A Book That Hits Home Like 'A Nail Through the Heart'

Review: A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART (HarperCollins e-books 2008)
Author: Timothy Hallinan

Having previously read BREATHING WATER and QUEEN OF PATPONG, I felt compelled to read A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART, not only because Timothy Hallinan did such a great job writing those books, but because I wanted to see how the series started. Boy, do I wish I'd read them in order. (I happened to pick BREATHING WATER first, only because it was being "talked about" so much online at the time.)

Now, I finally know that Poke Rafferty (the intrepid protagonist) is not only a writer, but a writer who made his mark creating travel guides for tourists looking to take a walk on the wild side of Southeast Asia (kind of the seamy, Southeast Asian version of Rick Steves, if you will). During his somewhat aimless, if interesting, travels, he walked into a strip club in the notorious Patpong Road red light district and was smitten by the sight of its most renown dancer/prostitute, the very tall and beautiful Rose. Poke took Rose off the stage and into his arms, so to speak. They ended up bringing a child into their home -- a girl named Miaow, who'd been living on the streets.

As the story begins, Poke and Rose (who's struggling to start a legitimate house cleaning business to provide a healthier career path for her stripper friends) are trying to build something resembling a stable life (a change for both of them), adopt Miaow and become more of a family. I say "more" of a family, because Rose is resistant to Poke's suggestion that they get married. These are among the interesting little details and storylines that make the characters seem so real and the give the book more depth and substance than the average thriller.

In the beginning of the book, we're also introduced to Boo (nickname: Superman), another Bangkok street urchin who's acquired a rather nasty reputation, but to whom Miaow is devoted. She convinces Poke and Rose to clean him up, take him in and (possibly) adopt him, too.

Those details (along with Hallinan's exquisite descriptions of Bangkok) provide the backdrop for the main storyline, in which Poke is hired by two very different clients to find a couple of missing people. A woman (at the suggestion of Arthit, Poke's friend and one of Bangkok's few honest cops) asks Poke to find her beloved uncle and another (not so nice) woman hires Poke to find someone who's stolen something from her. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that there ends up being a connection between the cases. The questions are, what happened to the uncle? Where is the missing thief? And what does the uncle's maid have to do with any of this?

While Poke's investigation into these matters plugs along nicely (and leads Poke into scrapes with various ruffians), problems crop up on the domestic front, between Rose's floundering business, Poke's difficulties navigating the adoption process, Superman's tendency to bite (or even kill) people and Miaow's overall sulky/defensive attitude. Not to mention the fact that Arthit's wife is dying slowly from a degenerative disease. So, there's plenty to sink your teeth into here.

The complex narrative is so seamlessly constructed and beautifully written, it's breathtaking. So is the story's pace. The plot builds in twist after twist toward a revelatory and shattering conclusion.

Also, be advised that the subject of child molestation and sexual predation is covered in some detail. When a man as worldly as Rafferty throws up after looking at photos, you know they're bad.

Needless to say, all's well that ends well, or there wouldn't be a series, would there? The matter of how matters get resolved and the moral complexities behind the resolution are what put the proverbial icing on the cake of this superb novel.