I’ve never bothered to purchase a Stephen Leather book. It IS quite bizarre that he should hijack Burdett’s name, when you consider that his home genre - Private Dancer remained unpublished for years - is not really anything to do with the Thai scene.
View all comments by Combover

Early in the book, Sonchai is having brunch with his mom, the FBI and GF…they listen in on a farang meeting the Issan family of the farang’s teeruk. The family wonders how the little Isaan girl handles the hefty Aussie in bed.

“…..it’s usually not an issue because most nights he’s too drunk and falls asleep on the sofa while she watches TV in bed.

It has the makings of a successful marriage.

Priceless.
View all comments by The Asian Badger

My point was the genre has been well and truly covered.
View all comments by ChelseaBlue

I think Burdett’s books are quite out of the normal genre one expects from books based in the BKK scene. He is writing thrillers that are set in SE Asia but convey much more than what normally gets written about.

I was having a beer once with another Thailand based author who is only published and available in Thailand. No small feat but nothing like global availability when it comes to the book game. This author was digesting bangkok 8 and upset that some of the names of streets were not entirely accurate. I asked him why some dude who bought the book in Oklahoma would care? These are fiction books, meant to entertain. I think sometimes the local authors seem to write their book for people in Thailand where others choose a more global audience. I have done neither so I can’t bitch much but I do think their is a skill in setting a book in a place like Thailand but finding a global audience.
View all comments by smitty

It’s obvious that John and similar authors are targeting a particular readership by placing the action in the P4P scene and using the Buddhist vs. Western mentality as special effect. But I think he does it well and I still have plenty of laughs throughout his books. It might be “more of the same”, but so far I still have an appetite for it so I hope he keeps them coming.

So what do I have to say Haunts? I continue to like his mix-in of the metaphysical mostly as hints and ambiguous experiences by the characters. The P4P scene with its own rules and logic continues to work for me as a story backdrop.

Just don’t take it too seriously. John is extracting maximum value out of the scene and I think that’s just fine. I would expect every fiction author to use an interesting and different backdrop that they are familiar with.
View all comments by J

You dont have to be a detective to work it out.:-)
View all comments by ChelseaBlue