Access Instantly A Nail Through The Heart (Poke Rafferty Mystery #1) Originated By Timothy Hallinan Displayed As Paper Copy

strength of A Nail Through the Heart is the sense of place and contextualisation Poke Rafferty is a travel writer in Bangkok and, likewise, Hallinan gives a good Western perspective and explanation of the city and culture.
The story, however, suffers from a couple of shortcomings: I did not sufficiently believe in the main character,

nor in the plot.
Poke Rafferty came across as somewhat schizophrenic hypersensitive and caring to the point of being sappy with his adopted family and certain others, yet hardnosed, threatening, and at times violent with others.
Hes either tiptoeing over eggshells or creating them and the two halves felt disconnected, The main two plotlines are interesting and unfold at a good pace, but too many elements are overcontrived and clunky, and there were too many subplots.
It was if Hallinan decided to try cram as much action and emotive darkness into one story as possible.
Sometimes less is more. This was a shame as its clear hes a good writer and the setup and setting have a lot of promise.
Overall, a reasonably entertaining read, and Id try the next in the series, but this felt overwritten.
Timothy Hallinan'snovel A Nail Through The Heart is the first volume of his Poke Rafferty series.
It's a great start to what I hope will an exciting collection of tales set in the Land of Smiles.
I like Hallinan's Krungthep. Compared to other novels written by foreign writers like John Burdett, Joe Nesbo, and Paolo Bacigalupi that are set in the Thai capitol, Hallinan seems to understand BKKs social and cultural environment more like the way Thais do.
His writing doesn't seem so judgemental or preachy as other falang novelists, That's not to say he doesn't cling to other cliches and misconceptions, I guess it's necessary that villains live in oldstyle Thai mansions that are perched at the side of a klong or the Chao Phraya river.
This is a stereotype that goes back to Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu, Aside from that, A Nail Through The Heart was an interesting tale and I look forward to reading more in this series.
I think this book suffered because I read it after John Burdett's tres excellent sitelinkBangkokSonchai Jitpleecheep, which made me obsessed with Thai culture and their unique worldview unique to a farang, that is.
This book was good but just couldn't compare,


Also set in Bangkok shortly after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, this is the first in a series about Americanborn and halfFilipino adventure travel writer Poke Rafferty.
He has settled in Bangkok and fallen in love with a former bar girl named Rose who is trying to set up a cleaning business that will provide safe work for her old colleagues.
He is also hoping to adopt a once homeless street kid who now lives with him.
Into his lap falls several mysteries simultaneously: a missing Australian mystery man, a possibly homicidal homeless boy named Superman from his wouldbe daughter's past, a dead safe cracker and a rich, scary old lady who hires him to recover some stolen property.
Hallinan writes in the spirit of Henning Mankell, using the mystery to delve into Thailand's pressing social problems: the Khmer Rouge hiding in Thailand, child pornography, the fate of bar girls and Tsunami orphans.


The best parts of the story are the Thai atmosphere and Buddhist philosophy, I found the main characters likable but mostly wooden, And since the story picks up after Poke has met and fallen in love with Rose and his prospective daughter, it's hard to really get invested in their relationships.
Arthit, Poke's friend on the police force, was the most memorable character, There's also a scene that strains credulity near the end involving a misunderstanding with Poke's laptopno spoilers here.


I liked this book despite my complaints and Hallinan has the best intentions in raising these issues.
I also really liked the ending, I might read more of this series to see where it goes and if it improves.
Having lived in Southeast Asia for overyears, I have to admit to having some trepidation about reading a book about a white guy named 'Poke'.


I shouldn't have worried, Hallinan offers up a marvelous blend of noir thriller, ethnographic study and a complex romance, I can honestly say I was engaged every minute of thehours,

His portrait of Bangkok's seamy underbelly is spot on, And yet he takes the reader through it with enough of a detached eye to focus us on the central mystery.
His main character is an brilliantly flawed, engaging and open man who draws the reader in and doesn't let go.


The story takes a serious journey into the world of child prostitution, abuse and pornography and the devastation it leaves behind in the lives it's touched.
It also takes a haunting trip into the horrors of the Cambodia of the Khmer Rouge.
Hallinan wraps it up in a web of police corruption, Buddhist mysticism and the jaded expat's view of Bangkok.


This book is not for the faint of heart, Some of it is extremely gritty, But it is not sensational in its approach and well worth the listening time and the credit.



I came across Herbie's Game, the fourth in Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender series and reviewed it in August.
I was attracted to the character, an unusual take on the detective novel in which the protagonist is a “professional” thief who solves problems for others who function outside the law.
This was such an interesting take on crime and criminals I decided to keep an eye out for more Hallinan books.
Sure enough For the Dead, the most recent in his, so far, more widely known Poke Rafferty series, set in Bangkok, was available, and I ordered it, read it, loved, and reviewed it.
Next I checked out the local public library, which had The Fear Artist available for a two week download, which I quickly consumed, too.
Which brings us to A Nail Through the Heart, the first novel in the Poke Rafferty series.


