Good to see you're starting with the first entry of Burdett's excellent Bangkok series because if this one grabs you you'll have to read them all.
As for "Vulture Peak" as I began reading it my favorite niece came in to town and I gave it to her, as I've done with all Burdett's Bangkok series entries. I've been sidetracked but will purchase it again this weekend.
The books are popular in Thailand and the Thais are impressed that a farang does such a capable job of writing about and imparting some of the essence of their big,beautiful,bustling "City of Life".
My brother has lived in Bangkok for about fifteen years and I've visited him there and just love the place. I'm going to retire there when that time comes.
But as for Burdett he's a Brit whose only South East Asian connection I've seen mentioned was that he was once a lawyer in Hong Kong, not much of a background for writing about Bangkok. The great Asian cities are as uniquely distinct amongst each other as are the great Western cities.
But recently I stumbled upon the fact that for a number of years he has been dividing his time between France and Thailand, Bangkok in particular. So he does have a considerable first hand knowledge about Bangkok.
I just love these books. Sonchai narrates them all, and plays straight man as all the wild, wacked out,dizzying storyline swirls about him.
As with any series it's best to begin with the first then read them in chronological order but these books stand alone fairly well. And if you've been wowed by "Bangkok 8" just keep reading.
Burdett's also done a couple of novels unrelated to Bangkok. I'd recommend them as well.
One is "The Last Six Million Seconds," which is about,on its face anyway,the time leading up to the British handing back Hong Kong to the Chinese. Six million seconds is 69 days and about eleven hours.
The other is "A Personal History of Thirst." It takes place in Britain and is not about liquid refreshment. One of the main characters is named Oliver Thirst.
Hope I've provided some useful info about these books and Burdett. Enjoy the read.
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