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The Mean Streets of Asia Crime Novels #3
The Big Mango
"THE BIG MANGO is a full-blown work. There's no room for improvement. It's as good as it gets." --The Bangkok Post
From the Big Apple, to the Big Orange, to the Big Mango. It does have a kind of nutty logic to it. Bangkok is about as far as Eddie Dare can go without falling off the edge of the world, although at times Eddie wonders if that isn't exactly what he has done.
$400,000,000 is in the wind, the result of a bungled CIA operation to grab the Bank of Vietnam's currency reserves when the Americans fled Saigon in 1975. A few decades later, the word on the street is that all that money somehow ended up in Bangkok and a downwardly mobile lawyer from San Francisco named Eddie Dare is the only guy who may be able to find it.
The problem is that Eddie knows nothing at all about the missing money. At least, he doesn't think he does. But so many other people believe he's got an inside track that he and his old marine buddy Winnebago Jones figure it's worth a shot to head for Bangkok and try their luck.
But first Eddie and Winnebago have to battle the jagged netherworld of modern-day Thailand - a corkscrewed realm where big-time dealers tango with small-time hustlers, criminals on the lam mingle with politicians on the take, and the merely raffish jostle with the downright scary for center stage in the big leagues of weird.
If they can overcome all that - as well as outmaneuver a freelancing CIA man, a pack of angry Secret Service agents, and a ruthless Vietnamese intelligence woman - maybe they can find out what really happened back in Saigon all those years ago.
And where those ten tons of money are.
From the Big Apple, to the Big Orange, to the Big Mango. It does have a kind of nutty logic to it. Bangkok is about as far as Eddie Dare can go without falling off the edge of the world, although at times Eddie wonders if that isn't exactly what he has done.
$400,000,000 is in the wind, the result of a bungled CIA operation to grab the Bank of Vietnam's currency reserves when the Americans fled Saigon in 1975. A few decades later, the word on the street is that all that money somehow ended up in Bangkok and a downwardly mobile lawyer from San Francisco named Eddie Dare is the only guy who may be able to find it.
The problem is that Eddie knows nothing at all about the missing money. At least, he doesn't think he does. But so many other people believe he's got an inside track that he and his old marine buddy Winnebago Jones figure it's worth a shot to head for Bangkok and try their luck.
But first Eddie and Winnebago have to battle the jagged netherworld of modern-day Thailand - a corkscrewed realm where big-time dealers tango with small-time hustlers, criminals on the lam mingle with politicians on the take, and the merely raffish jostle with the downright scary for center stage in the big leagues of weird.
If they can overcome all that - as well as outmaneuver a freelancing CIA man, a pack of angry Secret Service agents, and a ruthless Vietnamese intelligence woman - maybe they can find out what really happened back in Saigon all those years ago.
And where those ten tons of money are.
351 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1999
210 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Jake Needham
48 books394 followersJAKE NEEDHAM received the Barry Award at Bouchercon 2024, the world's largest convention of mystery readers, for BEST PAPERBACK MYSTERY OF 2024. He is a three-time Barry Award nominee, as well as a nominee for the International Thriller Writers' award for BEST PAPERBACK THRILLER OF THE YEAR.
Needham is an American screen and television writer who has lived in Thailand for over thirty years. He started writing crime novels when he realized he really didn't like movies and television all that much. Since then, he has published fifteen popular mysteries and thrillers in two different series — The Inspector Samuel Tay Novels, and the Jack Shepherd Novels — as well as the international bestseller, THE BIG MANGO.
"Jake Needham is Asia's most stylish and atmospheric writer of crime fiction," says the Singapore Straits Times. "Jake Needham is Michael Connelly with steamed rice," says the Bangkok Post.
Needham is an American screen and television writer who has lived in Thailand for over thirty years. He started writing crime novels when he realized he really didn't like movies and television all that much. Since then, he has published fifteen popular mysteries and thrillers in two different series — The Inspector Samuel Tay Novels, and the Jack Shepherd Novels — as well as the international bestseller, THE BIG MANGO.
