THe best in the series so far. I hope the Rafferty books keep coming. Hallinan's intimate knowledge of Thailand and the Thai people and character comes through in every scene of this amazing novel, especially the contrasts between nitty gritty poverty and the resourcefulness and kindness of the people and their devotion to family. The tense powerful emotions of Poke, his wife, Rose a former prostitute and their adopted street urchin, Miaow, who are in danger from a maniac from Rose's past, keep you on edge throughout. Underlying all are issues of prostitution as the only option for some barely educated girls, official corruption, and tourist gullibility, all coalescing in the Patpong red light district of Bangkok. I'd give this book 6 * if I could.

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