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Joe Dylan #2
Red Night Zone - Bangkok City
Monica just wants to be loved like all the other pretty girls in Bangkok City. But sometimes getting what you want isn't healthy. Her body is discovered decapitated in her cold-water apartment room. A briefcase stuffed with cash is missing from the scene.
P.I Joe Dylan ventures into the Bangkok City bars to find out what happened that night. The trail leads to the Demon Dreams a Bangkok S&M joint run by a beautiful transsexual and her mute kick-boxing brother. Joe discovers a world of bizarre sex acts and black magic rituals. A seedy Bangkok underworld that picks-up fallen women from the streets and throws them into an evil world of torture and murder.
Step into the Bangkok underworld in this sequel to the critically acclaimed neo-noir pulp novel BANGKOK EXPRESS.
'The next big thing in Thai fiction.' - Thailand Writing and Book Reviews.
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P.I Joe Dylan ventures into the Bangkok City bars to find out what happened that night. The trail leads to the Demon Dreams a Bangkok S&M joint run by a beautiful transsexual and her mute kick-boxing brother. Joe discovers a world of bizarre sex acts and black magic rituals. A seedy Bangkok underworld that picks-up fallen women from the streets and throws them into an evil world of torture and murder.
Step into the Bangkok underworld in this sequel to the critically acclaimed neo-noir pulp novel BANGKOK EXPRESS.
'The next big thing in Thai fiction.' - Thailand Writing and Book Reviews.
Show More
Show Less
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
188 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
James A. Newman
25 books55 followersJAMES A. NEWMAN, born in London 1977. He studied Media Arts, Advanced Skateboard Technology and Fretboard Logisics. Newman has sold Pulp Fiction stories and novels to publications in Arizona, Mumbai, Johannesburg, London, Ontario and Bangkok. Newman has worked as a litigation insurance broker, a copy-writer, an English teacher, a movie extra in Bollywood, a rare book dealer, a rainforest tour guide, and an importer of cheese and wine. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his family, is kind to certain animals and is very much involved with the local art scene, writing books, reviewing plays, hosting literary events and supporting writers and artists. His novel the White Flamingo has been optioned for adaptation into a motion picture. Newman is busy writing the screenplay and working with authors as content editor of Spanking Pulp Press.
Visit the author at www.jamesnewmanfiction.blogspot.com
SHORT STORIES
MEAT– September 2009- 69 Flavors of Paranoia
CARMEN– March 13th 2010– Freedom Fiction Anthology Vol: 1
KIM– April 2010– Scalped Magazine
RAVANA– February 2011 – Freedom fiction journal
CLEAR– March 2011– Freedom fiction Anthology Vol: 2
THAILAND AFTER DARK– Bangkok Book House– August 2011
TWO LUMPS AND A PAIR OF GLASSES- Big Pulp Magazine- March 2013
THE COLD SUN- March 2014- Twisted Tales
PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY- Exiles Anthology-2014- Blackwitch Press
THE FAST RATS- 2014- Strange Story Saturday
GHOST HIT - 2014 -Freedom Fiction
UNDEAD CARGO - 2014 - Spanking Pulp Press.
NOVELS
BANGKOK EXPRESS– August 2010- Bangkok Book House
THE BOY THAT PLAYED CHEQUERS- August 2011- Fried Fiction. Serial.
BANGKOK EXPRESS- Revised 2012 edition. Books Mango.
RED NIGHT ZONE- BANGKOK CITY- 2012 - Books Mango.
LIZARD CITY- 2012- Books Mango / Spanking Pulp
THE WHITE FLAMINGO- Spanking Pulp Press 2013
THE BLACK ROSE- Spanking Pulp 2014
ITCHY PARK- 2014- Double Dragon. Blood Moon Publishing.
THE PENNY BLACK HOTEL - WIP.
