The Fear Artist (Poke Rafferty Thriller)

Raymond Chandler inspired Hallinan. The thriller author has advice for aspiring writers. Even if the book dies on you, push it through to the end. It should be available on Amazon this summer. Then I cheat by going back and rewrite huge chunks of it to make it look like I knew what I was doing all along.

Poke Rafferty Mystery Series

When you write series, you have this large cast of secondary characters who are sort of standing in the wings, shuffling from foot to foot and waiting to hear a cue. In a standalone, everyone comes fresh to the slaughter, so to speak. This mans talents were honed decades ago where he developed his skills committing atrocities in Vietnam. His only ally is an unemployed spy left over from the Soviet Unions collapse.

And he just may be the most untrustworthy ally of all. His only clues, the mans dying words and a laundry ticket. The social issues, starkly and honestly portraying the exploitation of women and children will haunt you and lend a sadness but ultimately uplifting side to the story. The theme of the good guys becoming even worse than the bad guys, and the danger of forgetting the lessons of the past strike to the core. This is literary fiction of the first order told in the form of an elegant and intricate thriller. Timothy Hallinan is the Edgar and Macavity nominated author of thirteen critically praised books — twelve novels and a work of nonfiction.

Stories for Japan with all proceeds going to disaster relief. He also contributed a story to the collection, Bangkok Noir. He is lucky enough to be married to Munyin Choy-Hallinan. Jul 04, Trish rated it really liked it Shelves: More importantly, Hallinan has created his most interesting and powerful female character yet, Ming Li. Ming Li is the Anglo-Chinese step-sister of Poke and she aids his latest attempt to uncover a psychopath bent on destroying those who know his shadowy past.

Young, female , smart, vulnerable , and irreverent, Ming Li blasts through accepted modes of spycraft to intuit actions of the players in advance. She does not spare her brother who, as a member of the male ruling class, had no need to learn lessons of body language and intent early on.

When attacked by a man with a gun, he manages to save his attacker before rushing off to save himself. Fearful as Poke might have been, he was a good man first. Rafferty is willing to believe the best of people he suspects, reserves judgment on their behalf, and stretches to preserve their basic dignity despite their iniquities—not including the really bad man who deserved everything coming to him. Where Rafferty sees ambiguity, Ming Li cuts through the dross with a rapier mind and lays flat broad swathes of bad folk.

Later, I realized how entirely possible it was to have such a character, neglected, abused, and exploited, when a psychopath is in charge. But the psychopath and the daughter felt like weak links. And herein lie my only quibble: I would have preferred, were it at all possible, to have a bad man with more ambiguity, depth, and moral equivocation than our bad man here. He was so dark, he seemed like a caricature, and made everyone else a little like a caricature also. I believe the general outline of these characters and places are quite the real thing, with only a few of their sketch lines missing.

But you know what? It would have been a completely different book had Hallinan made it difficult for us with moral ambiguity. One could even argue the bad man wasn't as bad as he made out, since he did something uncharacteristic for his nature at the end of the book, one assumes because he was a father after all. And after the big event in the final pages, only one body was found instead of two, so one of the two that were "taken out" will be back, I fear.

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Which will it be? Onward [Buddhist] soldier…and tell us more tales. Jun 09, Joshua Buhs rated it really liked it Shelves: A stripped down reinvigoration of the series. Maybe it was Hallinan moving to a new publisher Soho ; maybe it was because he almost! I really enjoyed the first of the books; I had questions about the second, as it already dragged in Poke's estranged father. The third and the fourth wandered quite a bit--and I get from interview with Hallinan that he plans to continue to wander, exploring different characters.

I' A stripped down reinvigoration of the series. I'll take that as it comes, but, for now, this was a vigorous entry. The book starts out with a bit of the Murder-She-Wrote problem: A couple of the characters even make a point of this, but it's bets just not to think too hard about the issue. As it is, the problem is a good one--Rafferty is implicated in a murder he just happened to witness.

He's not sure who the bad guys are and must hide most of the time. This works well for his character. Without his wife and adoptive daughter around, Poke's less given to pointless machismo. Without bad guys to confront, he has less reason to be rash and stupid. Indeed, a lot of his worst qualities are kept under wrap.

