No one can say that Poke Rafferty, an expat American travel writer who makes his home in Bangkok, leads a simple life. It’s not that he doesn’t try; it’s that his greatest strength (the courage to meet trouble head-on) is also his greatest weakness (he can’t seem to avoid trouble, even when his life depends on it). You can be sure that if Poke and Trouble are circulating around the same room, sooner or later (almost always sooner) they’re going to collide.

At the conclusion of a rigged, late-night high-stakes poker game—a sanctioned police operation—Poke runs afoul of Pan, one of the richest, most powerful men in all of Thailand. To allow everyone in the room a chance to save face, Poke agrees to play a final hand against Pan, for the highest stakes of all. If Poke loses, he must leave Thailand forever. If he wins, he must be allowed to write Pan’s life story—a heretofore closely guarded secret—and have unfettered access to the information he needs to write it. Pan deals the cards.

News of Poke’s pending book deal hits the morning papers, and Poke receives a threatening phone call; don’t write the book or we’ll kill you, your wife, and your daughter. Later that morning, Poke is abducted off the street and threatened again, this time by a different group of people with a different ultimatum; write the book or what we’ll do to you will make what the other guys promised to do to you seem like the better choice.

Poke’s dilemma, then, is to create the illusion that he’s not writing the book while maintaining the illusion that he is. At the same time, he must get his wife, Rose, and his adopted daughter, Miaow, out of harm’s way while maintaining the illusion that they remain at home. Not helping Poke’s cause is that surveillance seems to be everywhere, and Poke’s friend, Arthit, faltering beneath the crushing weight of an ongoing personal tragedy, has been relieved of his duties on the police force and seems powerless to help.

Parallel to the unfolding of Poke’s story is the unfolding of Da’s. Da is a teenage peasant farm girl on the cusp of womanhood who is turned out on the streets of Bangkok by racketeers to beg for money. She is given a baby (which she soon cares too deeply about to leave its fate to others) to use as a prop to entice tourists and other passersby to drop a few coins—or a few baht notes—into her bowl.

When Boo (first introduced in A Nail Through the Heart as “Superman”) intervenes to save Da from a savage rape, Da’s and Poke’s stories begin to converge; when the streetwise Boo and his less-experienced companion approach Poke for help, Poke asks for their help, instead.
 
With the clock ticking and time running out, Poke and his allies prepare for the inevitable showdown as they try to discern the motives of opposing interests and simultaneously unravel the mystery that is Pan’s life.

In the tradition set by its predecessors (A Nail Through the Heart and The Fourth Watcher), Timothy Hallinan’s Breathing Water captures the essence of life in Bangkok and delivers all the mystery, intrigue and breathtaking excitement one comes to expect from the Poke Rafferty series of superb crime thriller novels. With this one, author Hallinan is at the top of his game; if Breathing Water were a baseball, you could watch it sail over the bleachers beyond the centerfield fence.

 

A gifted writer and storyteller, Timothy Hallinan divides his time between Los Angeles and Bangkok. Visit his Web site at http://www.timothyhallinan.com/ for more information about the author. If you’re a Tim Hallinan fan—or want to become one— join the online discussion at The Blog Cabin. And if you’re an aspiring writer in need of some sage writing advice, don’t miss Tim’s Writers’ Resources. They’re the best. 

Review by Phil Hanson