Bangkok 8
by: John Burdett
finished: 1.12ish.11
I've always been interested in reading this Bangkok series, and finally was able to pick up the first in the series from the library. The book is essentially a detective/revenge story about a Thai police officer. His best friend, also a cop, is killed while investigating a murder, and he spends the rest of the book solving the mystery of the murder in order to avenge his dead friend.
What I found really interesting about the book was the way it told more than just the story - more than a "plot". It really shed light on the way Thai people, police, prostitutes and Westerners behave and interact. I'm not sure how accurate the book is in that respect, but with the amount of detail, I'd guess the author did his research. I'm always fascinated with other cultures, and equally as interested in how the very differences between them and the "Western world" might be the difference between survival and death. Things just don't work the same way in other countries, and I've always been bothered by America's habit of trying to impose Western values and ideals into cultures that really have no use for them. I thought the author did a wonderful job of telling not just a detective story, but a cultural story, as well.
Overall: 8.5/10
ps. it's a good thing i'm not a teacher, because i have a hard time rating things either very low, or very high. everybody would probably get C's.
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