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Rating: 
Summary: Accurate and well drawn Portrait of Thailand
Review: "In the fleeting moments of twilight they sat mesmerized with the crumbling remains of the abandoned temple and glimpsed the still-living soul of the kingdom." The author's descriptions of Ayudhya are really fine and sensitive. The plot of this book is also interesting. I bought the book in Bookazine in Bangkok and it made great reading on the plane back to the States. This is a kind of love story and mystery and murder set against the background of Thailand about a decade ago. It's the kind of book you don't want to end.
Rating:
Summary: A real work that compells one to read it
Review: KINGDOM OF MAKE-BELIEVE is an exciting thriller that paints a picture of Thailand much different from that of The King and I. The story line is filled with non-stop action, graphic details of the country, and an intriguing allure that will hook readers of exotic thrillers. Though the climax pales compared to the excellence of the rest of the novel, it remains an overall good ending. Anyone who takes pleasure in visiting a different lifestyle should read Dean Barrett's reverent but genuine portrayal of another world. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Fantasic
Review: A real surprise! A well written novel of Thailand portraying real people by somebody who obviously knows the country well. I did see Thailand over a decade ago and this book certainly rings true. I like the way the main character seems torn between a kind of spiritual longing and more immediate sensual urges. That is indeed the choice the Land of Smiles presents us with.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting thriller
Review: A very intelligent book but also an exciting read! It sounds like Thailand is a great place to be for intrigue. But the author also goes into the culture of the country which I liked very much. I think he managed to combine a very thoughtful novel with an exotic thriller. Tough trick to pull off but I think he did it.
Rating: 
Summary: not so bad
Review: Barrett's novel isn't great literature, but it's readable. I have a feeling people who have been to Thailand, like myself, will appreciate more than those who haven't. Yes some of the characters do appear to fall into stereotypes, but I can tell you from experience that these stereotypes are based on real types. I bought a used copy in Bangkok for about $4 and felt it was worth about that much - like a bargain matinee for an entertaining B movie.
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Summary: I read it in one sitting!
Review: Dean Barnett has painted a full technicolour panaramic view of what most ex-pats experience when stationed in strange and exotic lands. Although there is sex, violence, intrigue, adventure, etc etc I feel they are just a backdrop to the authors gentle decription of a style of life and working experience. In this book, our hero, Brian is tricked back to Taiwan from his career as one of the working board members of a small publishing house. The letter, supposedly signed by his widdowed sister-in-law asks him for help at a moment when he had just convinced his company to send him to Tailand and the Far East to find unpublished authors and printers for a new series of books. Brian, at 45 or so, takes a trip back into time to meet with a part of his life that over the years of the 'hum drum' Western business had fogged over in his memory. While there, he meets up with a cast of colourfull characters that unflinchingly seem trapped in the late 1960's. While there Brian manages to taste the fruits of Tailand, and by that I mean more than the pineapples, as he is asked by his siter-in-law to help get his 25 year old niece, Nalin, out of one of Bankok's more notorious 'strip clubs' the 'Horny Tiger'. I must admit that this book is written very much from a 'male' point of view and from the point of view of a business mercenary as he is forced to work in an exotic environment. The cast of characters are described with such knowledge that anyone who has ever found himself thrust into that life will immediately identify with bioth the characters and the settings. It certainly took me back, and, Barnett's perception of the large contingent of Brit ex-pats, and mid western good ole boys, stranded all over the world, made melaugh and smile in quiet agreement. Although there is a story, there is a plot and there is adventure, this reader can not help but feel they take a secondary place to meeting the characters and enjoying a drink and the scenery of the 'Horny Tiger'. I would have enjoyed the book A LOT MORE if the author would have spiced up the sex scenes with his obvious mastery of erotic lit, as in 'Mistress of the East' a fab historical erotic novel .... then I guess I would have had to rate this book as a ten star novel...
Rating:
Summary: Exotic and Captivating
Review: Dean Barrett captures the seedy side of 1980s Thailand, when the wealth is pumping in and out through greedy and shady characters. The backdrop of the story is a tale of lost love between a man, his brother's widow and her daughter. The protagonist returns to Thailand after a long exit, expecting life to be similar to what he walked away from. Instead, he learns that you can never go home again, even in Asia. By the end, Brian Mason also realizes that the Thailand and people he remembered perhaps wasn't even as it really appeared the first time around. Barrett really captured the essence of Thailand, and the extoic and hypnotic effects it can have. His writing draws you in to the story, and you become compelled to finish it in just a few sittings. The only knock is characters that seem just a quarter shade from believable. A couple times I thought to myself, "They really wouldn't do that..." but perhaps that's because the characters were based on real people who don't act as we expect.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent & well written
Review: Kingdom of Make-Believe refers to the Thailand that people see and what is behind it. The author also has one of his characters mention a Kingdom of Make-Believe at her school where she allows the children to act out their fantasies. This is used very well at the end. This is obviously a very well thought out novel in which a New York editor receives a mysterious letter from his brother's widow (a woman he was once in love with) and that, plus business, sends him back to Thailand after 20 years. And things begin to happen: love, danger and lots of people with secrets to hide. A fine read.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Introduction to Land of Smiles
Review: This book is set in Thailand in 1988 but besides being a fine novel it provides a wealth of information about the country and its people.
I would have to say it is one of the best I've read on a Southeast Asian country. I enjoyed the love story and the misunderstandings between a foreign man and a Thai woman. I especially enjoyed being taken behind the the tourist facade in Thailand by someone who knows the country well. A fine read.
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Summary: Best Bangkok Novel
Review: This is really a very fine novel and I would say is pretty far ahead of other novels I read set in Thailand. It has literate descriptions of people and places and an interesting plot. This is not just a potboiler but a novel that you read for writing craft. The kind of novel you don't want to end because you want to stay involved with the characters. Very well done.
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