The Fear Artist
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4.4 • 16 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
"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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
Another Great Thriller from Hallinan
Tim Hallinan writes so beautifully about Poke Rafferty's wife Rose and his daughter Miaow that in every book I start to worry about them almost immediately. In THE FEAR ARTIST, though, Rose and Miaow head off to visit Rose's family in the north of Thailand while Rafferty paints their apartment. I was happy not to be scared for them--but of course Hallinan won't let us off so easily. There are plenty of others to care about, including his half-sister Ming Li and his friend Arthit. His strength is in being able to mix those memorable characters with a pulse-pounding plot that has Poke on the run from some very memorable villains.
The portrait of Bangkok, and indeed all of Thailand, in the grip of a terrible rainy season only adds to the sense of menace that hangs over this book. The Fear Artist is another amazing book from an awesome talent.