The Motion Picture Teller
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
An enchanting new standalone novel from CWA Dagger winner Colin Cotterill, set in Bangkok: a mystery without a crime, where the line between fact and fiction blurs, and nothing is as simple as it appears
Thailand, 1996: Supot, a postman with the Royal Thai Mail service, hates his job. The only bright spot in his life is watching classic movies with his best friend, Ali, the owner of a video store. These cinephiles adore the charisma of the old Western stars, particularly the actresses, and bemoan the state of modern Thai cinema—until a mysterious cassette, entitled Bangkok 2010, arrives at Ali’s store.
Bangkok 2010 is a dystopian film set in a near-future Thailand—and Supot and Ali, immediately obsessed, agree it’s the most brilliant Thai movie they’ve ever seen. But nobody else has ever heard of the movie, the director, the actors, or any of the crew. Who would make a movie like this and not release it, and why?
Feeling a powerful calling to solve the mystery of Bangkok 2010, Supot journeys deep into the Thai countryside and discovers that powerful people are dead set on keeping the film buried.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The principal pleasure of Thai postman Supot, the hero of this offbeat standalone set in 1996 from Cotterill (the Dr. Siri Paiboun series), is watching old movies with his friend Ali in the latter's Bangkok video store. When Supot and Ali discover Bangkok 2010, a dystopian near-future film among a collection of used cassettes, they're overwhelmed by its brilliance and pronounce it possibly the greatest Thai movie ever made. The duo's efforts to find out more about it, however, are stymied at every turn; the movie was never released, and they don't recognize the names of any of the cast, director, or crew. Authorities at the National Film Archive claim ignorance, but Supot believes they're hiding something. For Supot, the search for answers quickly becomes a fixation that ultimately leads him to a commune in the northern Thai countryside, where the mystery of Bangkok 2010 slowly unfolds. In effect, he's part of "a detective story without a crime." The heartfelt characters, vividly drawn setting, and subtle humor more than compensate for this lack. Both established fans and those new to Cotterill will be charmed.
