Prayer of the Dragon, by Eliot Pattison

Inspector Shan finds himself in a remote village with his friends Lokesh and Gendun, the aged lama. A man is dying, but if he lives he faces a horrible primitive execution.

In this mystery, we are again treated to the world of modern Tibet, overshadowed by the iron shadow of the Chinese occupation. Shan must straddle the chasm between two cultures, one ancient and spiritual, the other new, cold, and materialistic.

Yet another element is introduced into this novel, that of the American Navajo. Two Navajo characters, seeking for the ancient roots of their own culture, join the cast.

I enjoyed this book but wonder if I actually needed to read yet another of these Shan mysteries. It was reassuring to read Bone Rattler, and know that Pattison could apply his excellent writing skill to another setting, and different characters.

Bangkok Tattoo, by John Burdett

Alfred A. Knopf New York 2005. 302 pages. ISBN 1-4000-4045-0.

This is the second book I've read by John Burdett, the first being Bangkok 8. The protagonist is again Sonchai Jitpleecheep, detective in the Royal Thai Police, serving under the notorious Colonel Vikorn. Again, the book starts with a murdered American, and takes off at a wild pace into a bizarre mystery set in Bangkok and its surrounds.

While this novel has much in common with the other, I didn't find it the least bit distracting or detracting. Instead, I felt at home in Sonchai's world, having been initiated into the unique atmosphere of Thailand, and having from that other book absorbed some of Burdett's philosophy regarding what we in the West would probably term corruption.

The mystery is excellent, the action never lets up. The characters are well and completely drawn, and I found myself involved with nearly every one.

Mitch Turner, the murdered American, has apparently been killed by a prostitute named Chanya, who is in the employ of a house known as the "Old Man's Club." This institution is owned by Sonchai, his mother, and the Colonel. It becomes evident that Turner is in the employ of the CIA. His murder is particularly grisly, and involves some very particular mutilation.

As the story unfolds, we learn about the Muslim culture in Thailand, and how it feels threatened by the USA's irrational quest to find and destroy all remnants of its arch-enemy, Al Qaeda. There is a fair amount of interesting insight into what might be the attitudes of Muslims in Southeast Asia, as well as their coexistence with the Buddhists who dominate Thailand. There are some interesting discussions of the effects of these two religions, and how they compare to Christianity as manifested in the USA.

Agents of the CIA arrive and become involved. There is in the background a war going on between Colonel Vikorn of the Police and General Zinna of the Army. Incredible dirty tricks are used in this conflict, which weaves in and out of the plot and mystery concerning the death of Mitch Turner.

Turner, who was obsessed with Chanya, was also obsessed with tattoos, and tattoos become an interesting element in this story, as well as a peculiar tattoo artist from Japan. We are introduced to underground characters from both Japan and China as well in this story.

In the end, when most of the mystery is unravelled and some of it is resolved, Sonchai reminds us: "We are distracted from distraction by distraction. Nothing is happening... Says the Buddha: All meaning is realized, the universe is nirvanic."

I very much look forward to my next opportunity to read a book by John Burdett.

Bangkok 8, by John Burdett

October 09 2006 (22:40:00)

Don't judge a book by its cover. The edition of Bangkok 8 that I read has a lurid one: orange, black, and hot pink, featuring a blurry image of a scantily-clad dancer in what might be a night club. Reluctant to be seen with my nose in such I placed it on a shelf for some time. I should have known better; the friend who gave it to me has great taste in books, and this was no mistake. Bangkok 8 has everything that makes a great mystery novel.

Set in Thailand, the story starts out at a motorcycle-taxi pace with the murder of a police detective, Pichai, partner of Sonchai Jitpleecheep.This murder is committed immediately after the murder of an American Marine named Bill Bradley. Sonchai tells the story. The murders are gruesome and surreal -- snakes are involved. Pichai and Sonchai were unusually close friends (bound even closer by their vows as "arhat cops" as their penance for having murdered a drug dealer in their younger days) and Sonchai's determination to find the person responsible for Pichai's death and kill him or her is grim and powerful.

As W.R. Greer points out in this review, there isn't anything particularly unique in the idea of a mystery novel wherein a cop avenges the death of his partner. In many ways, Detective Jitpleecheep is nothing more than the hard-boiled detective in the hard-boiled novel -- but what I particularly admire is how John Burdett has used the religion, culture, and environment of this Thai detective to create what was for me a completely unique and refreshing book in this idiom. I haven't been so impressed since reading the novels of Elliott Pattison about his Chinese detective Shan Tao Yun, set chiefly in Tibet. Pattison's work is much different than Burdett's, but they both use the atmosphere of Buddhist culture and philosophy to enhance and deepen their plots.