He is also forced to use other resources. Rafferty was already introduced int he first book having a friend in one of Bangkok's few honest cops. It was necessary, I guess, for the story, but felt a bit forced. Here, his friend is mostly marginalized--if not completely compromised. So we have a view of different aspects of both Rafferty and his milieux.

All too the good. There have been hints of broader geopolitical workings in some of the series' earlier books, but The Fear Artist is the one to most explore international politics. Indeed, it calls to mind John Burdett's Bangkok novels, which continually push outward from small, but horrifying, crimes to international espionage. Here, Rafferty is implicated in parts of the global war on terror--and also hang overs from the Vietnam war. Towards the end, the book gets a bit nubbly. The editing is not quite so tight.

There are a few glaring typos in the back part of the book. His dad is invoked more and more--and stories about boys and their estranged dads are so overdone. As much as I think Rafferty--and, to an extent, Hallinan, over-romanticizes his hand-hewn family, I much prefer hearing about Rose and Miaow to Poke's dad.

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Even his sister, unbelievable as she is as a character, is preferable. The climax might be faulted for being too tidy--though not as ridiculous as the last book--even if Hallinan purposefully leaves some mysteries behind, perhaps fodder for later books. But it ends solidly. Matched with the excellent middle and forceful, compelling narrative, it moves the series ahead, opens new territory, and reminds what was great about the first book.

Apr 06, Lisa Brackmann rated it it was amazing. This is my second Poke Rafferty book. QoP also had one of THE most satisfying endings, ever I won't describe it for fear of spoilers, but suffice to say, the movie it made in my head was awesome! First, the villain of the piece, Murphy.

The Fear Artist by Timothy Hallinan | | THE BIG THRILL

He is a truly loathsome piece of work, and unlike many fictional villains, he's believable, not some Evil Genius of Crime, but a recognizable, if very scary, human being. He's also a symbol of the less savory aspects of American foreign policy, and of how the sins of one generation don't end with them but are passed on to the next, on both a personal and policy level. Murphy was a government assassin during the Vietnam War, and that war's impact resonates throughout FEAR ARTIST, as do its extra-legal assassination squads and black ops "contractors" who commit outrage after outrage under the cover of their "unofficial" status.

Murphy, too, seems to contaminate everything he touches with his own distinct brand of corruption, especially his lovers, and in particular, his daughter, a feral child whose sociopathic tendencies he deliberately reinforces. This is the fifth book, in Timothy Hallinan's Poke Rafferty series. Poke is a travel writer and family, that can't seem to avoid trouble.

In the opening pages he's sent his family to higher ground, to avoid the floods, and was headed home paint the apartment while it was empty. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned for Poke. Minding his own business became impossible when a stranger collides with Poke on the street. The man utters three words "Helen Eckersley.

Cheyenne," before succumbing to mu This is the fifth book, in Timothy Hallinan's Poke Rafferty series. Cheyenne," before succumbing to multiple gun shots. Within seconds the police arrive on the scene and immediately begin denying the man had been shot. He quickly realizes, the spilled paint is the least of worries. Poke is relentlessly questioned, his papers are reviewed again and again, and not so thinly veiled threats are made He is finally freed and makes his way through the mostly empty streets, wondering how on earth so many police could have arrived at the scene so quickly.

Bangkok, a city of some 14 million is never empty, it's crowded, loud, and bustling at any hour. Over the next few days, Poke is constantly looking over his shoulder - he knows he is under surveillance. So when the police come knocking on his door again, he narrowly escapes He enlists the help of a cold war spy, discovers the Pentagon's Phoenix program is alive and well, and the war on terror has expanded to Thailand. The Fear Artist is a fast read, with deeply defined characters, a well structured, multi-dimensional plot and some scary, gruesome torture scenes.

Timothy Hallinan has written yet another excellent Poke Rafferty story that reaches out and grabs you from the collision on the street and never lets go! Jun 15, Patricia rated it it was amazing.

