BANGKOK 8

Sonchai Jitplecheep is the son of a Thai prostitute and an unknown American GI. He has grown up to become a serious Buddhist and the only police detective in Police District 8 who will not take a bribe. While trying to solve the bizarre murder of a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant, Sonchai scours the Bangkok underworld of drugs, gemstones, and sex. Especially sex. Paul Boehmer has the perfect voice for an English-speaking Thai--more precise and slightly higher in pitch than that of most Westerners. Thus, his Sonchai is entirely believable. He also manages to give distinct voices to a large cast of disparate characters--FBI agents, Thai police, bar girls, soldiers--the denizens of both the Bangkok that tourists flock to and the Bangkok they never see. Boehmer does mispronounce most of the Thai place-names, but few listeners will know. Otherwise, utterly involving. R.E.K. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 03/JAN 04]