"Jake Needham is Asia's most stylish and atmospheric writer of crime fiction," says the Singapore Straits Times. "Jake Needham is Michael Connelly with steamed rice," says the Bangkok Post.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
July 28, 2022
Although this is Jake Needham's first novel, published in 1999, it numbers as #3 in The Mean Streets of Asia Crime Novels. With prequels and subsequent novels to augment the characters introduced here in The Big Mango, 6 so far: there is Eddie Dare, a not-so successful lawyer and his buddy Winnebago Jones. The plot revolves around the concept of four hundred million dollars floating around in a Saigon bank since 1975 when the American troops left Vietnam. Apparently, the CIA left that money with the intent of returning to reclaim it. The cooling off period for the stolen funds has expired and now the CIA, the Secret Service, a Thai underworld operative, and various politicians want to get their greedy little hands on the cash. The CIA is misdirecting attention toward a lowly lawyer (Eddie Dare) who has enlisted his best friend Winnebago Jones who is calm, cool, and collected when the bullets begin to fly. Unfortunately, Eddie is not quite so calm. (I mean, who would be?) Although this is Needham's first crack at a novel, he's written compelling movies and TV scripts. There is nothing novice here. Quick-paced, heart-pounding, well-written action sequences propel this novel into a shuddering climactic end. I really liked this book. I would like to pick up some more of Needham's work. Clearly, the fact that he lives in Asia comes through.
January 4, 2012
I always like to use the highlighting feature when I read books on Kindle, but quickly stopped doing so as I read this book. Why? Because I found myself highlighting entire pages and soon decided I was better off just reading the book and enjoying every line of it. Everything you expect from an international thriller is there. Shadowy government figures, femme fatales, hit men, and con men are each rendered masterfully. What sets this novel apart and places it on my list of my favorites is the evocative and spot on accuracy in passages describing the settings of two of my favorite cities, San Francisco and Bangkok. I’ve lived in both places off and on over the years and often seek out literature that is set in each. Though The Big Mango was written a few years back the rhythm, beauty and odd characters that dwell in each place are rendered in such a manner and without cliché that the descriptions are as accurate and thought-provoking today as when they were written. Needham captures the very pulse of each city.
Perhaps the element I enjoyed the most was the humor. Quite simply this book is at times hilarious. Even in dire circumstances Jake is able to give scenes a touch of levity such as the following passage. “All he had to do was squint slightly and he might have been back in San Francisco wheeling into the Bayshore Freeway from the Van Ness onramp and heading toward San Jose. On the other hand, if he had been in San Francisco, he seriously doubted he would be hanging onto the back of a Suzuki driven by a middle-aged Thai whore who had just used a sawed off shotgun to rescue him from two heavily armed Chinese thugs.”
Passages like this kept me chuckling and eager to know what happens next. Another powerful and unique aspect to The Big Mango is the depth Jake gives his characters. Layered between the fast paced action Eddie Dare stops to reflect what his life has meant, has he achieved all he hoped for and is he too old and too washed up to give it another try? The Big Mango answers this question and gives us a pristine and timeless window into Thailand.
Perhaps the element I enjoyed the most was the humor. Quite simply this book is at times hilarious. Even in dire circumstances Jake is able to give scenes a touch of levity such as the following passage. “All he had to do was squint slightly and he might have been back in San Francisco wheeling into the Bayshore Freeway from the Van Ness onramp and heading toward San Jose. On the other hand, if he had been in San Francisco, he seriously doubted he would be hanging onto the back of a Suzuki driven by a middle-aged Thai whore who had just used a sawed off shotgun to rescue him from two heavily armed Chinese thugs.”
Passages like this kept me chuckling and eager to know what happens next. Another powerful and unique aspect to The Big Mango is the depth Jake gives his characters. Layered between the fast paced action Eddie Dare stops to reflect what his life has meant, has he achieved all he hoped for and is he too old and too washed up to give it another try? The Big Mango answers this question and gives us a pristine and timeless window into Thailand.
January 5, 2012
The Big MangoThe Big Mango by Jake Needham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jake Needham’s novel, The Big Mango, broke into the expat market at a time when detective genre and most books covering Thailand focused heavily on the Red Light District and clichéd burnt out expats and their jaded bar girlfriends.
With the release of The Big Mango, Needham joined the company of other great writers of Southeast Asian fiction such as Stephen Leather’s Private Dancer, and the detective novels by Christopher G Moore. With Needham now on the scene, the thriller set in Southeast Asia gained a fresh new look with wit, tight plotting, and insights into the people that he wrote about and their various points of views in fresh new ways.
