The Bangkok Asset by John Burdett
“We’re only human, up until the point when we aren’t.”
This sixth entry in the Royal Thai series opens with a gruesome murder that cannot be explained as the work of any human being. (Take my word for this. You don't want to know details.)
Burdett's Sonchai Jitpleecheep books keep getting better. Unlike earlier novels in the series, The Bangkok Asset takes Sonchai, and readers, where they haven't been before. Like Marcus Sakey's "Brilliance," "The Bangkok Asset" is about humans with superhuman powers, the effect those powers have on the people who wield them, and the effect these "enhanced" humans have on society. But while Sakey's book is set in the near future and requires a leap of faith to accept the premise, Burdett's novel is set in the present and is all the more chilling for its plausibility.
A very good book for the conspiracy-minded and creepy addition to the Sonchai Jitpleecheep storyline, although one wonders if this means there are no more books in this series because major questions were addressed. although perhaps it sets the stage for a new direction. Although I thought it was interesting, it was also tiring and perhaps even a bit too fantastical for my simple mind. I have enjoyed these books and will likely pick up the next when it arrives.