NON FICTION
Thai Meditations (As James Alexander) – September 2010– Bangkok Book House
FROM SUB TO SCRIBE- AUG 2014- Spanking Pulp Press
FILM SCREENPLAYS
The White Flamingo
STAGE PLAYS
The Natives
Visit the author at www.jamesnewmanfiction.blogspot.com
SHORT STORIES
MEAT– September 2009- 69 Flavors of Paranoia
CARMEN– March 13th 2010– Freedom Fiction Anthology Vol: 1
KIM– April 2010– Scalped Magazine
RAVANA– February 2011 – Freedom fiction journal
CLEAR– March 2011– Freedom fiction Anthology Vol: 2
THAILAND AFTER DARK– Bangkok Book House– August 2011
TWO LUMPS AND A PAIR OF GLASSES- Big Pulp Magazine- March 2013
THE COLD SUN- March 2014- Twisted Tales
PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY- Exiles Anthology-2014- Blackwitch Press
THE FAST RATS- 2014- Strange Story Saturday
GHOST HIT - 2014 -Freedom Fiction
UNDEAD CARGO - 2014 - Spanking Pulp Press.
NOVELS
BANGKOK EXPRESS– August 2010- Bangkok Book House
THE BOY THAT PLAYED CHEQUERS- August 2011- Fried Fiction. Serial.
BANGKOK EXPRESS- Revised 2012 edition. Books Mango.
RED NIGHT ZONE- BANGKOK CITY- 2012 - Books Mango.
LIZARD CITY- 2012- Books Mango / Spanking Pulp
THE WHITE FLAMINGO- Spanking Pulp Press 2013
THE BLACK ROSE- Spanking Pulp 2014
ITCHY PARK- 2014- Double Dragon. Blood Moon Publishing.
THE PENNY BLACK HOTEL - WIP.
NON FICTION
Thai Meditations (As James Alexander) – September 2010– Bangkok Book House
FROM SUB TO SCRIBE- AUG 2014- Spanking Pulp Press
FILM SCREENPLAYS
The White Flamingo
STAGE PLAYS
The Natives
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 11, 2015
*Review for Audible audio version*
My second foray into the world of P.I. Joe Dylan and James A. Newman’s, Bangkok Noir. Evidently I am incapable of reading (listening) to these in order, because I seem to be doing it backwards, but these stories are more than strong enough to stand on their own.
A private investigator is hired to look into the apparent suicide of a local working girl who may have been wrapped up in something sinister inside the Red Night Zone. To find the truth he must not only battle his own personal demons, but he must take on a group of powerful forces inside the private and popular sex club - Demon Dreams.
Nicholas Patrella once again nails the story with his excellent narration. His voice is in my head now and I will never be able to read a Joe Dylan tale without it in the background. (That’s a good thing, btw) A very good story with a very well done reading. Recommended for anybody who likes their noir, dark and gritty.
*I was provided an audible review copy of this title from the narrator in exchange for an honest review. This was it.
My second foray into the world of P.I. Joe Dylan and James A. Newman’s, Bangkok Noir. Evidently I am incapable of reading (listening) to these in order, because I seem to be doing it backwards, but these stories are more than strong enough to stand on their own.
A private investigator is hired to look into the apparent suicide of a local working girl who may have been wrapped up in something sinister inside the Red Night Zone. To find the truth he must not only battle his own personal demons, but he must take on a group of powerful forces inside the private and popular sex club - Demon Dreams.
Nicholas Patrella once again nails the story with his excellent narration. His voice is in my head now and I will never be able to read a Joe Dylan tale without it in the background. (That’s a good thing, btw) A very good story with a very well done reading. Recommended for anybody who likes their noir, dark and gritty.
*I was provided an audible review copy of this title from the narrator in exchange for an honest review. This was it.
July 20, 2013
A neon ballerina hits the stage in the savage world of Bangkok. She’s grinding her body on stripper poles and trying to take the right kind of men back into hotel rooms, because from the gutter, she can see her million dollar dream glinting in the tropical night sky. She seduces a man out of a briefcase he says is loaded with everything he’s worth. Later her body is found with the head cut off inside her ragged apartment. The briefcase is gone from the scene of the crime. Private investigator, Joe Dylan, is hired to retrieve the missing briefcase from Bangkok’s seedy criminal underbelly.
The city is a savage jungle of sex, black magic, and murder—the Nirvana of debauchery. The clues lead Joe Dylan into the dark and dangerous quagmire known as Demon Dreams, a shadowy S&M brothel for high profile clients with unusual needs. The madam, a gorgeous transsexual, and her brother, a mute kick-boxer who sees demons, hold a grim secret that connects a string of murdered women and the missing briefcase.