Access to the Big Mango, which was first published in 2000 used to be quite a challenge as it was previously available almost exclusively in Asia, where it quickly gained a cult following, but with the release of all Needham’s books in Kindle format they can now easily be obtained at Amazon and I suspect this and other novels by Jake will quickly gain a new following.
One aspect that immediately stands out as you are reading The Big Mango and which is often lacking in thrillers, is the character development. Mango brings the best of literary fiction and it’s fully thought out characters to the thriller genre.
The book begins in San Francisco. Eddie Dare is bored, a divorcee with an estranged son and a less than successful legal practice. In short, he needs a fresh start. Eddie, a protagonist who hasn’t lost his yearning for a destiny beyond his ordinary life, leaps at the chance to go to Thailand when his past comes back to haunt him, in the form of a cryptic photo, with his head circled in red which Dare notes was penned so aggressively that it tore a hole through the photo.
A lesser man may have sought refuge in his work and the safety of San Francisco, but Eddie Dare with his clumsy, but loyal pal Winnebago head out to the Far East with open arms where they find themselves quickly mired in a variety of thrilling and comic antics.
Both men are in need of excitement and redemption, but the potential $400,000,000 cash prize that a mysterious general mentions has been hidden somewhere in Bangkok adds intrigue and danger to their journey.
The dialogue is sharp, witty and fast paced. Needham captures the absurd and often contradictory elements of the Thai persona brilliantly on just about every page. We are led through grenade blasted massage parlours, swank five star hotels, and the streets themselves as we follow the exploits of Eddie, who finds he might still have his moxie after all. He just needed Bangkok to find it.
Eddie is a fish that can swim at all levels of society.
The vortex is Bangkok. He and Winnebago function brilliantly out of the eye of the storm, and for the next couple of hundred pages, the unfolding story sucks the reader along big time.
Even though they find themselves caught up in the biggest treasure hunt in Bangkok, with an unlimited expense account, on the behest of a shadowy figure called the general, there’s an array of players from all over the globe ready to stab each other in the back to get it.
Now that the door of a promising and uncertain future is opened wide for Eddie, he at first enters it cautiously. Then the subterfuge of Bangkok lures him and his mate. Winnebago Jones, who served in Vietnam with Eddie, is half Indian, who runs a bookshop in San Francesco. He doesn’t make much money but picks up all kinds of trivia, and a few languages along the way, that help tremendously, while he’s playing back seat driver with Eddie in Bangkok.
What ever they do on the streets is done on the fly, which makes for surprises on every page. Nothing seems rehearsed, and through omission, Jake lets us decide what’s going on in Winnebago’s head, while there are all kinds of thinking aloud going on with Eddie. This makes for a nice balance, between feeding the reader, and letting them imagine what’s going on.
Winnebago plays lazy and stupid, but in many ways, Eddie respects his decisions and sixth sense on what is actually going on in this invisible tangled web of lies and deception.
Over time, Eddy comes up with a few new tricks of his own, while trying to outwit a former DEA agent, who smells the scent of lots of money, and lets the lawyer lose on the streets of Bangkok. But if it is Needham’s center left observations that make this more than the run of the mill thriller book, then let the reader decide.
Take for example, the interaction between Bar, a Bangkok Post reporter (who seems a close approximation of Bernard Trink, columnist of the defunct Night Owl column of the Bangkok Post,) who ruminates on his DEA buddy, agent Chuck: “Bar liked cruising Bangkok with Chuck for two reasons: he was pretty good company, and he carried a really big gun. Both of those things, Bar thought, were important when you hit the streets, although you could probably get along without the company if you had to.”
Read the book, and be enthralled. Or at the very least entertained. And if you really want to know more about The Big Mango, and it’s characters, Jake is always around on Facebook or Twitter, where you’ll see aspects of Eddie and Winnebago in his posts. After all, he is plugging his newly released eBooks that can be downloaded for a dime, almost!
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jake Needham’s novel, The Big Mango, broke into the expat market at a time when detective genre and most books covering Thailand focused heavily on the Red Light District and clichéd burnt out expats and their jaded bar girlfriends.
