Bangkok 8 by John Burdett is a buddhist thriller detective mystery whodunit. The calm and meditation of the sakyamuni may not seem to mix well with the high paced adrenaline pumped thriller world at first but Burdett achieves a divine balance. The premise is that a big black man is murdered in his car and as Sonchai and his partner Pichai investigate, Pichai is immediately killed. The layers of intrigue and brick building pile on in ever more dramatic layers until it reaches a nearly fantastical conclusion.

But it really is no ordinary detective novel. The principles of buddhism and mysticism that pervades the entire atmosphere, setting of the novel, and the characters themselves make prescience and after-life communication seem perfectly normal. The book is not only a stage for the mysteries the characters are trying to solve but also a stage for synthesis of seemingly disparate and contrary elements: East and West, mysticism and objectivism, man and woman, life and after-life. The result is true fantasy in every sense of the world, but just like the rest of its binary nature, is balanced with harsh, gritty, and ultimately attractive reality.

My five minutes is up and since I haven't really pulled together a coherent point, I'll say this as a consolation prize (to you? to me?): read it! You'll love it. I've been having good luck with books lately, and this is certainly one I enjoyed immensely. Suspend your disbelief, and you will be rewarded handsomely.

*also*:what in the world? "intrigue and brick building"? Masonry has no place in the novel, I assure you...