James Newman has commented: “The Red Night Zone is an acid trip, where the loose ends don't tie up. Or if they do then not the way one expects.”
Red Night Zone is a voyeuristic pulp fiction that’s always on the verge of dissolving into madness but keeps it together. Newman is a literary risk taker. He gambles hard with his storyline and subject matter like a strung out Vegas junkie betting his wedding ring and bus ticket back home. There’s a dread looming over him, but he manages to say something funny about the way people die. Newman’s style is morbidly funny with a clean prose that reminds me of Stephen King. His journalistic portrayal of Bangkok and his insider knowledge of everything weird is homage to Hunter Thompson’s gonzo journalism. Red Night Zone is the second book out of his Bangkok series. You don’t have to read the first book to enjoy this one, but they’re better together like a pair of stripper breasts.
In the 1950’s Raymond Chandler gave pulp readers Philip Marlowe. James Newman gives us a private investigator for our generation, Joe Dylan.
The city is a savage jungle of sex, black magic, and murder—the Nirvana of debauchery. The clues lead Joe Dylan into the dark and dangerous quagmire known as Demon Dreams, a shadowy S&M brothel for high profile clients with unusual needs. The madam, a gorgeous transsexual, and her brother, a mute kick-boxer who sees demons, hold a grim secret that connects a string of murdered women and the missing briefcase.
James Newman has commented: “The Red Night Zone is an acid trip, where the loose ends don't tie up. Or if they do then not the way one expects.”
Red Night Zone is a voyeuristic pulp fiction that’s always on the verge of dissolving into madness but keeps it together. Newman is a literary risk taker. He gambles hard with his storyline and subject matter like a strung out Vegas junkie betting his wedding ring and bus ticket back home. There’s a dread looming over him, but he manages to say something funny about the way people die. Newman’s style is morbidly funny with a clean prose that reminds me of Stephen King. His journalistic portrayal of Bangkok and his insider knowledge of everything weird is homage to Hunter Thompson’s gonzo journalism. Red Night Zone is the second book out of his Bangkok series. You don’t have to read the first book to enjoy this one, but they’re better together like a pair of stripper breasts.
In the 1950’s Raymond Chandler gave pulp readers Philip Marlowe. James Newman gives us a private investigator for our generation, Joe Dylan.
November 26, 2017
I received this book from the narrator of my own free will for an honest review.
For me it wasn't great nor it was terrible, it was more in the lines of average. I found it a little difficult to connect with the characters and the storyline was a mystery allright but I found it somehow lacking emotion.
a cool read if you want something with a little voodo paranormal investigation it maybe deserve a little appreciation.
For me it wasn't great nor it was terrible, it was more in the lines of average. I found it a little difficult to connect with the characters and the storyline was a mystery allright but I found it somehow lacking emotion.
a cool read if you want something with a little voodo paranormal investigation it maybe deserve a little appreciation.
March 12, 2014
A review from Amazon.
Definitely worth a read... June 28, 2012
By Tom Tuohy
Format:Kindle EditionWhen a friend suggested I read James Newman's new book, Bangkok City, I did so with a sense of trepidation. For one thing, despite 15 years in the Kingdom, I'd never heard of him. I'd read the better known expat writers of course, like C. G. Moore, Stephen Leather, Colin Pipperel, and William Page, and I enjoyed their writing immensely.
I'd also assumed that James Newman's genre was a mish mash of the usual sexpat genre that we see on many a book shelf in Kinokuniya or Asia Books: a staple diet of essentially the same tawdry story - overweight, divorced expat, seeks new life in Thailand, meets a bar girl half his age, falls in love, takes care of her family, till finally one day he wakes up realising he's been fleeced of his savings and, with nothing left and having been shorn of the last vestiges of his self esteem, he throws himself off a condo in Pattaya.
I was wrong. James Newman's writing is anything but tawdry or predictable. His characters are full of home spun wisdom and his sense of storytelling, including pace and characterization, is extremely good. His knowledge, not just of the way Thais think and act, but of the places they inhabit, mentally as well as physically, is unique among expat writers currently in the Kingdom. His ear for the subtle nuances of language, both in Thai and English, show a world that few expats ever see. His inside knowledge of Buddhism and Brahmanism, and the way both religions, new and old, weave around the general, day-to-day Thai superstitions encapsulated in magic and doled out by the maw doos (psychics), is incisive and well researched.