With the release of The Big Mango, Needham joined the company of other great writers of Southeast Asian fiction such as Stephen Leather’s Private Dancer, and the detective novels by Christopher G Moore. With Needham now on the scene, the thriller set in Southeast Asia gained a fresh new look with wit, tight plotting, and insights into the people that he wrote about and their various points of views in fresh new ways.
Access to the Big Mango, which was first published in 2000 used to be quite a challenge as it was previously available almost exclusively in Asia, where it quickly gained a cult following, but with the release of all Needham’s books in Kindle format they can now easily be obtained at Amazon and I suspect this and other novels by Jake will quickly gain a new following.
One aspect that immediately stands out as you are reading The Big Mango and which is often lacking in thrillers, is the character development. Mango brings the best of literary fiction and it’s fully thought out characters to the thriller genre.
The book begins in San Francisco. Eddie Dare is bored, a divorcee with an estranged son and a less than successful legal practice. In short, he needs a fresh start. Eddie, a protagonist who hasn’t lost his yearning for a destiny beyond his ordinary life, leaps at the chance to go to Thailand when his past comes back to haunt him, in the form of a cryptic photo, with his head circled in red which Dare notes was penned so aggressively that it tore a hole through the photo.
A lesser man may have sought refuge in his work and the safety of San Francisco, but Eddie Dare with his clumsy, but loyal pal Winnebago head out to the Far East with open arms where they find themselves quickly mired in a variety of thrilling and comic antics.
Both men are in need of excitement and redemption, but the potential $400,000,000 cash prize that a mysterious general mentions has been hidden somewhere in Bangkok adds intrigue and danger to their journey.
The dialogue is sharp, witty and fast paced. Needham captures the absurd and often contradictory elements of the Thai persona brilliantly on just about every page. We are led through grenade blasted massage parlours, swank five star hotels, and the streets themselves as we follow the exploits of Eddie, who finds he might still have his moxie after all. He just needed Bangkok to find it.
Eddie is a fish that can swim at all levels of society.
The vortex is Bangkok. He and Winnebago function brilliantly out of the eye of the storm, and for the next couple of hundred pages, the unfolding story sucks the reader along big time.
Even though they find themselves caught up in the biggest treasure hunt in Bangkok, with an unlimited expense account, on the behest of a shadowy figure called the general, there’s an array of players from all over the globe ready to stab each other in the back to get it.
Now that the door of a promising and uncertain future is opened wide for Eddie, he at first enters it cautiously. Then the subterfuge of Bangkok lures him and his mate. Winnebago Jones, who served in Vietnam with Eddie, is half Indian, who runs a bookshop in San Francesco. He doesn’t make much money but picks up all kinds of trivia, and a few languages along the way, that help tremendously, while he’s playing back seat driver with Eddie in Bangkok.
What ever they do on the streets is done on the fly, which makes for surprises on every page. Nothing seems rehearsed, and through omission, Jake lets us decide what’s going on in Winnebago’s head, while there are all kinds of thinking aloud going on with Eddie. This makes for a nice balance, between feeding the reader, and letting them imagine what’s going on.
Winnebago plays lazy and stupid, but in many ways, Eddie respects his decisions and sixth sense on what is actually going on in this invisible tangled web of lies and deception.
Over time, Eddy comes up with a few new tricks of his own, while trying to outwit a former DEA agent, who smells the scent of lots of money, and lets the lawyer lose on the streets of Bangkok. But if it is Needham’s center left observations that make this more than the run of the mill thriller book, then let the reader decide.
Take for example, the interaction between Bar, a Bangkok Post reporter (who seems a close approximation of Bernard Trink, columnist of the defunct Night Owl column of the Bangkok Post,) who ruminates on his DEA buddy, agent Chuck: “Bar liked cruising Bangkok with Chuck for two reasons: he was pretty good company, and he carried a really big gun. Both of those things, Bar thought, were important when you hit the streets, although you could probably get along without the company if you had to.”
Read the book, and be enthralled. Or at the very least entertained. And if you really want to know more about The Big Mango, and it’s characters, Jake is always around on Facebook or Twitter, where you’ll see aspects of Eddie and Winnebago in his posts. After all, he is plugging his newly released eBooks that can be downloaded for a dime, almost!
January 26, 2015
Gritty.
I picked this book up after reading two of Jake's Sam Tay novels. It is quite a contrast from the urbane, reflective existentialism of Tay to Eddie and Winnebago's adventure in Thailand. But, looking at it as a reader along for the ride, I enjoyed it immensely.
