Jitpleecheep Rides Again

Readers who are looking for some good news to start the New Year need look no further than Kathmandu. You’ll find it proves to be a lot closer than you expected, since the newest novel by John Burdett, ‘The Godfather of Kathmandu’ (Alfred A. Knopf / Random House ; January 12, 2010 ; $25.95) should be available quite soon. It’s latest jape with Sonchai Jitpleecheep, who is facing a Buddhist apocalypse only slightly less pressing than the murder of an American film director. Sawed-off skull, end of the world, no reason to be down. Everything is equally unreal.

If the name Sonchai Jitpleecheep seems strange to you, then you definitely have something to look forward to. I actually, surprisingly, found myself able to type it without referring to the book, no small accomplishment. But then, we have had three previous novel featuring Sonchai from John Burdett, all top-notch mysteries that, in retrospect, all perfect candidates the noird genre recently explored by China Mi�ville and Jedediah Berry. ‘Bangkok 8‘, ‘Bangkok Tattoo‘, and ‘Bangkok Haunts‘ approach the noird from the mystery genre side of the equation but are weird enough to satisfy any fan of the noird.

Sonchai Jitpleecheep lives in a surreal, supernatural world, haunted by ghosts and visions and informed by the Buddhist religion. Burdett is a master of the world-blur. His exotic location is wonderfully evoked and so damn strange that the real and the unreal seem pretty much on the same plane. Moreover, he brings this all off with a giddy sense of humor that makes reading utterly delightful.

Burdett’s latest finds Sonchai tasked with investigating the murder of a farang film director and in direct competition with another cop, Sukum Montri. Fortunately for Sukum, Sonchai has given up on competition; on the other hand, Sonchai cannot help but display his supernatural competence. Of course, Sonchai’s boss, the corrupt Colonel Vikorn has his own whole agenda for Sonchai. And he’s been watching The Godfather, which can be nothing but bad news for Sonchai. There’s a lot of heroin out there that needs to get sold and a new woman in Sonchai’s life. She’s nearly as close to the otherworld as Sonchai, which proves to be a mixed blessing.

Burdett’s latest is no mixed blessing. The breezy, hyper-detailed, surreal prose will pull you into a real world weirder than most fantasies. Burdett’s characters, even the most Evil, and there are some who are certainly capital “E” Evil, are compelling. His plots are twisted and quite weird. It really doesn’t matter how you approach Burdett’s Sonchai Jitpleecheep novels. If you?re a mystery fan, you’ll sink into his exotic setting and the weird stuff just seems like jewels on the caskets. If you’re a reader of speculative fiction, Burdett’s surreal setting and supernatural vision, informed by Buddhism, will seem more inventive than any first- or second-world fantasy. And even if you just like to read, the prose and humor will take you to places you certainly could not imagine. If you’ve already read the first three, the newest is a no-brainer. And if you haven’t, well you’re lucky. A peculiar new world awaits you.