On the Trail of the Serpent, Richard Neville
On the Trail of the Serpent, Richard Neville
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On the Trail of the Serpent
The Epic Hunt for the Bikini Killer

Author: Richard Neville, Julie Clarke

Narrator: Homer Todiwala

Unabridged: 12 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 03/02/2021


Synopsis

The complete story of Charles Sobhraj, the serial killer who inspired the hit Netflix series The Serpent.

Charles Sobhraj remains one of the world's great conmen, and as a serial killer, the story of his life and capture endures as legend. Born in Vietnam to a Vietnamese mother and Indian father, Sobhraj grew up deprived of a sense of identity, moving to France before being imprisoned and stripped of his multiple nationalities. Driven to floating from country to country, continent to continent, he became the consummate con artist, stealing passports, smuggling drugs and guns across Asia, busting out of prisons and robbing wealthy associates. But as his situation grew more perilous, he turned to murder, preying on Western tourists dropping out across the 1970s "hippie trail," leaving dead bodies and gruesome crime scenes in his wake, triggering an international manhunt that put him at the top of INTERPOL's most wanted list.

On the Trail of the Serpent draws its readers into the story of Sobhraj's life as told exclusively to journalists Richard Neville and Julie Clarke by the investigators, families of the victims, and even Sobhraj himself. Blurring the boundaries between true crime and novelization, this remains the definitive book about Sobhraj--a riveting tale of sex, drugs, adventure, and murder.

About The Author

Richard Neville was an Australian writer and commentator who first came to prominence as the editor of the counterculture magazine OZ. Having travelled the 'pot trail' throughout the 1960s and 70s, Neville and his partner Julie Clarke were commissioned by Random House to write the story of con man and serial killer, Charles Sobhraj. The result, On the Trail of the Serpent was a global bestseller. His other books include Play Power; Hippie, Hippie, Shake; Out of My Mind and Amerika Pyscho. Neville died in 2016.Julie Clarke trained as a journalist on the Sydney Telegraph before joining ABC television. She later became a New York correspondent for Australian Consolidated Press and worked as a TV producer. She was commissioned to write On the Trail of the Serpent along with her partner Richard Neville, an endeavor that took the pair all over the world for three years.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Robin on February 08, 2021

I have recently been on a Bangkok binge, having read Bangkok Burning (by Robin Newbold!), Lawrence Osborne's The Glass Kingdom and now the trilogy with the The Serpent. Having stayed at the Malaysia Hotel, where the protagonist - Charles Sobhraj - picked up some of his victims, and knowing the city......more

Goodreads review by F.E. on December 05, 2023

The hippie trail across Asia in the 1970s is vividly described here. A different world, in which picking up mail once a week was the only contact with home and young travellers flocked to places like Freak Street in Katmandu for limitless ganja. It's hard to fathom today, but the trail even included......more

Goodreads review by Trzcionka on January 27, 2024

2,5/5 Przez pierwszą połowę książki sądziłam, że będzie petarda. Niestety druga połowa skutecznie zaniżyła poziom, choć spodziewałam się, że będzie lepsza niż początek tej historii. Bezwzględnie Sobheraj to ciekawa postać. Może nie pod względem osobowościowym (typowy psychopata), ale tego jak "sprytn......more

Goodreads review by Emily on March 19, 2016

Quite simply one of the most chilling true crime books I've ever read. For it's time, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj must have stood out as something so different. The authors, Australian journalists Richard Neville and Julie Clarke weave a story of one the most cunning and cruel killers of......more

Goodreads review by Klaudia_p on October 07, 2021

Gdyby nie to, że ta historia wydarzyła się naprawdę i są na to liczne dowody, to chyba bym w nią nie uwierzyła. Książkę czyta się jak wciągający thriller, choć są w niej też momenty, gdy zwyczajnie człowiek zaczyna żałować, że pewne szczegóły się w niej znalazły, bo są aż tak makabryczne. A to, że n......more


Quotes

"Extraordinary" —The Guardian