Who knew that “Bangkok 8” and “Bangkok Tattoo” were just the warm-up acts? As vibrantly as those sizzling thrillers captured the exotic flavor of crime and corruption in Thailand’s capital city, John Burdett’s BANGKOK HAUNTS (Knopf, $24.95) opens up new avenues of awe. Even Sonchai Jitpleecheep, the urbane detective with the Royal Thai Police who narrates the bizarre stories in this series, is struck dumb by the sadistic snuff film that sets the latest gaudy plot in motion.
John Burdett - Jerry Bauer/Random House
“Few crimes make us fear for the evolution of our species,” this devout Buddhist observes. “I am watching one right now.” To add to his despair, the woman being strangled in the film is Damrong, a prostitute who was the love of his life when she worked in the Old Man’s Club, the brothel Sonchai operates with his mother. Like others who succumbed to Damrong’s charms, he’s still in thrall to this fascinating creature, who returns in spirit as a sexually voracious wraith who will continue to haunt him if he doesn’t bring her killer to justice — and do something about this new development in the city’s notorious pornography industry. Daunting enough, the task is complicated by his cheerfully corrupt superior’s eagerness to branch out from his methamphetamine business by getting into the porn racket.

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