The Fear Artist (Poke Rafferty Thriller) [Hardcover]

Timothy Hallinan (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 17, 2012 | Series: Poke Rafferty Thriller

"Edgar-finalist Hallinan’s heartrending, unforgettable fifth Poke Rafferty thriller" (Publishers Weekly starred review) set in Thailand comes to Soho Crime
 
An accidental collision on a Bangkok sidewalk goes very wrong when the man who ran into Rafferty dies in his arms, but not before saying three words: Helen Eckersley. Cheyenne. Seconds later, the police arrive, denying that the man was shot. That night, Rafferty is interrogated by Thai secret agents who demand to know what the dead man said, but Rafferty can't remember. When he's finally released, Rafferty arrives home to find that his apartment has been ransacked. In the days that follow, he realizes he's under surveillance. The second time men in uniform show up at his door, he manages to escape the building and begins a new life as a fugitive. As he learns more about his situation, it becomes apparent that he's been caught on the margins of the war on terror, and that his opponent is a virtuoso artist whose medium is fear.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Fear Artist

Voted one of Deadly Pleasures Magazine’s “Best Mystery-Crime Novels of 2012.”

"At the start of Edgar-finalist Hallinan’s heartrending, unforgettable fifth Poke Rafferty thriller (after 2010’s The Queen of Patpong), travel writer Rafferty collides with an overweight man around 65, possibly a German or American, on a wet Bangkok street. The man, whose head is oddly sunburned, manages to say a woman’s name before expiring from multiple gunshots. When the cops at the scene insist the man wasn’t shot, Rafferty knows he’s headed for trouble. Forced to betray his best friend, Rafferty turns for help to leftover cold war spooks from the other side as he uncovers evidence that the Pentagon has resurrected the Phoenix Program, which the U.S. used in Vietnam, to counter Muslim terrorists in southern Thailand. Hallinan gives his readers, who should be prepared for gruesome torture scenes, no chance to escape from his somber conviction that what America has become by pursuing the war on terror was never what America was supposed to be."
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

"Stellar."
—Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

“The volcanic American sadist is the author’s best yet… Simply the best of a fine series of thrillers set in one of the world’s most exotic locales.”
—Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

“Hallinan not only writes a relentless-as-the-rain paced thriller, sprinkled with an off-beat, cynical humor, but the poignant emotional sides of the characters and the intelligent and beautiful plot and storytelling soak the reader's heart to the skin. The social issues, starkly and honestly portraying the exploitation of women and children will haunt you.... This is literary fiction of the first order told in the form of an elegant and intricate thriller.”
—Seattle PI

“Must-read crime fiction.”
—Mystery Scene

"[The Fear Artist] presents a view of Thailand's underbelly that few visitors ever see.” —Contra Costa Times

“Hallinan seems almost incapable of writing badly, and his Poke Rafferty series has been a personal favorite of mine from its inception. However, THE FEAR ARTIST sets an entirely new standard for the author against which his future efforts will be judged."
—BookReporter

“Just put Timothy Hallinan's Poke Rafferty novel The Fear Artist way high on my top 10 thrillers list. Violent, gritty, & moving.”
—Nancy Pearl (via Twitter)

“Papa Hemingway used to say, “Write about what you know.” Hallinan does a hell of a job following his advice.”
—Criminal Element

“Absolutely the best book in the series.”
—Murder On Demand

“If I gave stars, THE FEAR ARTIST would get ten.”
—Murder By Type

Praise for The Queen of Patpong
 
"Taut, offbeat and fast-moving.... Hallinan's unlikely hero shines in this sometimes funny, always engrossing and undeniably authentic story that explores a dark and fascinating side of Thailand."
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
 
"Riveting, genuinely, moving, and entirely plausible.... A terrific page-turner."
—Booklist, Starred Review
 
"You won't read a better thriller this year!"
—John Lescroart, New York Times–bestselling author of Treasure Hunt

About the Author

Timothy Hallinan is the Edgar- and Macavity-nominated author of thirteen widely praised books, including The Fear Artist, Crashed, Little Elvises, and The Fame Thief. After years of working in Hollywood, television, and the music industry, he now writes fulltime. He divides his time between California and Thailand.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 342 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime; First Edition edition (July 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1616951125
• ISBN-13: 978-1616951122
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

2011 Edgar Nominee Timothy Hallinan has written ten published novels, all thrillers, all critically praised.

In the 1990s he wrote six mysteries featuring the erudite private eye Simeon Grist, beginning with "The Four Last Things," which made several Ten Best lists, including that of The Drood Review. The other books in the series were widely and well reviewed, and several of them were optioned for motion pictures. The series is now regarded as a cult favorite.

