The Hot Countries

August 10, 2015
Edgar-finalist Hallinan’s lukewarm conclusion to the trilogy within his Poke Rafferty series finds travel writer Poke enjoying a spell of peaceful domesticity—his wife, Rose, pregnant; his adopted daughter, Miaow, rehearsing for a school play; his buddies at Bangkok’s Expat Bar always ready to bend an elbow. Then, an innocuous stranger walks into the bar, boring everyone with his garrulous blather, but leaves suddenly with a vague yet nonetheless unsettling threat directed at Poke. With the help of his cop friend Arthit, Poke determines the stranger is Arthur Varney, an experienced killer seeking $3.8 million he believes Poke acquired in the trilogy’s opener, The Fear Artist. Poke spends most of the story trying to dodge Varney and move his family out of harm’s way before an inevitable confrontation on the muggy, wet, neon-drenched streets of Bangkok. Though Hallinan’s deft touch with social commentary is a plus, this entry has long stretches with little happening, and the ending lacks the author’s usual punch. Agent: Bob Mecoy, Bob Mecoy Literary.

Starred review from October 1, 2015

When Poke Rafferty first arrived in Bangkok to write a travel guide, he walked into the Expat Bar on Patpong Road and met some holdovers from the Vietnam War who were his entree into a city he did not understand. Now, these men are years older, as is Poke. Wife Rose is pregnant, and daughter Miaow (now known as Mia), is developing into a wonderful actress. When a stranger shows up at the bar, he sets everyone's teeth on edge. A hunter and a killer, this man wants two things: money he thinks Poke stole, and a girl Poke is unwilling to give up. VERDICT The seventh book (after For the Dead) in Hallinan's Thailand-set series is, at heart, a novel about the Western expats who wandered to Bangkok from the killing fields of Vietnam. While there are references to previous titles in the series, newcomers will find this one reads well as a stand-alone. Poke is a charming protagonist who loves his family and friends fiercely and will do anything to protect them. Highly entertaining.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015
Bangkok travel writer Poke Rafferty doesn't notice anything suspicious about Varney, the Expat Bar's pedantic newcomer, until he's warned by the bar's old-timer regulars that Varney's been questioning them about him. When Varney delivers his threats, Poke realizes he's being haunted by his role in sadistic millionaire Haskell Murphy's death (The Fear Artist, 2012). Varney, Murphy's psychopathic partner, wants Murphy's daughter, Treasure, and the millions he believes Poke stole from Murphy's house before Treasure torched it. But Poke doesn't have all the money and he's not giving up traumatized Treasure, whom he's hidden in a shelter for street kids. Varney is deadly, but Patpong is Poke's territory and he's no slouch with strategy. A fantastic thriller that will please the most plot-hungry of this acclaimed series' fans. Ultimately, though, readers will be enthralled by the insightful, full-sensory exploration of Patpong and of modern expat culture, complete with flashbacks to the old-timers' arrival after the Vietnam War. Pair this with The Bangkok Asset (2015), the latest in John Burdett's Sonchai Jitpleecheep series, which also deals with the lives of Vietnam vets who stayed on in Southeast Asia.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)