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A review by cmrams
Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett
2.0
Even when I read the first one after just returning for a term teaching in Thailand, I felt it presumptuous of the author to address readers as 'farang' when he is a foreigner himself, writing as a Thai man. This rubs me the wrong way. The lecturing of the narrator, Thai detective written by a Western white man, gets to be a bit too much at times. Maybe it is because I have also spent time there that I feel annoyed at this aspect.
Originally I had no intention of reading any of these books after [b:Bangkok 8|706011|Bangkok 8 (Sonchai Jitpleecheep #1)|John Burdett|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388333732s/706011.jpg|692291] but I was hit with a bout of Thai nostalgia and ran across the second in the series. While it does satisfy a little bit of my longing to go back, my version of Thailand was quite different than the majority of the corruption and sex trade displayed in these books. I feel that at least the level of corruption may be up played for dramatic purposes, as should be expected of a thriller/detective novel. That is why I enjoyed these stories at all, for the thriller/detective/mystery aspects. Even though I can't help but feel a little negative towards the author, for reasons stated above. I also have experienced enough of the negative sentiments about Westerners, and it's a little over done here.
The first book was better in ways of suspense and thrills. While I like the detective aspect, as well as the quick pace and the locale, I have mixed feelings overall. There is a lot of criticizing of Westerners and Western culture, it can feel as though a disgruntled westerner who has decided Asia is superior to all other societies is lecturing why this is true.
Originally I had no intention of reading any of these books after [b:Bangkok 8|706011|Bangkok 8 (Sonchai Jitpleecheep #1)|John Burdett|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388333732s/706011.jpg|692291] but I was hit with a bout of Thai nostalgia and ran across the second in the series. While it does satisfy a little bit of my longing to go back, my version of Thailand was quite different than the majority of the corruption and sex trade displayed in these books. I feel that at least the level of corruption may be up played for dramatic purposes, as should be expected of a thriller/detective novel. That is why I enjoyed these stories at all, for the thriller/detective/mystery aspects. Even though I can't help but feel a little negative towards the author, for reasons stated above. I also have experienced enough of the negative sentiments about Westerners, and it's a little over done here.
The first book was better in ways of suspense and thrills. While I like the detective aspect, as well as the quick pace and the locale, I have mixed feelings overall. There is a lot of criticizing of Westerners and Western culture, it can feel as though a disgruntled westerner who has decided Asia is superior to all other societies is lecturing why this is true.