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Loading... Breathing Water: A Bangkok Thriller (Poke Rafferty Thrillers) (edition 2009)by Timothy Hallinan
Work detailsBreathing Water by Timothy Hallinan
None. In the third Poke Rafferty story, Rafferty finds himself in a strange bind. He's won the right to write a biography of Khun Pan, a populist but immensely wealthy and corrupt power broker. Other power brokers won't let Rafferty out of his deal, but want to ensure the book paints Pan in a bad light. What's at stake? control of the country - and the lives of Rafferty and his family. The contradictions of Thailand and the effects of corruption and the gap between rich and poor are well-illustrated here, but the best part is the story of Da, a child who is given a baby as a prop for begging. Also a highlight - the street kid Boo, known as Superman in A Nail Through the Heart, returns. These are very tender-hearted books, but so well-written they never fall into sentimentality.  bfister | Jul 2, 2010 |  BREATHING WATER is set amid the honky-tonk, flash and squalor of Bangkok. Told from multiple points of view, the main character is an American ex-pat writer named Poke Rafferty, who gets stuck between a rock and a hard place after winning a poker bet. Rafferty has a family consisting of – of course – a drop-dead gorgeous wife, Rose, who used to work as a stripper (but never a prostitute!) and an adopted street child named Miaow (precocious, naturally). Other characters include a girl working for "the man" begging for money on the streets of Bangkok, because her village was destroyed after a dam diverted water from it. The girl – named Da – is given a baby, because people will give more money to a girl with a kid. She eventually falls in with a group of street urchins led by Boo (also known as Superman, for reasons best understood by reading earlier books in the series). Rafferty is, for lack of a better description, a man's man. As such, he likes to play poker, which is what he's doing when the story opens. Rafferty is winning big against a weighty (both physically and politically) and famously jealous-of-his-privacy opponent named Khun Pan. When Rafferty wins Pan's permission to write his biography, this seems like a major coup, at first. However, Rafferty starts getting threats from mysterious sources who tell him not to write the book, on pain of death or perhaps worse to himself and his family. At the same time, Rafferty is pressured by other forces to write the book – a negative one – or else. (Or else what? Well, bad things. To himself, his family, etc.) Events spiral out of control as Rafferty is kidnapped, threatened, beaten and struggles to protect himself and his loved ones from both sides. Part of what makes this book enjoyable is not only Timothy Hallinan's intimate knowledge of the place he's writing about and the way he makes Bangkok both a colorful backdrop and a character in the story, but his depiction of Rafferty, who's streetwise and funny – but not perfect. Watching Rafferty muddle his way through his "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation keeps one turning the pages to find out how he'll deal with the next problem. For more: http://thriller-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/review_of_breathing_water (  ) infogirl2k | Dec 8, 2009 | In the third installment of Timothy Hallinan's Bangkok Thriller series, BREATHING WATER finds Poke Rafferty trapped in a peculiar predicament. During a poker game, he won the right to author Khun Pan's biography. People have clamored for this biography because Pan has done what virtually no one else has in Thailand, risen from the ranks of dirt poor to grotesquely wealthy. Despite demand, this biography has not been written, and Poke quickly discerns the probable reason why. Poke has been threatened: if he writes the biography, one side has threatened to kill his family; if he doesn't write the biography, another side has threatened to kill his family. And both sides will be watching him to see that he's doing exactly what they dictate. He's literally stuck in a catch-22. Poke needs to hold off both sides until he can figure out just exactly what it is he WILL do. BREATHING WATER is the quintessential story of the haves versus the have nots. The most obvious level of this theme is found in the rich versus the poor. But Hallinan takes the theme to multiple levels with Poke's family, his friend Arthit's family, and the illegal baby trade, illustrating to the reader that money is not the only factor creating divisions between the haves and have nots. Hallinan never fails to ignite his plots with plenty of twists and turns; BREATHING WATER is no exception. One of his strongest plot building devices is unquestionably character development. He builds strong, rich characters whose depth and interactions with each other work to intensify the plot. Hallinan makes use of every word, every sentence, every paragraph. BREATHING WATER is definitely a tight, fluff-less plot that rewards its readers with an adventurous ride through the darkness of Bangkok. (  ) jenforbus | Oct 2, 2009 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0061672238, Hardcover)Behind every great fortune is a great crime . . . For American ex-pat writer Poke Rafferty, a late-night poker game delivers an unexpected prize: an "opportunity" to write the biography of Khun Pan, a flamboyant, vulgar, self-made billionaire with a criminal past and far-reaching political ambitions. The win seems like a stroke of luck, but as with so many things in vibrant, seductive, contradictory Bangkok—a city of innocence and evil, power and poverty—the allure of appearances masks something much darker. Within a few hours of folding his cards, Rafferty, his wife, Rose, beloved adopted daughter, Miaow, and best friend, Arthit, an honest Bangkok cop, have become pawns in a political struggle among some of Thailand's richest, most powerful, and most ruthless people. A hero to the poor and dispossessed, Pan is like a bone in the throats of the beautiful, sophisticated "good" people who own and control every facet of Thailand and want more. There are many who would prefer that a book, especially a sympathetic book, stay unwritten. And there are others who want to expose Pan's darker secrets, information useful in a preemptive strike against this profligate billionaire who can threaten their hold on power—a situation they will go to murderous lengths to prevent. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't, Rafferty is breathing water and sinking deeper in a sea of intrigue with each passing hour. The trouble multiplies when a missing young street friend of Miaow's reappears, needing Rafferty's help to protect an innocent village girl trapped in a baby-selling ring. Pushed ever closer to the abyss, Rafferty has one chance to get them all out alive. But to succeed, this foreigner must do the impossible—keep a cool Thai heart. Set in the Thailand of today's headlines—a nation of unrest, political uncertainty, corruption, and tradition, where the future looks dangerously precarious—Breathing Water is the story of a deadly game in which the stakes are enormous and life is literally cheap. The most compelling Poke Rafferty thriller yet, it is a journey that goes beyond the illusion of order and stability into a world where a wrong turn can lead to chaos, and where love and courage may not be enough to hold back the darkness. (retrieved from Amazon Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:36:25 -0400) When Poke Rafferty is given the chance to write the biography of Khun Pan, a Thai billionaire, he discovers that there are powerful political figures who do not want Pan portrayed as a hero to the poor, while others want to expose his dark side for theirown advantage.… (more) (summary from another edition) |
LibraryThing AuthorTimothy Hallinan is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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