Poke Rafferty's wife, Rose, has taken their daughter Miaow out of town to visit Rose's mother. Poke is left to his own devices and decides to paint the apartment while they are gone. But Poke has a lot of hoops to jump through before he gets the apartment painted. As he exits the paint store, a large man runs into him and lands on top of him. As Poke struggles to get up, he sees that the man has been shot. Before he dies the man whispers three words to Poke. The words have no meaning to Poke but Poke Rafferty's wife, Rose, has taken their daughter Miaow out of town to visit Rose's mother.

The words have no meaning to Poke but he soon realizes that other people are very concerned about what the man whispered. They suspect that Poke has information about something, but he is clueless. Thai secret agents interrogate Poke, but he has nothing to tell. He is released only to find that his apartment has been ransacked.

Next thing he knows he is accused of murdering the man from the street. Poke goes into hiding and is determined to discover the identity of the man and the meaning of the whispered message. This time as Poke searches for answers he has to go it alone. Fearing for his wife and daughter, he orders them to stay away from Bangkok until he can find a way to dig out of the hole he finds himself in. Tragic things that happened in the past all come to light as Poke finally goes after the person responsible for not only the death of the man in the street but for many more tragedies.

The final confrontation makes for an exciting and terrifying conclusion. I love the Bangkok series and find it very difficult to pick a favorite.

The characters are strong and the reader will either love them or hate them. Aug 05, Debbi Mack rated it it was amazing Shelves: American ex-pat Poke Rafferty is on a mission—to paint his apartment—when he collides with a stranger on the sidewalk fronting the home improvement store. Both men go down in an explosion of colors: In trying to make sense of his situation and stay alive, Rafferty must figure out who the hell the stranger was and what the hell he was trying to tell him with those three cryptic words.

And really bad people are coming after Rafferty, with orders to terminate him with extreme prejudice. So he's lonely and on the run. And it totally sucks ass. But Rafferty kicks ass, too, when he has to. Then, of all things, his sister shows up. Well, his half-sister, really. And she loves her half-brother, and he loves her. What the hell are you doing here?

Apr 28, Rogue Reader rated it it was amazing Shelves: The Fear Artist doesn't appear until somewhere towards the middle of the book, but his presence is felt from page 1. The suspense and thrill that we've come to love and expect from Hallinan's Poke Rafferty series is right up front. There's an odd series of events that puts Poke right back into the mix, starting with pails of paint that burst with color across the landscape.

Poke's down on the street with a dying man whispering in his ear. The whispers of fear are a loud cry of despair, as those i The Fear Artist doesn't appear until somewhere towards the middle of the book, but his presence is felt from page 1. The whispers of fear are a loud cry of despair, as those in danger hide from The Fear Artist. Unlike other Poke Rafferty books, Rose and Miaow are away, safe from the dangers of Poke's latest investigations. Arthit is depressed and at official risk, and finds solice that turns treacherous, so his role is compromised too.

When Hallinan speaks of his latest work, he's signaling that The Phoenix Project is far from past history, and instead is an active strategy in the War on Terror. Now that The Fear Artist is out, I'll buy it and read it again - this time to enjoy that missing last paragraph. Jun 17, Sally rated it really liked it Shelves: This is a new author for me, recommended by Nancy Pearl.

She warned the listeners that they would want to burn through everything he has written, and it has certainly been true for me. Yes, they are well written, fast paced mysteries with interesting characters. The thing, however, that makes the difference to me is the amount I learn reading them.

He writes about people, and he writes with understanding, of what gets a person into a situation, and how they might react, and in all the difficulty This is a new author for me, recommended by Nancy Pearl. He writes about people, and he writes with understanding, of what gets a person into a situation, and how they might react, and in all the difficulty and extremis, still be worthy of respect, just for being human. From the Hardcover edition.

After seven years in Bangkok, American travel writer Poke Rafferty finally feels settled: All that is endangered when Miaow helps her boyfriend buy a stolen iPhone that contains photographs of two disgraced police officers, both of whom have been murdered. Seconds later, the police arrive, denying that the man was shot.

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. Other Series By Timothy Hallinan. More about Timothy Hallinan.