The front cover of this book says “A novel of Bangkok”, which immediately makes me think of a previous book I read by Hallinan, A Nail Through the Heart. Check out my review of that book here. This book is clearly a sequel to the first one, but, does stand up well on it’s own. Hallinan explains just enough so new readers can follow along, without rewriting the previous book, and boring those who had read it. For me, it was a nice review, and I didn’t feel the need to go back to the first book and refresh my memory.

Bangkok is hot, humid, full of bright colors, and packed with people. I read this book during a freak but vivid heat wave, and felt like I was there, in Bangkok, following around the characters. Hallinan’s writing is quick and dirty, with bite sized chapters that always seem to end with me wanting more, and making me dive into the next chapter, (and then the next). Hallinan also has a gift for creating some really interesting turns of phrase, that had me laughing, despite the context.

A bad perfume is described as “Like if a flower threw up.” Chapters are given titles such as ” Karma is a Soft Drink”, and “Carrots were the Last Straw”, and “It Starts Ugly, and Gets Worse”.

The story is, once again, about Poke Rafferty, an American who went to Bangkok to write travel books about the darker side of life. He never left. He is still with his girlfriend, Rose, who is continuing to run a cleaning business with her friend Peachy. Miaow, his adopted daughter, is becoming a “normal” little girl. She adores the color pink, and loves to send text messages on her cell phone. Rafferty is finally part of a happy family. Naturally, this is when all hell breaks loose.

Rafferty has paid an ex spy to teach him how to do illegal things. He wants to experience some things for himself, so he can accurately write about it in his next book. When the book starts, he is being followed by three guys who he has spotted. Thinking back to one of his lessons, he realizes that there must be a “fourth watcher”, the one you don’t see. Neither Rose nor Miaow are happy about what he is doing.

This book has many complex things going on all at once. Peachy has a problem with counterfit money, and the government has become involved. Rafferty’s father has re-emerged, and wants to talk to him, despite the fact that Rafferty wants nothing to do with him. There are several layers of “family” involved. Then, someone kidnaps Rose, Miaow, and the wife of Rafferty’s friend, (who is a police officer). They want something nearly impossible, and a large portion of this book involves watching Rafferty try and figure out what to do to get them back. This is one intricate plan, and I kept going back and forth on my guess about if he would manage to pull it off or not. Most of the story takes place in just a few days time, and the book is a fast, exciting read.

Bangkok can be beautiful, and brutal, sometimes simultaneously. This book is both, and you get dropped right into the middle of it. You can hear the noise on the crowded streets, see the bright colors, smell the food, sweat in the humidity and the fierce, intense, heat of the day. Things happen faster and more violently than expected, and after the horror, people just go on with their lives as if nothing of importance had happened. Left me shocked speechless more than once.

Poke Rafferty, an American, goes to Bangkok to write his next book. He’s a travel writer, and his books are guides designed to make it easy to find trouble in exotic locations. Now, Rafferty has found that this little research vacation has somehow turned into a life that he is willing to fight to keep.

He has fallen in love, and started a serious relationship with Rose, a woman who used to be a “dancer”. Now, she is trying to run a cleaning business, and make a better life. Rafferty is also trying to adopt a girl named Miaow, who he saved from the streets. No one knows how old she is, so they decided one day that she is eight. It’s not very clear exactly what happened to this little kid before Rafferty unofficially adopted her, but whatever it was, it can’t have been good. At the start of the book, Miaow brings home another street kid, named “Superman”, and insists he stay with them. The kid is bad news, and eventually the reader finds out how he got to be so screwed up. Rafferty is also trying to adopt Miaow legally now, but is having all sorts of problems with that, and “Superman” is starting to grow on him. He is trying his best to make this all work in a country where things don’t stay together for long.

Then, in between chapters about this little (almost) family, the reader gets dropped into scenes with characters that don’t seem to have any relation to the story, (at first). By the end, the pieces fit together, the picture is clear, and it’s not something easily recognizable if you happen it come from an American viewpoint. Rafferty finds himself changing his mind and his concept of right and wrong, good and bad, moral and immoral, over and over again, as he faces each new nightmare.

Things go horrifyingly bad. This is not a book to read while you eat your lunch! Scenes in this book freak me out more than anything else I have read in a long time, and, keep in mind, I am a big fan of the works of Stephen King, and also tend to read books about bloody, terrifying, vampires. The difference is that the things that happen in A Nail Through The Heart can, and have, and are still happening, to real people. I found myself absolutely sickened, over and over again, especially with some of the things that happen to children in this book.

Rafferty winds up in the middle of a mess when an Australian woman asks him to help her find her missing uncle. The uncle was living in Bangkok for several years, but suddenly seems to have vanished. This uncle turns out to be keeping some bad secrets, and is no saint. There is a scene at the beginning of the book with two men trying to dig a safe out of a hole in a big yard. Almost everything else springs from there. Things twist and turn around themselves, and connect in unexpected ways.

I found that I couldn’t put this book down, despite the intensely graphic events. Readers need to have a strong stomach, and the ability to put aside the nightmarish scenes found within these two covers once you finish reading. I would not recommend this book to someone who is very sensitive, or anyone who was abused as a child. Take my word for it, if that is you, you don’t want to go here. However, people who enjoy mysteries that keep you just a few steps away from the right track, and zoom by at a fast clip… this is the book for you. I promise you will be blind sided for most of the ride.

Personally, I don’t know if I can read this book over again someday. Despite that, I wanted to know how it all came together, how it ended, and who got what they deserved, so I couldn’t put it down, cringing all the way. There are some images I’d like to remove from my head now, thank you very much, but can’t quite get them to leave. They are like “hungry ghosts”. Here is a book where the title is a perfect match for the story, and not in the obvious way. Read this one with caution.