Jack Shepherd Books In Order

Publication Order of The Mean Streets of Asia Crime Novels Books

Chronological Order of The Mean Streets of Asia Crime Novels Books

The name Jack Shepherd refers one of Jake Needham’s more popular series of novels. The books follow a lawyer with a complicated past who keeps getting embroiled in dangerous situations abroad.

+The Story

The Jack Shepherd series has been largely well-received by fans of Jake Needham. The books follow jack Shepherd, an average sort of fellow who only wants to live a normal life. However, fate rarely allows him the quiet he believes he deserves.

Jack was once at the top of the world. As a high-flying international lawyer, Jack didn’t quite rule Washington but he knew everyone who did. With connections in the most powerful circles of government, circumstances drove Jack to give it all up, putting politics behind him in favor of a simpler life in Bangkok.

The story picks up with Jack Shepherd playing the role of an average professor. The university he works for couldn’t be more irrelevant. And most people would be hard-pressed to locate the city in which he resides.

Just when Jack’s life seems set to continue along a dull and uneventful trajectory, he is drawn into the hunt for hundreds of millions of dollars that went missing following the collapse of a secretive Asian Bank.

The Jack Shepherd books often throw their hero into very deep and dangerous waters. The protagonist has been criticized for being a little too naïve. However, sometimes, that only adds to his charm and the sense of danger, especially whenever Jack finds himself in situations he couldn’t possibly begin to fathom, such as trying to save a former lover and head of state from the clutches of a zealous army.

Jack Shepherd’s creation wasn’t intentional. Jake Needham’s first novel was called ‘The Big Mango’. He wrote it in response to the disinterest he was experiencing with his work as a screenwriter.

The author wanted to do something new. However, while he wrote ‘The Big Mango’ merely as a means of rejuvenating his creative pools, the book found a market and attracted far more acclaim that Jake could have expected.

Even worse, critics appreciated Jake Needham’s work for the debut novel it was, mistakes and all, and then began to speculate on what he would write next, very certain that the next book would be something spectacular and superior.

That was problematic for Jake Needham because, as far as he was concerned, his first novel was the best he could do. Jake couldn’t see his mind regurgitating a more impressive novel that ‘The Big Mango’.

Jake was also afraid of producing another clichéd novel about Asia, the kind that so many white authors produce, often showing their ignorance about the continent and boring their readers with stereotypes.

But, to Jake’s credit, he took to the challenge with fervor. He would push forward with another book, but he would make certain that it was worth the year he would spend writing it.

Having spent so much time in Asia, Jake began to ruminate about the concept of an American expatriate living in Asia, pursuing a personal and economic life in this culture. Jake was drawn to the idea because he thought most of his countrymen were ignorant about the sort of life an expatriate in Asia lived.

Jack Shepherd was eventually born, with Jake writing him as a man with the deepest connections in Washington DC, who must rethink his life when a friend asks him to come and teach International Business at a University in Bangkok.

The decision Jack Shepherd takes is on a whim; he does not foresee the consequences of his move.

+The Author

Jake Needham is an American Author with a law degree from Georgetown University. Jake initially poured his life into practicing International law in places that saw cultures collide, both positively and negatively.

The author gained immeasurable knowledge and experience in the workings of governments and the law before circumstances drove him to pursue a writing career with American Cable Television.

While Jake achieved relative success developing movies, it wasn’t until he took to writing novels that the author found the satisfaction he sought. Having spent so much time in Asia, it isn’t surprising to find that a lot of Jake Needham’s books are situated in that part of the world.

Jake, who is married to a Somerville College graduate and former editor of Tatler magazine in Thailand, writes heart pumping tales that draw a lot of interest in Asian markets.

In fact, there are few English-language authors that are as big in Asia as Jake Needham.

+Laundry Man

When a mysterious Asian bank collapses, Jack Shepherd is drawn into the ensuing hunt for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Jack is living a pretty ordinary life in Bangkok when his former law partner surfaces and asks for his help. The request is an unexpected one, seeing as the law partner in question was believed dead before that point.

The trail that Jack eventually follows leads him to the island of Phuket, a fabled place with a heart of evil. Jack isn’t completely unprepared for the rigors ahead, though. Before coming to Asia, Jack Shepherd was a powerful lawyer with deep connections.

The first book in the Jack Shepherd series reveals Jake Needham’s potential. The book is well plotted in the beginning, especially as it reveals a twisted web of financial misdeeds and bad banks, dragging Jack along as he bounces from one clue to another.

The author introduces a lot of colorful characters along the way. Things do not end so strongly.

+Killing Plato

Plato Karsarkis was once on top of the world. But that was before the international celebrity was charged with racketeering and espionage, eventually vanishing in light of the FBI’s pursuit.

Jack Shepherd, a former high flying lawyer, is shocked when he encounters the fugitive on Phuket. Karsarkis thinks that Jack can help him get a presidential pardon because of his connections.

Unfortunately for Karsarkis, there are U.S. Marshals in Phuket determined to get Jack’s help in setting a trap for the fugitive. If Jack Shepherd had his way, everyone would just leave him alone.

Unfortunately, he knows a chilling secret that he cannot ignore, one that is bound to throw his life into further turmoil.

This story moves at a faster pace than its predecessor, immediately engulfing readers in all the danger and international intrigue coming Jack Shepherd’s way.