Despite a few typos here and there, and the occasional structural flaw, his ability to construct a sentence and to add clever imagery also suggests he's destined for greater things in the literary sphere. The Bangkok in Bangkok City is reminiscent of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. The very notion of the city is shown for what it is: a repository of broken dreams and unquenched desires; a city populated by people who are not what they seem; corrupt cops, ex-Muay Thai boxers cum gangsters, spiritually and emotionally bankrupt expats, and fatally ambitious Thai hookers ready to sell their souls for the promise of a better tomorrow; a world that, were he still alive, Charles Bukowski would have recognised in all its tacky urban splendor.
With the exception of C. G. Moore and Rattavut Lapcharoensap, few have accurately depicted what it's like to live in Thailand as well as James Newman. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to discover the real underbelly of Thai living: a place where things can be had for a price, but not necessarily one worth paying; a place where you can enter into a Mephistoclean pact just as long as you know that when you reach the proverbial checkout counter, you may have to pay the ultimate price and give up the thing you value most: your very soul.
Definitely worth a read... June 28, 2012
By Tom Tuohy
Format:Kindle EditionWhen a friend suggested I read James Newman's new book, Bangkok City, I did so with a sense of trepidation. For one thing, despite 15 years in the Kingdom, I'd never heard of him. I'd read the better known expat writers of course, like C. G. Moore, Stephen Leather, Colin Pipperel, and William Page, and I enjoyed their writing immensely.
I'd also assumed that James Newman's genre was a mish mash of the usual sexpat genre that we see on many a book shelf in Kinokuniya or Asia Books: a staple diet of essentially the same tawdry story - overweight, divorced expat, seeks new life in Thailand, meets a bar girl half his age, falls in love, takes care of her family, till finally one day he wakes up realising he's been fleeced of his savings and, with nothing left and having been shorn of the last vestiges of his self esteem, he throws himself off a condo in Pattaya.
I was wrong. James Newman's writing is anything but tawdry or predictable. His characters are full of home spun wisdom and his sense of storytelling, including pace and characterization, is extremely good. His knowledge, not just of the way Thais think and act, but of the places they inhabit, mentally as well as physically, is unique among expat writers currently in the Kingdom. His ear for the subtle nuances of language, both in Thai and English, show a world that few expats ever see. His inside knowledge of Buddhism and Brahmanism, and the way both religions, new and old, weave around the general, day-to-day Thai superstitions encapsulated in magic and doled out by the maw doos (psychics), is incisive and well researched.
Despite a few typos here and there, and the occasional structural flaw, his ability to construct a sentence and to add clever imagery also suggests he's destined for greater things in the literary sphere. The Bangkok in Bangkok City is reminiscent of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. The very notion of the city is shown for what it is: a repository of broken dreams and unquenched desires; a city populated by people who are not what they seem; corrupt cops, ex-Muay Thai boxers cum gangsters, spiritually and emotionally bankrupt expats, and fatally ambitious Thai hookers ready to sell their souls for the promise of a better tomorrow; a world that, were he still alive, Charles Bukowski would have recognised in all its tacky urban splendor.
With the exception of C. G. Moore and Rattavut Lapcharoensap, few have accurately depicted what it's like to live in Thailand as well as James Newman. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to discover the real underbelly of Thai living: a place where things can be had for a price, but not necessarily one worth paying; a place where you can enter into a Mephistoclean pact just as long as you know that when you reach the proverbial checkout counter, you may have to pay the ultimate price and give up the thing you value most: your very soul.
January 11, 2018
( Format : Audiobook )
"Sanity is more fragile than most people think."
ough and cynical as Joe Dylan thinks he is, he still finds himself more than a litt!e in love with the beautiful hooker, the 'neon ballerina', Monica.
When she is found brutally murdered he starts searching through the seedier sex streets of Bankok and especially the frightening exclusive club, the Demon Dreams.
Told mostly in the first person present, this book has all of the noir attributes and Nicholas Patrella's narration enhances this as he becomes the voice of Joe. His performance is perfect noir, clipped, clear, sarcastic and cynical plus the other characters are given voices of their own. There are, however, a couple of edifying glitches with repeated sentences in chapters 7, 23 and 25, with a whole paragraph re-read in chapter 12.