There are quite a few holes in the novel. Eddie's family relationship goes nowhere. His San Francisco backstory isn't very meaningful. Certain sub-plot elements seem to go along a certain path and fizzle. Messy. But, each one of these areas appear ripe for use in future stories. I hope to see Eddie in future adventures as he and his small band of loyalists attempt to spend the money wisely.
There were a few editing errors, but nothing overly disturbing.
I've rated this novel with 5 stars because of it's story and it's potential for future development. I'll probably read the remainder of Jake's novels available on Kindle before I trade off to other authors. The three novels I've read so far are all quite good, with The Big Mango as my favorite to date.
I picked this book up after reading two of Jake's Sam Tay novels. It is quite a contrast from the urbane, reflective existentialism of Tay to Eddie and Winnebago's adventure in Thailand. But, looking at it as a reader along for the ride, I enjoyed it immensely.
There are quite a few holes in the novel. Eddie's family relationship goes nowhere. His San Francisco backstory isn't very meaningful. Certain sub-plot elements seem to go along a certain path and fizzle. Messy. But, each one of these areas appear ripe for use in future stories. I hope to see Eddie in future adventures as he and his small band of loyalists attempt to spend the money wisely.
There were a few editing errors, but nothing overly disturbing.
I've rated this novel with 5 stars because of it's story and it's potential for future development. I'll probably read the remainder of Jake's novels available on Kindle before I trade off to other authors. The three novels I've read so far are all quite good, with The Big Mango as my favorite to date.
April 21, 2019
Mildly entertaining, but rather pedestrian stuff providing very little insight into Bangkok beyond the names of a couple bars one might want to check out. The ending is hugely problematic, as the heroes are apparently willing to kill and maim scores of innocent people at the corner of Cowboy and 23 to make their getaway.
June 29, 2016
Killer Story!
I do love reading this man's work. Two guys in Bangkok and a race for the money. I'm going to hope that there's more where this came from.
I do love reading this man's work. Two guys in Bangkok and a race for the money. I'm going to hope that there's more where this came from.
Read
March 19, 2016Just a great read all around! FaScinTing characters and twisting plots.
October 6, 2025
Thrilling, surreal & grade A fun, THE BIG MANGO is a hilarious blend of action, intrigue and observational snark. Big money, big adventure & THE BIG MANGO awaits.
As much due to Harold Faltermeyer's catchy synth score as the comedic chemistry of the two lead actors, TANGO & CASH was the last blast of the 80s for Sylvester Stallone and a terrific buddy-cop flick, prison-escape story and who-dun-it all rolled into one. Worth noting is Kurt Russell's timing and hilarity that he'd been honing since he was Jack Burton only 3 years prior, leaving it up in the air of who's responsible for a solid 104 minutes of action entertainment. Tango or Cash. Cash and Tango. TANGO & CASH. With a small transposition error and a lot of imagination, the thrilling story of a boatload of hard currency that went missing during the Wild West days of the Vietnam War could easily be MANGO & CASH, as in THE BIG MANGO, Bangkok, Thailand and $400,000,000 in US dollars and gold. When San Francisco lawyer Eddie Dare looks to punch through the dreariness of life, his instinct is to GO WEST and look for brazen adventure. With feds, gangsters, spies and thugs hot on his tail, it's just a matter of who would reach the treasure first.
Caught in the machinations of life and almost rid of the memories of serving 14 months in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam war, Eddie Dare has his shingle out, enjoying what he's built, living the dream. San Francisco and its accoutrements may just be a tad too wispy, too fragile a place, a watercolor world were everything feels perpetually a smidge out of focus for a middle aged lawyer not ready to slide into the rest of his life. A dead ringer for Bruce Willis and being quick on his feet, Eddie doesn't want his headstone to resemble Beavis's epitaph that he never scored. Eddie doesn't just want to be okay. Some people go with younger GFs, get a red sportscar, a late-life luxury watch; Eddie's gonna go look for $400,000,000 in Thailand of all places, as he's got unique knowledge of the funds long believe to being abandoned in a warehouse after the evac of the US Embassy in Saigon. Abandoning all sense and sensibilities, Eddie dashes across the Pacific Ocean, as something's waiting for him in Bangkok, THE BIG MANGO. A city like an extra planet with its own gravitational field, a place that defies time, distorts reality, and attracts lost souls happy to be adrift and hoping that no one would ever find them again. Eddie's looking for something and ostensibly it's not the 20,000 pounds of currency--whatever it is, he's willing to risk it and trade his present for whatever the future holds.
