The Fourth Watcher: A Novel of Bangkok (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: fourth watcher, fat cop, Colonel Chu, Ming Li, Arnold Prettyman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In Hallinan's stellar sequel to A Nail Through the Heart, travel writer and sometime detective Poke Rafferty is researching the dangerous side of Bangkok for a book when he, his ex-prostitute girlfriend, Rose, and their adopted daughter, Miaow, run afoul of a U.S. Secret Service agent who accuses Rose of passing counterfeit money. The Secret Service is concerned, Poke learns, that the North Koreans have been flooding the world with billions of dollars of fake currency. Poke is then abducted by the beautiful Ming Li, who takes him to his despised father, Frank, who abandoned Poke and his mother many years before. When Frank's mortal enemy, Colonel Chu, turns up, it's clear that things are going to hell very quickly, and Poke and his beloved family are not going to escape unscathed. Smooth prose, appealing characters and a twisting action-filled plot make this thriller a standout. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A stunning follow-up to A Nail Through the Heart. It’s filled with mystery and suspense—as well as a healthy dose of heart—and it’s artfully painted in varying shades of gray. Beautifully written yet satisfyingly seedy, it’s a must-read for mystery enthusiasts and literary types alike." -- Nightsandweekends.com

"Call me a sucker for thrillers set in exotic foreign locales. Guilty as charged; please let me serve out my sentence in the Thailand depicted by Timothy Hallinan in his wickedly atmospheric new work, THE FOURTH WATCHER." -- BookPage

"Don’t miss THE FOURTH WATCHER, an outstanding thriller well-steeped in the exotic brew of South East Asian culture and politics." -- Bookloons.com

"Hallinan offers a taut story line enhanced by an insider’s look at Thai culture. This book features an unlikely but likeable hero and provides readers with an informed glimpse into a world they are not likely to experience otherwise." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Hallinan’s writing is quick and dirty, with bite-sized chapters that always seem to end with me wanting mor, and making me dive into the next chapter, (and then the next). A fast, exciting read." -- Booksandwich.com

"Stellar. Smooth prose, appealing characters and a twisting, action-filled plot make this thriller a stand-out." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Stellar...Smooth prose, appealing characters and a twisting action-filled plot make this thriller a standout." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"THE FOURTH WATCHER is true suspense in the Hitchcock mold. Hallinan has created an exceptional thriller." -- NewMysteryReader.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061257257
• ISBN-13: 978-0061257254
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #538,217 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Winning Bangkok Novel from Timothy Hallinan, July 16, 2008

By	Lisa Kenney (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the second book of Timothy Hallinan's beautifully written Bangkok series, we continue to follow Poke Rafferty, an American expatriate who is about to give up writing his "Looking for Trouble" travel series in order to settle down with his new family. In A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART we met Poke's girlfriend Rose, a former bar girl, Miaow, Poke's newly adopted daughter and Arthit, his police officer friend. Creating multi-faceted characters using deceptively simple prose is one of Hallinan's many gifts.

On Peachy, Rose's business partner: "The bank teller's eyes follow her all the way across the lobby: a woman in her late forties, wearing clothes that could provoke buyer's remorse in a seventeen-year-old."

Poke's observation about his father: "Except for a slight stoop, a lot of missing hair, and that shuffling walk, he looks surprisingly like the man Rafferty remembers from all those years ago. He has to be in his seventies, but time has barely laid a glove on him. It strikes Rafferty for the hundredth time that serenity and selfishness aren't that dissimilar. They both keep people young."

Hallinan gives us a view into the experience of being the westerner looking in from the outside, attempting to assimilate, but recognizing and accepting that he will never really "get it". One of the great benefits that come with reading these novels of Bangkok is a glimpse into eastern culture and philosophy and the often humorous view of westerners from an Asian perspective.

The city of Bangkok is a prominent character in THE FOURTH WATCHER and in A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART. Hallinan masterfully reveals a city made up of a unique blend of spirituality, carnality, ghosts, superstitions, the rich, the poor and unseen circles of power and influence.

In THE FOURTH WATCHER, the author deftly weaves together several subplots and skillfully brings them to a satisfying conclusion. One of the things I most admire about this writer is that when he explores dark and violent themes, the worst of both occurs "off screen" and within our own imaginations. Hallinan implies the worst, but does not hit his readers over the head with it.

A wonderful, fast paced read with deeply drawn characters I cared about, a richly textured setting and a gripping story.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST BOOK OF THE SUMMER!, July 13, 2008

By	Shadoe Stevens (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"The Fourth Watcher" written by Timothy Hallinan is my favorite book of the summer. It's riveting reading for people who like thrillers written with great wit, hair-raising twists, ever deepening layers of story, a likable hero, a vivid cast of characters so real you'll feel you know them, a story rooted in reality, edge-of-your-seat suspense, heart-pounding surprise, and an exotic foreign location. It's a sensational book. I couldn't put it down.

Hallinan takes you into underbelly of Southeast Asia and through the beauty of a culture rich with spiritual ideals and smiling faces. He paints pictures of glorious landscapes and urban madness, with characters that are alive and engaging. The villains and gangsters are terrifying, the suspense is unnerving, yet his writing style skillfully blends drama and excitement with incredible wit and a good deal of humor. This should be made into a movie. It's riveting.

A review by Dana King, New Mystery Reader said this: "The Fourth Watcher is true suspense in the Hitchcock mold. Just as one story line reaches a lull, the other picks up. The considerable machinery of The Fourth Watcher is held together by understated, yet virtuoso writing. A man recovering from serious injury has a "throat as loose and rippled as a theater curtain." A minor player caught in the act has, "Half a dozen emotions chase each other across [his] face, but the one that stakes it out and claims it is despair." While not a funny book, the humor works, and always grows from the situation."

[...]

All in all, I think Hallinan is an extraordinary writer. I've enjoyed all his books but "The Fourth Watcher" is the best yet. It gets my highest recommendation. Three exclamation points!!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new thriller star, July 3, 2008

By	Marvin Klotz (Venice, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Fourth Watcher: A Bangkok Thriller (Paperback)

Timothy Hallinan's "A Nail Through the Heart" (2007), introduced us to Poke Rafferty, the ex-pat travel writer living in Bangkok with his girl-friend Rose and the rescued street kid, Miaow (two of the toughest, smartest females south of the Gobi desert). In "The Fourth Watcher," Hallinan convincingly earns a place in the top tier of thriller authors--among the Parkers, the Cobens, the Pattersons, the Burkes, the Hillermans. As do all great novelists, Hallinan educates while he entertains us, and, I confess, left this hardened 78 year-old reader not only thrilled, but also a bit misty-eyed as well. Read the book--a guaranteed pleasure.