Asia Hand (Vincent Calvino Crime Novel) by Christopher G. Moore [ebook]
(This ebook edition of Asia Hand is exclusively for sale only in Thailand.)
File type: Epub / File size: 1 MB. / ISBN 978-616-7503-26-4
Winner of 2011 Shamus Award for Best Original Paperback
Bangkok is celebrating Chinese New Year when disbarred lawyer turned PI Vincent Calvino’s revels are cut short. The body of an American, an acquaintance of Calvino’s, has been fished out of the lake in Lumpini Park. Around his neck are a string of wooden amulets, the kind upcountry Thais wear to protect themselves from evil spirits. Only rather than saving Jerry Hutton, these have killed him.
A struggling freelance cameraman, Hutton had recorded something shortly before his death that he thought would make his career. Now the footage—of a shocking war crime—is running repeatedly on CNN and the rights to Hutton’s life story have been sold to a Hollywood producer. But who killed Hutton, and why? With a captivating plot, engaging characters, and insight into the steamy Thai capital, prize-winning writer Christopher G. Moore’s Asia Hand is a thrilling read.
“In Asia Hand, Moore delivers a gritty view of Bangkok, a city of “contrasts” where “things that are never done happen just about every day.”
“Fast moving and hypnotic, this was a great read.”
—Crime Spree Magazine
“In Asia Hand, Christopher Moore builds the atmosphere, the ugliness, brilliantly.... This ain’t pretty boy, touristy stuff that passes for detective fiction.... The wash of human degradation threatens to drown you.”
—Tarun Cherian, Deccan Herald (India)
“Moore’s hard-boiled, noir plots and style place him hands-down as one of the top current crime writers.”
—Tom McLaren, Gallup Journey
“Navigating Bangkok’s dark sidestreets and myriad underground cultures requires keen insight as well as the courage to look at corruption but see the hope that lies beneath. Vincent Calvino, a disbarred American lawyer turned PI, has been doing that for years as Christopher G. Moore shows in his award-winning series.”
—Mystery Scene Magazine, Oline H. Cogdill
“Asia Hand is the kind of novel that grabs you and never lets go.”
—The Times of Inda
“Asia Hand is a skillfully crafted, addictive ride through one of the planet's most raw and vivid cities. Moore and Calvino define the dark pungent cocktail that is Asian noir.”
—Eliot Pattison, author of the “Inspector Shan” series
“In [Asia Hand], crime writer Christopher G. Moore does what he does best: kill someone and let the brash, unsuave, unpretentious Calvino unearth the dirty details. What follows is a journey into the big, bad, dark world of Bangkok politics and double-dealings. The stakes are high when luck forsakes the duo.”
—Hindustan Times
“Moore's stylish second Bangkok thriller… explores the dark side of both Bangkok and the human heart. Felicitous prose speeds the action along….”
—Publishers Weekly
“[Asia Hand] highly recommended to readers of hard-boiled detective fiction, as well as the classic American tough-guy authors (Raymond Chandler or, more recently, Robert B. Parker).”
—Booklist
“A well-crafted piece of modern noir fiction … well plotted, intricate and intelligent … What makes [Asia Hand] work is Moore’s insights into the interactions between ex-pats/foreigners (farangs) in Thailand and the Thai people… [Moore’s Vincent Calvino] series is great and beats the pants off of most crime fiction sitting on the shelves of my local bookstore.”
—NancyO, www.2010theyearinbooks.com
“Moore’s Vinny Calvino is a worthy successor to Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.”
—The Nation
“The top foreign author focussing on the Land of Smiles, Canadian Christopher G. Moore clearly has a first-hand understanding of the expat milieu. . . . Moore is perspicacious.”
—Bangkok Post