Bangkok Tattoo

Author: John Burdett
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
ISBN: 1400044901
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep of the Royal Thai Police returns in his riveting and smokily atmospheric new thriller.A farang–a foreigner–has been murdered, his body horribly mutilated, at the Bangkok brothel co-owned by Sonchai’s mother and his boss. The dead man was a CIA agent. To make matters worse, the apparent culprit is sweet-natured Chanya, the brothel’s top earner and a woman whom the devoutly Buddhist sleuth has loved for several lifetimes. How can Sonchai solve this crime without sending Chanya to prison? How can he engage in a cover-up without endangering his karma? And how will he ever get to the bottom of a case whose interested parties include American spooks, Muslim fundamentalists, and gangsters from three countries? As addictive as opium, as hot as Sriracha chili sauce, and bursting with surprises, Bangkok Tattoo will leave its mark on you.

Bangkok 8

Author: John Burdett
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
ISBN: 1400040914
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Book Description
A thriller with attitude to spare, Bangkok 8 is a sexy, razor-edged, often darkly hilarious novel set in one of the world’s most exotic cities. Witnessed by a throng of gaping spectators, a charismatic Marine sergeant is murdered under a Bangkok bridge inside a bolted-shut Mercedes Benz. Among the witnesses are the only two cops in the city not on the take, but within moments one is murdered and his partner, Sonchai Jitpleecheep—a devout Buddhist and the son of a Thai bar girl and a long-gone Vietnam War G.I.—is hell-bent on wreaking revenge. On a vigilante mission to capture his partner’s murderer, Sonchai is begrudgingly paired with a beautiful FBI agent named Jones and captures her heart in the process. In a city fueled by illicit drugs and infinite corruption, prostitution and priceless art, Sonchai’s quest for vengeance takes him into a world much more sinister than he could have ever imagined.

Sacred Skin

Author: Tom Vater
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789628563791
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Sacred tattoos, called 'sak yant' in Thailand, have been around Southeast Asia for centuries and afford protection from accident, misfortune, and crime. Young women get tattooed with love charms in order to attract partners, while adolescent men use the protective power of their yants in fights with rival youth gangs. For most though, the tattoos serve as reminders to follow a moral code that endorses positive behavior. During the application of a sak yant, the tattoo master establishes a series of life 'rules' that need to be closely adhered to, starting with Buddhism's first five precepts. Failure to observe the master's instructions will cause the sak yant to lose their power. Beautifully photographed these are tattoos that are the essence and 'key' to individual identity, a philosophy for living, the translation of soul to skin, as complex as the leaves of an autobiography, the story of a life.

Sacred Tattoos of Thailand

Author: Joe Cummings
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Limited
ISBN: 9789814302548
Category : Body marking
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Unveiling the magic, power and mystery of Thailand's ancient tattoos. First English language title to explore Thailand' sacred tattoos. For both tattoo enthusiasts as well as Buddhists who want to learn more about the spiritual art form. Includes exclusive interviews with tattoo Masters located all across Thailand.

The Bangkok Asset

Author: John Burdett
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
ISBN: 0385353200
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
Sonchai Jitpleecheep—the brash and beguiling Royal Thai Police Force detective who has been our guide through John Burdett’s five previous acclaimed Bangkok novels—is back. The former monk and devout Buddhist, forever battling to protect his karma from the assaults of morally compromising cases, is now faced with the most horrifying technological innovation to make its way to the streets of Bangkok, and a conspiracy of almost unfathomable reach. With Sonchai on this case is the young female inspector Krom. Like Sonchai, she’s an outsider on the police force, but unlike him, she is socially savvy and a technological prodigy. When they’re called to a demonstration—in the midst of a typhoon—of the deadly, superhuman strength of an American man who is seemingly controlled by a CIA operative, they have no idea what they’re actually witnessing or why. Their reliably obtuse and unequivocally crooked boss, Colonel Vikorn, explains some of it, but the most telling questions remain unanswered: Could the Americans have figured out a way to create a physically and psychologically enhanced supersoldier? Are they testing him—or it—on Thai soil? And why is everyone, from the Bangkok police to the international community, so eager to turn a blind eye? Searching for the answers to these questions, Sonchai and Krom find themselves in a remote Cambodian jungle compound for aging American ex-soldiers, where they will discover just how far a government will go to protect its worst secrets—both past and present. But the case will also have much more personal repercussions for Sonchai, shaking his world to its very foundation and perhaps finally forcing him to confront his long-lost American father.

