John Burdett (born 1951) is an English crime novelist. He is the bestselling author of ''Bangkok 8'' and its sequels. His most recent novel in this series, ''The Bangkok Asset'', was published on 4 August 2015.

Biography

Burdett was born in London, England, the son of a London policeman. Burdett is a former lawyer who practised in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. As of 2007, he split his time between southwestern France and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Novels

''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. 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 Hong Kong 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.

''The Sonchai Jitpleecheep Series''

The Sonchai Jitpleecheep series of

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

s is mainly set in

and consists of six books: ''Bangkok 8'', ''Bangkok Tattoo'', '' Bangkok Haunts'', ''The Godfather of Kathmandu'', ''Vulture Peak'', and ''The Bangkok Asset''. They centre on the philosophical

Thai Buddhist Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school, which is followed by roughly 93.4 percent of the population. Thailand has the second largest Buddhist population in the world, after China, with approximately 64 million Buddhists. Buddh ...

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 Farang () is a Persian word that originally referred to the Franks (the major Germanic people) and later came to refer to Western or Latin Europeans in general. The word is borrowed from Old French or Latin , which are also the source of ...

''". His father was a U.S. military officer whom he never knew. Sonchai has spent much of his childhood in Europe and the U.S.. A born "outsider", he is also seemingly unbribeable, which increases his alienation from his colleagues. The novels involve Thailand's

sex industry The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related se ...

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 Mores (, sometimes ; , plural form of singular , meaning "manner, custom, usage, or habit") are social norms that are widely observed within a particular society or culture. Mores determine what is considered morally acceptable or unacceptable ...

. They have been widely praised for the breadth and depth of understanding of a number of different cultures. Apart from the Anglo-Saxon cultural traditions with which he was brought up, Burdett has shown considerable familiarity with Confucian, Buddhist, Latin and North African societies, due to his extensive travels. The novels contain larger-than-life characters intertwined with a wry sense of humour and bizarre crimes. The crimes include execution by the release of a container full of

cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

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 Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

acceptance of an "''

arhat In Buddhism, an ''Arhat'' () or ''Arahant'' (, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana (Buddhism), Nirvana'' and has been liberated from the Rebirth (Buddhism ...

''" detective who can meditate even in a Bangkok traffic jam. Many popular

shamanistic Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

superstitions that have carried over into Buddhism in Thailand are explored. Past lives (

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...

) and

hungry ghosts Hungry ghost is a term in Buddhism and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way. The term zh, c= 餓鬼, p=èguǐ, l=hungry ghost is the Chinese translation of the Sansk ...

also contribute to the atmosphere and texture.

Film

All of Burdett's published books have been optioned for films, but due to the exotic location and multi-racial characters, film makers have found it difficult to find appropriate 'stars' and screenplays. ''Bangkok 8'' was optioned by Millennium Films, which produced the fourth movie in the ''

Rambo Rambo may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *John Rambo, the main character from the ''Rambo'' franchise * Mary Rambo, female character in '' Invisible Man'' Films * ''Rambo'' (franchise), starring Sylvester St ...

'' series in Thailand, and is serious about making the film according to Burdett.At Home Amid the Red Lights
''The New York Times'', 25 October 2007 Producer John Thompson scouted locations in Bangkok, and

James McTeigue James McTeigue (born 29 December 1967) is an Australian film and television director. He has been an assistant director on many films, including ''Dark City (1998 film), Dark City'' (1998), the The Matrix (franchise)#Films, ''Matrix'' trilogy ( ...

, the director of ''

V for Vendetta ''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (comics), David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing Serial (li ...

'', had been hired to direct, but production looks to have been cancelled.http://www.beyondhollywood.com/2007/06/james-mcteigue-to-direct-bangkok-8/

The Sonchai Jitpleecheep Series

# ''Bangkok 8: A Novel'', Alfred A. Knopf (2003) # ''Bangkok Tattoo'', Vintage Reprint edition (11 July 2006) # ''Bangkok Haunts'', Alfred A. Knopf (2007) # ''The Godfather of Kathmandu'', Alfred A. Knopf (2010) # ''Vulture Peak'', Alfred A. Knopf (2012) # ''The Bangkok Asset'', Alfred A. Knopf (2015)

Other published works

*''A Personal History of Thirst'', William Morrow & Co (February 1996), *''The Last Six Million Seconds'', Hodder & Stoughton (2 January 1997), *''Freedom Angel'', Ai Press (July 2011) *''Death Effect'', Kokoro Press (April 2017)

References

External links

John-Burdett.com
Official Website

a review of ''Bangkok Haunts'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Burdett, John English crime fiction writers Living people 1951 births Writers from London