In 2007, the first of his Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillers, "A Nail Through the Heart", was published to unanimously enthusiastic reviews. "Hallinan scores big-time," said Kirkus Reviews, which went on to call the book "dark, often funny, and ultimately enthralling." "Nail" was a Booksense Pick of the Month and was named one of the top mysteries of the year by The Japan Times and several major online review sites.

Rafferty's Bangkok adventures continued with "The Fourth Watcher" (2008) and "Breathing Water" (2009), both of which also appeared on "year's best" lists. New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart said about the 2010 book, "The Queen of Patpong," "You won't read a better thriller this year," and Ken Bruen said, "John Burdett writes about Bangkok. Tim Hallinan is Bangkok. I adore this book."

Hallinan has written full-time since 2006. Since 1982 he has divided his time between Los Angeles and Southeast Asia, the setting for his Poke Rafferty novels.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The story is always good, but first and foremost at the heart of any Hallinan book, are the characters July 20, 2012

By Cathy G. Cole TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

First Line: Two two-gallon cans of paint weigh about five times as much as he'd thought they would.

Rose and Miaow are out of town visiting relatives, and all Poke Rafferty has planned is getting the apartment painted while they're gone. But, like all best laid plans, everything goes downhill fast when Poke leaves the local hardware store with his paint.

There's noise, shouting, and a man barrels into Poke, sending them both down on the pavement. Holding the man in his arms, Poke realizes the man has been shot, and the stranger only has time to choke out three words before he dies: Helen Eckersley. Cheyenne. Within seconds the police arrive and deny that the man was shot. That same night, Poke is interrogated by Thai secret agents who insist on knowing what the dead man said, but he can't remember. When he is finally allowed to go home, he finds that the apartment has been ransacked. Not long after that, Poke knows that he's being followed.

The second time men in uniform show up at the door, Poke manages to give them the slip, and thus begins his life as a fugitive. It's not easy hiding from everyone who's looking for him, and as Poke tries to fly beneath the radar, he manages to gather bits and pieces of information and put them together. He's caught in the margins of the war on terror, and his opponent is a master artist whose medium is... fear.

I love Timothy Hallinan's books because he writes beautifully, with intelligence, and from the heart. As he said at the 2012 Poisoned Pen Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona, the mystery is important, but at the heart of any story-- first and foremost-- are the people. Hallinan's characters are some of the very best in crime fiction, and his fast-paced stories give an outsider's unforgettable view of Thailand and its people.

Poke Rafferty's life as a fugitive on the streets of Bangkok kept my pulse rate elevated. The people fighting the war on terror are deadly serious and seem to think nothing of employing any and all methods to obtain the information they want. As one character says in the book, "We're using bad people to fight bad people, and you do not want to be in the middle of that." Are Americans sometimes the bad guys in Timothy Hallinan's books? Yes. But so are Thais and people from many other countries.

Speaking of any and all methods leads me to one of the scariest villains I've met in a long time, the fear artist himself, "Red" Murphy, who's been operating his business since Vietnam, when he learned how the application of varying degrees of fear (and pain) will give him anything he desires. The more I learned about Murphy, the less I wanted Poke to meet him until I reached the point where I wanted my favorite writer in Thailand to put this monster out of business. Permanently. (And all the poor guy wanted to do was paint his apartment!)

That's what happens when you enter the world of Poke Rafferty and Timothy Hallinan. You fall in love with Thailand, and you're besieged by the rich tapestry of characters this very talented writer has created to people his landscape. Open the cover of one of his books, and you're not only investing your time, you're investing your mind and your heart.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely First Class - Should be Award Nominee July 17, 2012

By Coolfire VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The Fear Artist is absolutely first class and should in my view become an award nominee.

The story starts with the impact of an express train and doesn't slow. The scene is Bangkok during the recent floods and our man is Poke Raffertey, the ex-travel writer well known by Hallinan fans, who always gets involved in intrigue, mystery and unwelcome deadly adventure. Fortunately, this time his wife, Rose, and adopted daughter, Meaow, are safely up country in Thailand where Rose is trying to deal with Meaow's young expressions and attitude of aloofness and budding individuality.

