists, Muslim fundamentalists and more. Thoroughly familiar with Thailand, Burdett does an impressive job of depicting an often romanticized society from the inside out. His characters are unforgettable, his dialogue fast-paced and perfectly pitched, his numerous asides and observations generally as cutting as they are funny. Agent, Jane Gelfman. 9-city author tour.