Somewhat thematically similar to DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, GOLFINGER, and THE SORCERER, THE BIG MANGO deftly blends action, intrigue, hilarious life-truths, and a crazy treasure hunt, really shining a spotlight on Bangkok, giving the narrative major exotic mojo. Although published late in the last century, THE BIG MANGO is a refreshing read on the cusp of the tech bubble, a welcome diversion of militarized fiction stretching GWOT threads paper-thin. In fact, THE BIG MANGO reminds of classic and later Nelson DeMille novels of globetrotting Americans in search of trouble in exotic places. Featuring references to THE GRATEFUL DEAD and DAYS OF THUNDER, THE BIG MANGO reminds that with patience everything comes in good time and that you can't trust anyone if you can't trust your government. Thrilling, surreal and grade A fun, THE BIG MANGO throws its protagonist and the reader into the deep end, treading headfirst into danger, emphasizing that there's a big world out there and he may be in over his head. From the Big Apple to the Big Orange to THE BIG MANGO, take a walk on the wild side and head about as far West without falling off the planet. Big money, big adventure and THE BIG MANGO awaits.
October 6, 2021
wondrous, sweaty, filthy, cesspool of crime, corruption, criminals, whorehouses, & bars.
The Big Mango starts with a very cool plot, taking you from Saigon to San Francisco to Bangkok.
Great characters (Eddie & McBride in particular), great dialogue and narrative.
Needham’s Thailand is a wondrous, sweaty, filthy, cesspool of crime, corruption, criminals, whorehouses, & bars.
A bit wordy at times, in fact there were several passages where I felt I was reading an unedited version. Probably would have been more enjoyable if 10% had been cut.
But it always got back on track and took off quickly when it did.
Very reminiscent of Ross Thomas (high praise indeed), but in a 21st century setting.
The Big Mango starts with a very cool plot, taking you from Saigon to San Francisco to Bangkok.
Great characters (Eddie & McBride in particular), great dialogue and narrative.
Needham’s Thailand is a wondrous, sweaty, filthy, cesspool of crime, corruption, criminals, whorehouses, & bars.
A bit wordy at times, in fact there were several passages where I felt I was reading an unedited version. Probably would have been more enjoyable if 10% had been cut.
But it always got back on track and took off quickly when it did.
Very reminiscent of Ross Thomas (high praise indeed), but in a 21st century setting.
April 9, 2024
4.5/5
Came across this book while looking for books based in Bangkok/Thailand & this was highly recommended by reviewers. It did live upto the reviews!
Eddie is an ex-marine & currently a lawyer who gets a chance to escape his mundane & crumbling life in San Francisco, & investigate the fate of a stash of $400 million which is lying somewhere in Thailand. The stash mysteriously fell off radar when US made a hasty exit from Vietnam in 1975 & for decades has been rumoured to be with the Captain of the last few Marines who flew out of Saigon. Eddie with his friend Jones chase a smoking gun while being pursued equally by the secret service of two nations.
Needham describes the city of Bangkok unabashedly with all its parlours & streets in full glory.
Came across this book while looking for books based in Bangkok/Thailand & this was highly recommended by reviewers. It did live upto the reviews!
Eddie is an ex-marine & currently a lawyer who gets a chance to escape his mundane & crumbling life in San Francisco, & investigate the fate of a stash of $400 million which is lying somewhere in Thailand. The stash mysteriously fell off radar when US made a hasty exit from Vietnam in 1975 & for decades has been rumoured to be with the Captain of the last few Marines who flew out of Saigon. Eddie with his friend Jones chase a smoking gun while being pursued equally by the secret service of two nations.
Needham describes the city of Bangkok unabashedly with all its parlours & streets in full glory.
November 4, 2021
The Vietnam War is shutting down but there are stacks of paper money and bars of gold that no one is paying attention to until years later. What a hoot following these guys as they search for the answers to why they received pictures with their heads circled in red ink!
Talk about twists! This has some good ones.
Talk about twists! This has some good ones.