During my reading life, there have been a few writers whose work with a single character so consumed me I decided to read them all, more or less in order.
John D. MacDonald's character Travis McGee was the subject of more than twenty novels set in Florida, Not a “private eye,” McGee characterized himself as “salvage consultant” and, surrounded by an interesting continuing cast of characters, developed the idea of the long running, serial character in crime fiction.
Robert B. Parker's Boston detective Spenser no first name was a literary tough guy, both gentle and dangerous.
Parker's prose was spare and the books a very fast read, The Aubrey/Matarin series of naval adventure novels by Patrick O'Brien set in theth and earlyth century starred sea captain and later Admiral James Aubrey and his ship's surgeon Stephen Matarin and twentyone novels that combined exploration and adventure with fine writing.
The Richard Sharpe series by Benard Cornwell follow the adventures of a soldier from a lowly grunt in the ranks to top commands during the Napoleonic wars.
Not as intellectually satisfying as O'Brien, they nevertheless drew the reader in and then kept him I guess mostly hims, but I wouldn't count on it.
reading through twentyfour volumes. James Lee Burke's Louisianabased alcholic detective filled with anger and violence Dave Roubicheaux also attracted me through most of his twenty novels.
While I've read multiple books by others, these writers represent highlights in my light fiction reading.
I welcome Timothy Hallinan to this distinguished list, Interestingly enough, most of these fine writers kept my attention only through a central character, Hallinan has so far created three major characters, two of whom are currently running concurrently and both attracting readers with very different perspectives.


I decided to purchase the entire body of Poke Rafferty and Junior Bender novels as used books using Thrift Books, an online used book store as my source.
Thrift Books is, indeed, thrifty, with an easy to navigate interface and extremely low prices, I bought seven volumes in trade paper or hardback for about,a piece with free shipping, They arrived quickly and, while not new, are in good enough shape for both Irene and me to read them and then drop them without regret at campground libraries.
It's a good deal. A Nail Through the Heart is the first novel in the Poke Rafferty series, A benefit of reading series books in order is to see how the character and the author develop through the arc of the series.
Thus I was surprised as I picked up Nail to discover Poke, who arrived in Bangkok as an itinerant travel book writer specializing in books exploring the more seemy aspects of Asian countries, already fully established with his girlfriend Rose, a former dancer and prostitute from the Patcong entertainment area of Bangkok.
They live with a former street kid named Miaow, Since I had encountered them in different relationships in For the Dead, I was surprised to see them there at all.

Read the rest of this review on my blog and please consider buying it from the Amazon portal there.
“A mystery thriller Looking for Trouble in Thailand”

Timothy Hallinan is a mystery series writer with three protagonists featured in his novels: Junior Bender, a career burglar, Philip Poke Rafferty, a travel writer, and Simeon Grist a detective.
While the novels all entail some mystery and detective work the settings are distinctly different and the story lines intriguing and original.

“A Nail Thorough the Heart”, a Poke Rafferty novel, is the second of Hallinans works that I have reviewed: the first being “Crashed” of the Junior Bender series.
The inspiration for reading this second novel of Hallinans derives from the excellent writing that framed the previous novel “Crashed” and I am not disappointed as Hallinans writing skills are clearly evident in this novel as well.


Philip Poke Rafferty is a book writer living in Bangkok, Thailand in a modest dwelling apartment within the city.
Poke is decidedly lucky, he thinks, to have Rose, whom he rescued from a seedy night life existence and who he has tried variously to capture in marriage so far resisted, and Miaow, an eight year old girl formerly abandoned on the streets of Bangkok.
Together, the trio is Pokes vision of a family, and one he wants to bind more securely including the adoption of Miaow.


As the story opens, two men are digging a hole in the back yard of the home of its wealthy inhabitant in search of a buried safe.
The safe, it seems, contains something of extreme value to the owner, In the course of the theft, one of the men is killed and this becomes the seed for the growth of a deeply disturbing mystery.
On a second seam, Poke is approached by his cop friend Arthit to help a young Australian woman, Clarissa Ulrich find her missing uncle Claus.
This action it seems was derived from the fact that Poke had written an article about finding foreign men in Thailand who didnt want to be found a copy from Arthit that Clarissa found most interesting.
And so the two seemingly distinct occurrences begin the journey of causal connection as Poke becomes more and more involved in the attendant mysteries surrounding each of them.


Hallinan writes easily about the sights and scenes of Bangkok, His language has a familiar feeling that makes visual impressions of the people and places involved.
The mystery is steeped in some loathsome activity involving unfortunate children and a chilling recollection of the atrocities perpetuated by the Khmer Rouge both aspects of Asian culture finding their way into Hallinans story.


This was a very engaging novel and one I would highly recommend be added to your reading list.

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