Jake Needham Books In Order

Publication Order of Inspector Samuel Tay Books

Publication Order of Jack Shepherd Books

Publication Order of The Mean Streets of Asia Crime Novels Books

Chronological Order of The Mean Streets of Asia Crime Novels Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Jake Needham is American scriptwriter and a novelist. He is popularly known as amongst the top selling English Language writer in Asia. He was born in Houston Texas. The writer obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in History &Economics from Rice University. Later he attended Georgetown University where he graduated with a master’s degree in the field of law.

Since 1981, the author has lived and worked in Asia, and he is married to a graduate of Oxford University and a former editor of the Thai edition, Pinptuporn Sawamiphakdi.

Much of Jake Needham work is operated at The Writers Room in Greenwich Village. He is the owner of small television production studio that has allowed him to write and produce television programming. In the efforts to improve the profitability of his organization, Needham began writing screenplays, and since he lacked experience, most of his film scripts were mostly purchased and aired on cable network television.

In 1994, Needham was the screenwriter and at the same time the producer of the popular film known as Natural Causes starring famous actors and actresses Linda Purl, and Ali McGraw. Before his death, the famous actor, James Gandolfini showed his interest in acquiring film rights to Needham book The Big Mango. The actor wanted the work to be produced by HBO Films which was to star him alongside Demi Moore. However after HBO failed to collaborate, a French production company of Canal+ made an offer to the author to which he accepted. At first, Canal+ agreed to retain Gandolfini as their lead star in the film. However they later decided to bring in Tom Cruise as their star character, but when Cruise refused the offer, the whole licensing deal fell.

Until 2012, Needham print editions have been published by Marshall Cavendish Editions based in Singapore. While the publisher distributes his books in Europe, Asia, and the United Kingdom, they are not available in North America. Needham contract with Marshall Cavendish ended due to the content of a book titled The Umbrella Man. The publisher expressed its concern that the Singapore government would be displeased by the content of the book, despite these concerns; the author terminated his contract with the publisher. Since then, Needham books have been published by Half Penny Limited based in Hong Kong.

Needham crime and espionage novels are staged in Asia and offer authenticity and realism to the narrative. The author has dual citizenship and lives in both Thailand and the United States.

The author is popular known for two bestselling book series. The first book in Jack Shepherd series, Laundry Man was published in 2002. Nine years later, the second book in the series Killing Plato was released.

Inspector Samuel Tay series was published with the first book in the series The Ambassadors Wife in 2011. The second book in the series The Umbrella Man, a book that had controversial content and resulted in the termination of author contract with his publisher was published in 2014 by Half Penny Ltd.

The Ambassadors Wife (2008)

In the first installment of Inspector Samuel Tay series, you encounter a bloody scene of two horrific deaths. The first scene is in Singapore, and a body is found on a bed in an empty set of rooms in Marriot Hotel. The second body is traced in Bangkok in the squalid apartment next to the American embassy.

Both women bodies are American and seem to have been beaten to death and then shot in the head. They are both stripped naked and lustfully displayed.

Reports from the FBI indicate that it is terrorism. However, the rumors on the streets tell an entirely different story. A serial killer might be targeting American women on the streets across Asia.

Inspector Samuel of Singapore Crime Investigation Department is a kind of a reluctant police officer. He is somehow overweight, cranky, lonely and smokes way too much and looking back he cannot find a reason as to why he became a policeman in the first place. He keeps on talking about quitting his job, but he has not been able because the truth is he is superb at what he does.

So when the bodies of American women start piling up in the Asian streets, the Singapore CID department calls in the right man for this type of job, Inspector Samuel Tay. The murder being high profile cases, and Inspector Samuel being the best they could have.

As soon as he is on his assignment, he soon realizes that nobody wants him to find the person behind the killings, not his bosses at the CID, not the FBI and even not the American Ambassador.

The first book in Inspector Samuel Tay series is an excellent police procedural with an unusual lead character and even unique setting. Some bits of politics spice up the entire drama and never ending suspense that will keep you engaged from the first to the last pages.

The Umbrella Man (2015)

In the second installment of Inspector Samuel Tay series, the series starts with three explosions that occur in different places. The first blast crashed Hilton just like an egg, while the second hit the Marriott and the third one brought down the Grand Hyatt. The three explosion are set in American hotels in the heart of the city with few seconds interval from each. Hundreds of people are left dead and thousand severely wounded.

Inspector Tay, the senior officer in the investigation unit, has made dangerous enemies in the Singapore Internal Security Department and to add on this he has had more enemies at the American embassy. Due to this enmity, he is assigned to routine cases while his fellow officers join the CIA and the FBI in search of the men behind the attacks on the American hotels.

Three days after the attacks, Tay is sent to a nearby Malaysian border to check out on a body of a Caucasian male. Inspector Samuel immediately feels a connection between him and the man even though he has never met him before.

As the inspector digs deep into the man’s past in search of clues, and the person who could have ended his life, his past begins to showcase some secrets. His long dead dad reaches out of the grave to tell him the truth about the bombings.

The second installment is far much more enjoyable than the first one. The character and plot development will keep you hooked from the first to last pages of the book.