December 24, 2022
THE BIG MANGO - A rather interesting read. Mystery, action, all kinds of Alphabets, and a bit of info about Thailand. Interesting characters, good story lines and a twist or two to keep the interest made this an easy read to get immersed in until the last page. There are still good guys. I liked the fate of the cash, a bit unusual but not at all far fetched. Marines is uppercase, jake. 5*
July 1, 2018
It was ok. Some interesting ideas, but for myself personally if felt like there were too many dead spots where nothing much was happening to progress the story forward. Unsatisfying ending.
Will try the author's inspector Tan series to see if that is more engaging.
Will try the author's inspector Tan series to see if that is more engaging.
January 12, 2019
Fun read
Some laugh out loud moments and observations as the writer twists us through late 90s Bangkok following a ragtag group of Vietnam vets hunting for treasure none of them believe exists...
Some laugh out loud moments and observations as the writer twists us through late 90s Bangkok following a ragtag group of Vietnam vets hunting for treasure none of them believe exists...
October 10, 2019
An oldie, but a goodie
Jake Needham has an incredible insight into the Southeast Asian culture and mindset. He has crafted a very interesting storyline around a very believable premise of $400 million dollars being spirited out of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war.
Jake Needham has an incredible insight into the Southeast Asian culture and mindset. He has crafted a very interesting storyline around a very believable premise of $400 million dollars being spirited out of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war.
February 3, 2020
Eddie Dare started the book as one person, but by the end has grown to see more possibilities in his life than he thought he previously had. Loved Winnebago! I hope Jake Needham does another book with these characters and continues the plot of the missing Vietnamese money.
August 4, 2020
A tale of spys, theft, marines, a lawyer, lies and murder.
Great mystery spy story with a he'll of a satisfying end. It twists you down the twisty streets of memory and history in Thailand and Vietnam and up to the present day.
Great mystery spy story with a he'll of a satisfying end. It twists you down the twisty streets of memory and history in Thailand and Vietnam and up to the present day.
December 17, 2020
A really excellent stand-alone novel in Needham's Mean Streets of Asia series. I love the Samuel Tay and Jack Shepherd novels--a LOT--but for pure kick-ass enjoyment, The Big Mango rules! If you're new to Jake Needham, I recommend reading this one first.
December 17, 2021
Well plotted, fast pace, varied characters, and a satisfyingly solid length so you can make it last more than one sitting. Received as a complimentary copy from the author in return for an honest review.
December 31, 2022
Great story
This was a great story. Kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. This is the first book that I read by this author. Looking forward to reading more books by this author.
This was a great story. Kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. This is the first book that I read by this author. Looking forward to reading more books by this author.
August 24, 2024
Ok read if you're a BKK-based expat like me. It takes the reader through a 90s version of Bangkok, which is fun. Too bad the premise of the story is not credible, the characters uninteresting, and the violence at the end gratuitous.
November 14, 2024
I was really looking forward to reading this book as it has been one I've had on the backburner for an age. However, I was slightly disappointed by it. It isn't a bad book by any means, but it certainly isn't in John Burdett's league.
June 30, 2017
The Big Mango is one of the better novels set in Bangkok. Jake Needham's flair with dialogue reminds me of Elmore Leonard. The plot seemed to be influenced by Graham Greene's The Third Man.
July 31, 2019
A workmanlike Bangkok thriller about chasing money from the fall of Saigon. Just a little too slow and too many descriptions of the allure of Thailand.
November 16, 2019
One of my favourite books by Jake Needham and I have read all of them.
A recommended read if you are thinking of visiting Thailand or just if you are into detective stories.
A recommended read if you are thinking of visiting Thailand or just if you are into detective stories.
June 16, 2020
Bakok dectective
I like crime drama about Bangkok. This book was very good. I also like the author. I will follow him along with James Patterson .
I like crime drama about Bangkok. This book was very good. I also like the author. I will follow him along with James Patterson .
October 3, 2020
Money, mayhem and mystery drive this tale about2 men returning to Bangkok many years after the fall of Saigon. The author paints a gripping portrait of the Big Mango and it's mysteries.
September 25, 2021
Really good. Love the characters, action and dialogue. Good plot.
January 20, 2022
All good fun, some of the settings are, or were there. Some of the characters are real, albeit with different names! The story flows quickly, I enjoyed it.
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