The Butterfly Trap
Said to be a true story, Dennis Jon takes us on a newbie's (his?) first trip to Bangkok, away from his native US where he awaits finalisation of his divorce Stateside.
His arrival at Don Meuang, the challenges of using the public transportation and the nuances of hotels in the nightlife areas are all scenarios Dennis experiences and we are reminded of so many of the things that we experienced on our first trip to Thailand, the sights, the smells and, of course, the girls.
And it is the girls who make up a big part of the book. Dennis butterflies from girl to girl with largely unsatisfactory experiences, always looking for someone who wants him as he much has he wants her, and not a girl who just wants him for his money. Not content with his experiences in Bangkok, he heads down to the seaside City Of Sin where it is largely the same.
Throughout the book one bad guy keeps popping in various locales, up but apart from him, the story is somewhat linear, and I personally felt that it needed a stronger storyline. As a depiction of a trip, it is good, but for a novel, perhaps a bit more spice was needed?
What I liked: It took me back to parts of my first trip. In parts the writing is very good. The book starts well and ends fairly well and the cover is very nicely designed.
What I didn’t like: There are a number of typos in the book, some clearly typos, some grammar mistakes and this remains an area that Bangkok Books really needs to work on. I lost count at 12 mistakes.
Overall: Nothing ground-breaking here, and definitely not a real challenger to Private Dancer as the ultimate Bangkok nightlife novel, but a pleasant enough read nonetheless.
