{"id":2363,"date":"2011-05-05T19:28:58","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T00:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=2363"},"modified":"2021-06-03T15:34:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T19:34:01","slug":"the-godfather-of-kathmandu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2363","title":{"rendered":"The Godfather of Kathmandu"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Godfather of Kathmandu<\/a><\/em> (2010) John Burdett<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Several years ago I feel in love with Bangkok 8<\/a>. 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<\/em> 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.)<\/p>\n

When I finished the book, I still wasn’t any more sure about how I felt about it than halfway through the book.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

And in the middle of this falls an inexplicable murder of a fat farang<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/em>
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong>
\nPublished by Vintage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31,8,291,42],"tags":[100,101],"class_list":["post-2363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asian","category-mystery","category-paper","category-police","tag-john-burdett","tag-sonchai-jitpleecheep"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-C7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":486,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/486","url_meta":{"origin":2363,"position":0},"title":"Bangkok 8","author":"Michelle","date":"December 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Bangkok 8 (2003) John Burdett Sonchai and his life-long friend and now partner in the Bangkok police force, Pichai, are following an American Marine through Bangkok, on the orders of the Colonel, the head of the police department in his sector. When the Marine is murdered and the woman he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Bangkok-8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1161,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1161","url_meta":{"origin":2363,"position":1},"title":"Bangkok Haunts","author":"Michelle","date":"May 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Bangkok Haunts (2007) John Burdett Once again we return to Bangkok where Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep is investigating another murder. A stuff film has appeared in Bagkok, and as the body of the prostitute has also appeared, it is apparent this is truly a film of her death. Sonchai is investigating--even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Bangkok-Haunts.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3156,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3156","url_meta":{"origin":2363,"position":2},"title":"Vulture Peak","author":"Michelle","date":"September 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Vulture Peak (2012) John Burdett Sonchai is in over his head now. Colonel Vikorn has decided (was ordered?) to run for governor of Bangkok. Because General Zinna controls the local trade in body parts, Vikorn has decided that wiping out selling of illegal body parts is the way to make\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Vulture-Peak.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5345,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5345","url_meta":{"origin":2363,"position":3},"title":"Bangkok 8, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"August 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Bangkok 8 (2003\/2011) John Burdett narrated by Paul Boehmer This series has always fascinated me. Sonchai Jitpleecheep is a Buddhist ahrat and a Thai detective--a rare uncorrupt detective--and the son of a Thai prostitute and an unknown American GI. All of these things make him a man who is incredibly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"bangkok-8","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/bangkok-8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":496,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/496","url_meta":{"origin":2363,"position":4},"title":"Bangkok Tattoo","author":"Michelle","date":"January 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Bangkok Tattoo (2005) John Burdett The sequel to Bangkok 8 returns us to Krung Thep, where Sonchai is now part owner of the Old Mans Club, in addition to remaining a detective in the Royal Thai Police Force. It is because they are in Bangkok that a devout Buddhist and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Bangkok-Tattoo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2659,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2659","url_meta":{"origin":2363,"position":5},"title":"Bangkok Tattoo","author":"Michelle","date":"November 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Bangkok Tattoo (2005) John Burdett After rereading Bangkok 8, I felt the need to reread Bangkok Tattoo. It's not as good as Bangkok 8, which I love. But it's still good. Previous review.","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Bangkok-Tattoo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}