The Godfather of Kathmandu

The Godfather of Kathmandu (2010) John Burdett

Several years ago I feel in love with Bangkok 8. Sonchai is a fascinating complex character and the city in which he lives is a character in the book as complex as he is. So I was happy to see The Godfather of Kathmandu arrive. I had waited until it came out in paperback, because I really really do not like reading hardback books. (I’m starting to dislike even trade paperbacks, to be honest.)

When I finished the book, I still wasn’t any more sure about how I felt about it than halfway through the book.

First, Sonchai’s son is dead at the start of the book. A terrible, stupid accident, but neither Sonchai or Chanya seems capable of dealing with the loss. That’s a hard thing.

Second, the Colonel has decided that he is promoting Sonchai. Unfortunately, he is not promoting him a a police officer, but as his second in command in his criminal enterprises. Sonchai, who is still trying to keep to the Buddhist past, attempts to resist, but outside pressures cause him to accede to the Colonel’s request, so he is sent off to Tibet, to look into a major drug deal with the mysterious Tietsin.

And in the middle of this falls an inexplicable murder of a fat farang. A man found dead in a squalid motel with his guts strewn out before. And then Sonchai finds another ugly twist to the death, that makes things even more inexplicable.

I cannot decide what it is about this story. I read it as eagerly as I have any of the books in the series, and it wasn’t like the tale was any more all over the place than in previous books, it was just that something felt off.

If you have not read one of Burdett’s Sonchai Jitpleecheep, I would not recommend this as a place to start (for a variety reasons). But I do recommend reading Bangkok 8
Rating: 7/10
Published by Vintage

• Browse the archives:
  
• Folk Tales from the Russian » »
• « « The Iron Khan