A Personal History of Thirst

Author: John Burdett
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
ISBN: 1101973064
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 381

Book Description
From former British barrister John Burdett comes a psychosexual novel in the tradition of Damage and Presumed Innocent. At the heart of A Personal History of Thirst is an ill-fated love triangle where all hunger for something and are willing to risk everything to get it, blurring th eboundaries between right and wrong and love and hate to do so. Thirst tells a gripping tale of murder,r evenge, infidelity, ambition, and deception that keeps shocking until the stunning courtroom climax. Ambitious London lawyer James Knight, a propserous solciitor, has denied his lower-class background and carefully molded his publci image in order to climb the social and professional ladder of the British legal system. He will soon "take silk"—become a Queen's counsel barrister, the highest rank a alwyer can obtain. More than decade earlier, however, James had lived on the fringe of acceptable society and rigid British ethics during his years at university, experimenting with sex and drugs in a passionate love affair with a stunning and brilliant American named Daisy Smith. James's life takes an unexpected turn early in his career when he meets a client—an accused thief named Oliver Thirst—for a drink and a chat in a pub. Although they could not be more different, James is drawn to Thirst's high intelligence and wit. Soon their illicit friendship develops into a dark and erotic ménage á trois with Daisy at the center. Now, eleven years later, one is dead and two are suspected of murder. The murder investigation at the center of this impossible-to-put-down novel uncovers the bizarre love story between the barrister, the American, and the thief. And, in the end, A Personal History of Thirst answers the question: What happens when genuine love becomes mixed with perverse obsession?

The Factory

Author: Hiroko Oyamada
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
ISBN: 081122886X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 59

Book Description
The English-language debut of Hiroko Oyamada—one of the most powerfully strange young voices in Japan The English-language debut of one of Japan's most exciting new writers, The Factory follows three workers at a sprawling industrial factory. Each worker focuses intently on the specific task they've been assigned: one shreds paper, one proofreads documents, and another studies the moss growing all over the expansive grounds. But their lives slowly become governed by their work—days take on a strange logic and momentum, and little by little, the margins of reality seem to be dissolving: Where does the factory end and the rest of the world begin? What's going on with the strange animals here? And after a while—it could be weeks or years—the three workers struggle to answer the most basic question: What am I doing here? With hints of Kafka and unexpected moments of creeping humor, The Factory casts a vivid—and sometimes surreal—portrait of the absurdity and meaninglessness of the modern workplace.

Bangkok Haunts

Author: John Burdett
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0307263185
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
Royal Thai Police detective and devout Buddhist Sonchai Jitpleecheep returns as he investigates a mysterious snuff film in which the victim is Damrong, a woman whom he had once loved obsessively, following a haunted trail that leads to Bangkok's most exclusive men's club while dealing with his never resolved feelings for Damrong. 75,000 first printing.

Thai Magic Tattoos

Author: Isabel Azevedo Drouyer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9786167339726
Category : Tattooing
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
For hundreds of years, Thai Buddhist monks, using magical incantations and spells, have been covering people's bodies with indelible ink marks in the belief that they will attract luck, wealth, and blessings. Images of tattooed men appear in 18th century murals. In the past, people believed that these tattoos would provide protection against evil spirits and could render the bearer invulnerable to stab wounds and even bullets. Known in Thai as Sak Yant, these ancient tattoos are today undergoing a revival in popularity, both in Thailand and beyond. In addition, Thai tattoo masters are invited to practice their art abroad, thus increasing the popularity of Sak Yant worldwide. Drawing on research fields as diverse as anthropology, religion, history, medicine, and psychology, 'Thai Magic Tattoos - The Art and Influence of Sak Yant' also seeks to explain how tattoos can change the life of the bearer. With magnificent new photographs by Rene Drouyer, 'Thai Magic Tattoos' is an essential guide to this fascinating subject. 202 illustrations

Tattoo Culture

Author: Lee Barron
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 178348828X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

Book Description
Tattoos are a highly visible social and cultural sight, from TV series that represent the lives of tattoo artists and their interactions with clients, to world-class sports stars and the social actors we meet on a daily basis who display visible tattoo designs. Whereas in the not-to-distant past tattoos were commonly culturally perceived to represent an outward sign of social non-conformity or even deviance, tattoos now increasingly transcend class, gender, and age boundaries and arguably are now more culturally acceptable than they have ever been. But why is this the case, and why do so many social actors elect to wear tattoos? Tattoo Culture explores these questions from historical, cultural and media perspectives, but also from the heart of the culture itself, from the dynamics of the tattoo studio, the work of the artist and the world of the tattoo convention, to the perspective of the social actors who bear designs to investigate the meanings which lie being the images. It critically examines the ways in which tattoos alter social actors’ sense of being and their relationship with time in the semiotic ways with which they communicate, to themselves or to the wider world, key elements of their bodily and personal identity and sense of being.