Red Night Zone is a dark, standalone story prying into the underbelly of Bankok society and including a form of Black magic. I just admit to losing track of the story at one point, though it didn't seem to much diminish my enjoyment of the book as a whole as the excellent narration carried me through.. However, I did prefer White Flamingo, the 3rd in this series, also read by Mr.Patrella.
An enjoyable noir.
My thanks to the rights holder who voluntarily gifted me a complimentary copy of Red Night Zone, at my request, via Audiobook Boom.
"Sanity is more fragile than most people think."
ough and cynical as Joe Dylan thinks he is, he still finds himself more than a litt!e in love with the beautiful hooker, the 'neon ballerina', Monica.
When she is found brutally murdered he starts searching through the seedier sex streets of Bankok and especially the frightening exclusive club, the Demon Dreams.
Told mostly in the first person present, this book has all of the noir attributes and Nicholas Patrella's narration enhances this as he becomes the voice of Joe. His performance is perfect noir, clipped, clear, sarcastic and cynical plus the other characters are given voices of their own. There are, however, a couple of edifying glitches with repeated sentences in chapters 7, 23 and 25, with a whole paragraph re-read in chapter 12.
Red Night Zone is a dark, standalone story prying into the underbelly of Bankok society and including a form of Black magic. I just admit to losing track of the story at one point, though it didn't seem to much diminish my enjoyment of the book as a whole as the excellent narration carried me through.. However, I did prefer White Flamingo, the 3rd in this series, also read by Mr.Patrella.
An enjoyable noir.
My thanks to the rights holder who voluntarily gifted me a complimentary copy of Red Night Zone, at my request, via Audiobook Boom.
May 6, 2018
The writing is an excess of flowery prose wrapped around an average plot. The night life, voodoo and S&M bars in Bangkok are the majority of action and not that interesting to me. I couldn’t get into this story and had to tap out halfway through. Others may find this tale interesting, but it’s just not for me. The narration was pretty good though, I’ll give him credit for that. This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.
September 30, 2020
If you never been to Bangkok, you can actually imagine the smell of the city when reading this book. Fast paced, addictive reading.
September 17, 2014
PI Joe Dylan returns in the second instalment in the series by James Newman and Joe isn't the only character returning from the first book, 'Bangkok Express.'
This story opens with Joe and a likeable hooker, Monica, who is later found decapitated in her room. The description of her at the morgue is so graphic and disturbing that you realize quickly, Joe isn't the only one with a weak stomach.
Joe is straight on the case which leads him into the dark Demon Dreams, private members club, where black magic is rumoured being performed along with sadistic and cruel, sexual acts.
Newman knows Bangkok, even the bus routes as he takes us on this graphic, gripping journey of hookers, lady-boys, corrupt cops, witch doctors, pimps, sex tourists, beggars and fortune tellers to name a few characters that come and go throughout this dark tale set in Thailand.
Joe the sober, main character remains on the case as the truth begins to unravel in an action packed, fast-paced crime thriller that leaves you ready for the next.
This story opens with Joe and a likeable hooker, Monica, who is later found decapitated in her room. The description of her at the morgue is so graphic and disturbing that you realize quickly, Joe isn't the only one with a weak stomach.
Joe is straight on the case which leads him into the dark Demon Dreams, private members club, where black magic is rumoured being performed along with sadistic and cruel, sexual acts.
Newman knows Bangkok, even the bus routes as he takes us on this graphic, gripping journey of hookers, lady-boys, corrupt cops, witch doctors, pimps, sex tourists, beggars and fortune tellers to name a few characters that come and go throughout this dark tale set in Thailand.
Joe the sober, main character remains on the case as the truth begins to unravel in an action packed, fast-paced crime thriller that leaves you ready for the next.
July 14, 2016
** I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **
This is a truly bizarre mystery dealing with dark sex magic and the secrets in the dark alleys of Bangkok..PI Joe Dylan, knew there was something strange going on, but did not anticipate this strange and dangerous world! Really interesting and well worth a listen!!!
This is a truly bizarre mystery dealing with dark sex magic and the secrets in the dark alleys of Bangkok..PI Joe Dylan, knew there was something strange going on, but did not anticipate this strange and dangerous world! Really interesting and well worth a listen!!!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews