
A Nail Through The Heart
A Poke Rafferty Thriller
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Narrated by:
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Victor Bevine
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By:
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Timothy Hallinan
About this listen
Poke Rafferty was writing offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored when Bangkok stole his heart. Now the American expat is assembling a new family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and Miaow, the tiny, streetwise urchin he wants to adopt.
But trouble in the guise of good intentions comes calling just when everything is beginning to work out. Poke agrees to take in Superman, Miaow's troubled and terrifying friend from the gutter. Then he agrees to help locate a distraught Aussie woman's missing uncle and accepts a generous payment to find a blackmailing thief. No longer gliding carelessly across the surface of a culture he doesn't really understand, suddenly Poke is plodding through dark and unfamiliar terrain - and everything and everyone he loves is in terrible danger.
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Critic reviews
Best narrator
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Would you listen to A Nail Through The Heart again? Why?
Yes. I love the action. I love the way Poke tries to correct the terrible things done to the people he loves.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes. And I liked it so much I went out & bought all the other books in the series.Poke Raffery is a blast.
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A High Price
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I shouldn't have worried. Hallinan offers up a marvelous blend of noir thriller, ethnographic study and a complex romance. I can honestly say I was engaged every minute of the 10 hours.
His portrait of Bangkok's seamy underbelly is spot on. And yet he takes the reader through it with enough of a detached eye to focus us on the central mystery. His main character is an brilliantly flawed, engaging and open man who draws the reader in and doesn't let go.
The story takes a serious journey into the world of child prostitution, abuse and pornography and the devastation it leaves behind in the lives it's touched. It also takes a haunting trip into the horrors of the Cambodia of the Khmer Rouge. Hallinan wraps it up in a web of police corruption, Buddhist mysticism and the jaded expat's view of Bangkok.
This book is not for the faint of heart. Some of it is extremely gritty. But it is not sensational in its approach and well worth the listening time and the credit.
The narrator is perfect for the story. You couldn't ask for better.
Wonderful Blend Between Thriller & Cultural Study
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Beautiful Writing...Harsh Reality
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Excellent but harrowing story
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Touching story
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The book gets pretty gritty toward the end, with the suspense keeping you on the edge of your seat. Well worth the listen.
Your heart breaks for the characters
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SEX TRAVELERS OR FRIENDS—READ THIS!
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dark subject matter is handled well
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