A Nail Through the Heart (32 page)

Authors: Timothy Hallinan

BOOK: A Nail Through the Heart

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Expanded Author Bio and Introduction

ABOUT TIMOTHY HALLINAN

Timothy Hallinan is the author of ten novels, all thrillers. Since 1981, Hallinan has divided his time between Los Angeles and Southeast Asia, the setting for his Poke Rafferty novels: A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART, THE FOURTH WATCHER, BREATHING WATER, and the upcoming THE QUEEN OF PATPONG. As of this writing, THE QUEEN OF PATPONG has already received “starred” reviews in two of the four major trade publications.

ABOUT THE QUEEN OF PATPONG

In between the last chapter of A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART and the first chapter of THE QUEEN OF PATPONG, life has changed for Poke, Rose, and Miaow in several ways.

First, Rose finally accepted Poke’s proposal (in THE FOURTH WATCHER) and they’re now married.

Second, Miaow’s adoption came through; she is now formally Poke’s and Rose’s daughter.

Third, Rose is now a partner in a domestic help agency that offers an alternative to bar girls who want out of the life.

Finally, Miaow is enrolled in a relatively exclusive “international” school where her fellow pupils are the children of well-off Thais and of foreign diplomats and businesspeople who are living in Bangkok. She’s doing well academically, but socially she’s trying desperately to become a little bourgeois in order to fit in. And that means total denial that she was ever a street child and – most important – that her mother was ever a prostitute.

THE QUEEN OF PATPONG excerpt that follows begins with the second chapter. In the first, Poke and Arthit joined forces to chase out of Patpong the younger sister of Rose’s friend, Fon, who was Rose’s mentor when she first came to Bangkok. Fon was horrified that her little sister had come to dance, so Poke and Arthit scared her off. That’s probably all you need to know to pick up the story

THE QUEEN OF PATPONG goes on sale August 17.

Note

T
he AT Series exists. It is just as described. The photographs were taken in Southeast Asia, probably in Thailand. There are hundreds of them. As far as I know, the man who took them has not been identified.

Tuol Sleng still stands in Phnom Penh as a monument to the thousands who spent their last days in torment there. At the time of this writing, exactly one of the Khmer Rouge who brutalized and killed more than a million Cambodians is behind bars; the only other murderer to be jailed died in captivity. Hundreds of other Khmer Rouge leaders remain free and even prosperous, in the Pailin region of Cambodia and elsewhere.

The story about the young Buddhist monk who learns to cover his feet in leather is beautifully told in the Tibetan film
The Cup.

The economics of Patpong and Nana Plaza persuade most of the women to remain in the bars. The bar workers who are most successful, to look at it from one perspective, can make more money in a week than their parents earn in a year. There are no physical restraints
and no pimps in the usual sense of the word. The women can refuse to go with any customer, although they are fined if they don’t clock out a certain number of times each month. Some women, like Rose, leave while they are still young enough and attractive enough to keep working, but they are in the minority. The women who walk away return willingly to relative poverty in the faith that they can make a life elsewhere. Hundreds, even thousands, of girls come down each year from the impoverished northeast to take their places.

Acknowledgments

T
his book needed, and got, a lot of help, and it seems only fair to say thanks.

I write largely in restaurants and coffeehouses, and I’d like to express gratitude to the people at Lollicup in West Los Angeles, the Novel Café in Santa Monica, and the Cow’s End in Venice, all in California; the Tip-Top in Bangkok; and especially the terrific staff of Pose Café in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. These people made me feel welcome and kept me fed and caffeinated while I wrote this story and then wrote it again. And whenever I needed a face, I could just look up and steal one.

When I was first learning my way around Bangkok, my home was a hotel, the Tawana Bangkok. The care they took of me was personal and unforgettable. It’s a pleasure to thank them.

Aural energy was provided, via an overworked iPod, by Bob Dylan, the irreplaceable Marvelettes, the Shins, Shonen Knife, Lyle Lovett, Arcade Fire, Delbert McClinton, Rufus Wainwright, Sufjan Stevens, Missy Elliott, and the Flaming Lips, among others.

Several people were especially helpful in taking the book apart and helping me put it back together. Stan Cutler, a fine writer, read the first draft and offered invaluable and tactful practical advice based on a lifetime of writing and a genetic surplus of humor. My agent, Bob Mecoy, made truly architectural suggestions that turned the story inside out and upside down and—when the dust had settled—revealed a whole new world for Rafferty to explore. Thanks, Bob. And Marjorie Braman at Morrow looked at the story’s resolutions and challenged some of them, to good effect.

