Editors Reads Verdict
The darkest Sonchai novel — American military black-ops and human enhancement programmes give the series its most disturbing premise, examined through Sonchai's Buddhist equanimity.
What We Loved
- The US military-pharmaceutical complex is examined with real anger
- Sonchai's equanimity in the face of the most disturbing material is perfectly calibrated
- The Vietnam War connection gives the plot historical depth
Minor Drawbacks
- The sci-fi elements of human enhancement strain the series' realism
- The least Bangkok-specific entry in the series
Key Takeaways
- → American military exceptionalism and its consequences in Southeast Asia
- → Human enhancement as the ultimate commodification of the body
- → Sonchai's Buddhism tested by the most nihilistic American product he has encountered
| Author | John Burdett |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Vintage Crime/Black Lizard |
| Pages | 288 |
| Published | January 1, 2015 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Thriller |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| Best For | Readers of the Sonchai series; readers interested in US military-industrial complex fiction |
A man appears in Bangkok who can do things that men cannot do: absorb violence, move faster, heal from wounds that should be fatal. He is a product of an American military programme — Sonchai learns this gradually — one that has been running since the Vietnam War, using Southeast Asia as a laboratory for human enhancement experiments that cannot be conducted on American soil.
The Bangkok Asset is the darkest Sonchai novel, the one that draws most directly on the history of American covert operations in Southeast Asia — the CIA’s involvement in the heroin trade, the Phoenix Programme, the testing of chemical and biological agents on populations that had no say in the matter. Burdett has always been interested in the American-Thai interface, and this novel is where his anger at American exceptionalism is most explicit.
Sonchai navigates this world with his characteristic Buddhist equanimity — which here becomes almost surreal, a man of genuine spiritual practice encountering something designed to be beyond human. The series’ most challenging and most politically engaged entry.
Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "The Bangkok Asset" about?
Sonchai encounters a man of extraordinary physical capability — an American military asset, a product of a black-ops enhancement programme — whose presence in Bangkok is connected to CIA operations that go back to the Vietnam War and forward into a disturbing future of human augmentation. The sixth Sonchai novel, the darkest and most politically charged.
Who should read "The Bangkok Asset"?
Readers of the Sonchai series; readers interested in US military-industrial complex fiction
What are the key takeaways from "The Bangkok Asset"?
American military exceptionalism and its consequences in Southeast Asia Human enhancement as the ultimate commodification of the body Sonchai's Buddhism tested by the most nihilistic American product he has encountered
Is "The Bangkok Asset" worth reading?
The darkest Sonchai novel — American military black-ops and human enhancement programmes give the series its most disturbing premise, examined through Sonchai's Buddhist equanimity.
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