The plot involves a killing in Bangkok, in which Pole finds himself deeply entangled and thereby hunted and pursued by all law enforcement and certain US elements. The situation and mystery involves occurrences which happened decades ago in Vietnam during the US Phoenix program and current unrest in Yala, South Thailand. There is what would accurately be tagged as a black flag operation in planning with a background of plausible desirability.

There are new interesting and well drawn characters, such as a really not nice guy, Murphy, with Phoenix background, his mentally damaged and strongly sympathetic yet extremely dangerous poor, young daughter, Treasure, a Southern California high ranking Thai special police officer, highly intelligent and dangerous, Major Shen, a young woman in Cheyenne (don't recall if it's Wyoming, but in US), Helen Eckersley, who somehow fits into this Bangkok mystery, Anna, a deaf mute old friend of the deceased wife of Poke's best friend, police officer Arthit, a group of international ex-intelligence agents semi-retired who hand out at a Bangkok bar (some of whom we have met before), and Poke's young half-sister, Ming Li, who pops up from the US to assist Poke, whether he likes or agrees with it or not, with her high intelligence, smart mouth, and sleuth skills learned from their Father, Ralph, for whom Poke doesn't much care.

Hallinan has not only written an excellent tale of intrigue and adventure, but has also done his homework and in addition makes some accurate observations expressed by Poke as to the way certain things are in fact, not fiction.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The fifth Poke Rafferty thriller July 17, 2012

By TChris TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Philip "Poke" Rafferty is an American travel writer who now resides in Bangkok with his Thai wife and adopted Thai daughter. Poke is leaving a paint store -- he plans to paint his home while his wife and daughter are out of town -- when he collides with a running man. A couple of gunshots later, the running man is dead in Poke's arms, a laundry ticket is in Poke's pocket, and the Thai version of Homeland Security is interrogating Poke about the man's last words. It doesn't take long for Poke's status to change from witness to suspect. As Poke tries to avoid arrest (or worse), he conducts his own investigation within Bangkok's shadowy world of former spies and current criminals.

Apart from Poke's half-sister Ming Li (who shows up in Bangkok to lend Poke an assist) and Vladimir, a morbidly philosophical Russian, the novel's most significant player is an unhappy spook named Murphy, a former operative in the CIA's Phoenix Program during the Vietnam War. Murphy is training his creepy young daughter, Treasure, to be a spy -- or a psychopath. While Treasure is an interesting character who makes a less than convincing contribution to the plot, Ming Li enlivens the story with an irreverent teenage perspective. Vladimir provides the novel's comic relief, as does (in a small role) the despondent boyfriend of Poke's goth daughter. Each character has a quirky, believable personality.

This is Timothy Hallinan's fifth Poke Rafferty thriller. When Hallinan introduces a character from an earlier novel, he includes a quick summary of the character's relationship to Poke. For that reason, it isn't necessary to read the earlier novels before reading this one, but the several backstories are a bit distracting and might even be annoying to fans of the series who are familiar with all the characters.

The tightly constructed plot -- part mystery, part spy story -- is suspenseful and (if you forgive the coincidence of the running man giving the laundry ticket to Poke in his dying moments) credible, a rare combination in thrillerworld. Unfortunately, to the extent that the story turns into "Phoenix Program participant needs to cover up atrocities in Vietnam so they won't ruin his current career," it is far from original. The Thai angle gives it a fresh twist and figuring out the multiple betrayals is a challenge. Betrayal is a constant theme to which even Poke is not immune. Circumstances require Poke to betray a friend's trust, a guilt-inducing event that creates sympathy for his character.

Although Hallinan is a skillful writer, particularly adept at pulling a reader's emotional strings, he tells the story in the present tense, a technique that is mildly annoying. The text is infused with a political point of view that disapproves of the bullying American tendency to act as a global police force (at least when it serves American interests). Readers who believe that the victims of collateral damage are people, not collateral, will likely appreciate Hallinan's viewpoint, but more hawkish readers might be put off by the novel's politics. In any event, The Fear Artist is far from a political diatribe. It is first and foremost an entertaining, fast-moving tale of crime and deception in an exotic locale.