Amphornnet Phanphunga Pridgen made some valuable suggestions about Thai interior life and contributed greatly to the scene that closes the book. Pritsana Chomchan reviewed the entire manuscript from a Thai perspective, something I was obviously not capable of doing myself, and helped keep that aspect of the book on track.

And finally, my wife, Munyin Choy, listened to the whole thing read aloud several times and—as always—not only held open the door to my creative impulses but also showed me where that door was in the first place.

About the Author

TIMOTHY HALLINAN
divides his time between Los Angeles, California, and Southeast Asia, primarily Thailand, where he has lived off and on for more than twenty years.

www.timothyhallinan.com

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

P
RAISE
FOR
A Nail Through the Heart

“Hallinan scores big-time with a fast-moving thriller set in Thailand…. Dark, often funny, and ultimately enthralling.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“[A] tale of blackmail, extortion, and revenge…spinning along at a speedy clip.”

—
Washington Post

“Excellent. The rich depictions of Bangkok’s seedy side recall John Burdett’s visceral mysteries.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Excellent. This is a twisted story. You can read and read. And never imagine the end.”

—
Contra Costa Times

“A Nail Through the Heart
is a haunting novel that takes place way out on the fringe of the moral landscape. It’s fast, bold, disturbing, and beautifully written. Hallinan is terrific.”

—T. Jefferson Parker

“Don’t miss your chance to read
A Nail Through the Heart
before it starts winning all its awards. Timothy Hallinan deals in a profoundly serious way with important themes and terrible depravity, yet his touch is so sure, his humor so mordantly pungent, his dialogue so pitch-perfect, and his humanity and intelligence so self-evident that every page shimmers with life and light. Hallinan is a writer’s writer, and this is great stuff!”

—John Lescroart

“If this opens a new series, Hallinan is off to a sure-footed start with a supporting cast (including Poke’s precocious, pugnacious, almost-daughter Miaow) well worth getting to know.”

—
Booklist

“Definitely worth a visit. Will keep you on the edge of your seat and clamoring for Hallinan’s next book.”

—
Montgomery Advertiser

“Well constructed, lively…full of misdirection, surprises, humor. It is the respect [Hallinan] has for his characters that ultimately makes reading
A Nail Through the Heart
more than just a quick and scary ride. A well-paced thriller.”

—PopMatters.com

“Exhilarating.”

—BookCrossing.com

“Brilliantly conceived and beautifully rendered…artful, compelling, and entertaining. Kudos to Hallinan for an exceptional story.”

—PerfectText.com

“A page-turner.”

—Bookgasm.com

“Timothy Hallinan is a tremendous writing talent. There is plenty of mystery in his story to keep the reader engrossed and some very colorful characters to make this novel an entertaining read.”

—BestsellersWorld.com

“Rich with detail and sympathetic characters…. A very talented writer.”

—TheBrownBookLoft.com

“A page-turner. It’s the closest you’ll get to going to a strange land without actually visiting. Dark, thrilling, and unforgettable,
A Nail Through the Heart
is a journey you won’t soon forget.”

—PopSyndicate.com

“A haunting read…. Goes deeper than the usual thriller in giving you a sense of Bangkok. Hallinan is an author to watch.”

—BellaOnline.com

“This dark and captivating story isn’t an easy one to put down. It moves at a swift pace, with a horrifying new revelation around every corner. Hallinan skillfully blurs the line between good and bad. It’s sure to keep you guessing—and it’ll leave you wanting to read more from this talented author.”

—NightAndWeekends.com

“A Nail Through the Heart
is a terrific opening to this new series, one that has the potential to captivate readers for a long time to come.”

—
Mystery News

“A well-written, fast-paced, beautifully drawn thriller.”

—
I Love a Mystery
newsletter

“In the first of a truly remarkable series, Hallinan takes you to Thailand with a vengeance. This [is] one of the best novels I have read in years, and it will be a true, long-lasting favorite.”

—BookSense.com (monthly pick)

ALSO BY TIMOTHY HALLINAN

The Bone Polisher

The Man with No Time

Incinerator

Skin Deep

Everything but the Squeal

The Four Last Things

A “Christmas Carol” Christmas Book

Credits

Cover design by Mary Schuck

Cover photographs; man by Ffoto Fictions/Getty Images, city scene by Angelo Cavalli/Getty Images

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART.
Copyright © 2007 by Timothy Hallinan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © MAY 2008 ISBN: 978006209414

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