John Burdett
John Patrick Burdett (born July 24, 1951) is a British crime novelist. He is the bestselling author of Bangkok 8 and its sequels, Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts and The Godfather of Kathmandu. His next novel, Vulture Peak, is to be released in the UK in January 2012
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[edit] Biography
Burdett is a former lawyer who lived and worked in Hong Kong for twelve years. For a time, he was employed by the Hong Kong Government. He later worked in private practice. Eventually, Burdett decided to abandon law and pursue a career as a detective novelist.
Burdett now splits his time between France and Bangkok and continues to research his novels in various locations in Thailand. He is divorced and has one daughter.
[edit] Work
[edit] The Last Six Million Seconds
Set in Hong Kong in April and May 1997, just before the British turnover of the territory to mainland China, this novel deals with a horrific murder investigation. Three severed heads are found in a floating garbage bag on the maritime border between Hong Kong territory and China. Fortunately, they match the three DNA profiles found in a vat of minced human meat that had been abandoned in a warehouse. Political implications of the crime may complicate the turnover, and political pressure is brought both to halt the investigation and to hurry it. The detective, a half-Chinese half-Irish HK resident, finds himself threatened by both sides—all the more so when a WMD smuggling plot that threatens to force outright war between Britain and China is uncovered.
[edit] The Sonchai Jitpleecheep Series
A series of crime novels, mainly set in Bangkok; they consist of 4 books so far: Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts, The Godfather of Kathmandu and the forthcoming Vulture Peak. They centre on the philosophical Thai Buddhist detective, Sonchai Jitpleecheep, and his meditative internal dialogues. Sonchai is a "leuk krung" or half-caste. He is the son of a former "rented-wife" (a type of prostitute) and a "farang." His father, a U.S. military officer, he has never known. Sonchai has spent much of his childhood in Europe and USA, and has acquired cultural insights. A born "outsider," he is also seemingly unbribeable, which only increases his alienation from his colleagues.
The novels involve Thailand's sex industry and the red-light districts of Bangkok. Sexual matters are part of the narrative, including the juxtaposition of often conflicting Thai and Western norms and mores.
They contain larger-than-life characters interwined with a wry sense of humour, and bizarre crimes. The crimes include execution by the release of a container full of cobra snakes, into a car where the driver is forcibly prevented from escaping (Bangkok 8), the theft of valuable tattoos (and their associated human skin) off the backs' of murder victims (Bangkok Tattoo), and homicide related to the production of a snuff video (Bangkok Haunts). Juxtaposed is the investigative nonchalance and Buddhist acceptance of an "arhat" detective who can earnestly meditate even in a Bangkok traffic-jam. Many popular shamanistic superstitions that have carried over into Buddhism in Thailand are explored. Past lives (reincarnation) and hungry ghosts also contribute to the atmosphere and texture. The novels are in some ways flawed, since Sonchai is given some clues through supernatural means.
Burdett has expressed interest in moving beyond the crime/detective genre once his Bangkok series is complete.
[edit] Film
Bangkok 8 was optioned by Millennium Films, which produced the fourth movie in the "Rambo" series in Thailand, and is serious about making the film according to Burdett.[1] Producer John Thompson scouted locations in Bangkok, and James McTeigue, the director of "V for Vendetta", had been hired to direct, but production looks to have been cancelled.[2][3]
[edit] Published works
- A Personal History of Thirst, William Morrow & Co (February 1996), ISBN 0-688-14399-7
- The Last Six Million Seconds, Hodder & Stoughton (January 2, 1997), ISBN 0-340-68904-8
- Bangkok 8: A Novel, Alfred A. Knopf (2003) ISBN 0-9657525-3-4
- Bangkok Tattoo, Vintage Reprint edition (July 11, 2006) ISBN 1-4000-3291-1
- Bangkok Haunts, Alfred A. Knopf (2007) ISBN 0307263185
- The Godfather of Kathmandu, Alfred A. Knopf (2010) ISBN 9780307263193
- Vulture Peak, Deckle Edge (2012) ISBN 978-0307272676
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ At Home Amid the Red Lights, The New York Times, 25 October 2007
- ^ http://www.themovieinsider.com/m4270/4/bangkok-8/
- ^ http://www.beyondhollywood.com/2007/06/james-mcteigue-to-direct-bangkok-8/
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: John Burdett |
- John-Burdett.com Official Website
- New York Times interview of John Burdett
- A Thai's Winning Ways, a review of Bangkok Haunts