In the course of the story we get a fair dose of modern Bangkok from the viewpoint of a native. We are introduced to a huge overpopulated city with extreme levels of overpopulation, pollution, and poverty. Corruption is quite literally institutionalized, especially in the police department -- except for our arhat hero and his deceased friend. (Sonchai and Pichai vowed to adhere to strict Buddhist principles of honesty in their police careers. In this way they hoped to avoid at least some of the horrible Karmic retribution that they incurred when they committed murder.) Farangs, foreigners, are a much-exploited resource in this city. Many farangs come to Bangkok for sex, usually purchased from the multitudinous variety of prostitutes that work there. We find that Sonchai's mother is a prostitute, and later in the book her desire to improve her business provides an interesting turn to the plot.

The sex trade is an important part of the mystery, and so is the involvement of a wealthy farang businessman. This man is named Sylvester Warren. He is seen to be highly connected to people in the US government, but at the same time he is a person of some interest to Bangkok-posted agents of the FBI. Sonchai works with some of the FBI people. This relationship provides a Western point of view so that we don't feel too much condescension as the story is, after all, written in American English, for American English readers. It also provides a romantic angle in the person of a female FBI agent who seems to have a little extra-professional interest in Detective Jitpleecheep.

The book is artistically done, skillfully executed, well worth your time. If you love detective fiction, it's a must-read. If you have any interest in the Far East or Buddhism, even more so.

I look forward to reading more of John Burdett's work. A quick search for the author's name with Google brought me to this website, where I am pleased to find that there are two more novels featuring Detective Jitpleecheep. You may perhaps soon read of them in this journal.

An odd coincidence: this is the second novel I've read recently that mentions the Karen people. The other was Saving Fish From Drowning, by Amy Tan. I had never heard of them before (my ignorance is boundless) but now have been introduced to them twice, in unrelated, randomly chosen novels set in Southeast Asia.

Beautiful Ghosts, by Eliot Pattison

This is the fourth novel Eliot Pattison has written about Shan Tao Yun, and the fourth that I have read. The others were (from first to third) The Skull Mantra, Water Touching Stone, and Bone Mountain.

Shan was once a highly-placed Inspector in Beijing. But uncovering the truth about the wrong people caused him to be discredited, removed from office, and thrown into prison in Tibet. In prison he comes to know and love the Tibetan monks sentenced to hard labor lao gai beside him. They impart an understanding of their spirituality, of Buddhism, and encourage him to strengthen his own Taoist practices. Religion is, of course, counter-revolutionary, and punishable by law in the People's Republic.

In each of these novels Shan is presented with a mystery that forces him to use the skills he once employed for his government. Overlaying each plot are the themes of the incredible beauty and spiritual mystery and power of Tibet and the Tibetan people, and their unspeakable oppression at the hands of the Red Chinese government.

In Beautiful Ghosts, Shan comes again into contact with Colonel Tan, the administrator of the county. Tan is once again trying to avoid political trouble with officials from Beijing. This time he is the reluctant host to Director Ming and Inspector Yao, who are searching for lost antiquities. A monk, Surya, is convinced that he has killed a man. As a result Surya casts off his robes and declares himself dead, and eventually takes up a new life among the people who carry night-soil in Lhadrung. Shan's old friends Gendun and Lokesh, illegal monks from the secret monastery of Yerpa, play important roles in this story, as do many other interesting Tibetan, Chinese, and British characters. Indeed, descendants of members of the Younghusband expedition of 1904 figure in this story.

An FBI agent from the USA, Corbett, is also involved, as is a trip to Beijing and the United States.

Again, Pattison has succeeded in writing a terrific police procedural tale, set in beautiful Tibet. He manages to evoke much of the Tibetan Buddhists' plight while celebrating their incredible spiritual strength. The ruggedness of the country and the people who live there left me with a strong impression of my own weakness and addiction to the comforts of life in 21st century America.

If you have not read any of these very entertaining and uplifting books I strongly recommend that you start with The Skull Mantra. Enjoy this rich experience of some of the best mystery writing coupled with fabulous descriptions of this country and its people, insight into the Buddhist religion and philosophy, and terrific character conceptualization and development.