Timothy Hallinan Knihy

Bangkok, třpytivé město duchů. Autor cestopisů Poke Rafferty se tam umí dostat do malérů. Umí to tak dobře, že se živí psaním průvodců pro mladé a nevyléčitelně znuděné cestovatele, kteří jsou posedlí vyhledáváním neobvyklých zážitků: Jenomže potom se zamiluje do Rose, tanečnice v jednom z místních vyhlášených barů, a zatouží žít jinak. Ujme se osmileté dívenky z ulice a rád by se probil džunglí thajských předpisů, aby ji do své nově budované rodiny mohl adoptovat. Dobré úmysly ale na sebe začnou nabalovat nebezpečné problémy a stahovat ho na temnou, neznámou půdu. Rafferty zjišťuje, že někteří lidé přechovávají děsivá tajemství, která jim na obličeji nejsou vždy vidět - a že on po celou dobu v Bangkoku jen klouzal po povrchu kultury, jíž vlastně vůbec nerozumí.

Poke Rafferty, americký autor cestopisů usazený v Bangkoku, už nechce vyhledávat další maléry v exotickém prostředí, aby měl o čem psát. Teď, kdy má poprvé v životě šanci vybudovat něco, co sám pořádně nepoznal - vlastní rodinu -, je dokonce ochoten vzdát se plánů na novou knihu s názvem Žít, jak se nemá a začít existovat jinak, méně nebezpečně. Jenže tak jako se špatně vystupuje z rozjetého rychlíku, je obtížné uniknout přízrakům minulosti. Ve stejnou dobu, kdy se ve městě objeví někdo, koho by tam Rafferty čekal ze všech nejmíň, obtěžkán bedýnkou s krvavými kambodžskými rubíny, najdou se v kanceláři jeho přítelkyně Rose igelitky plné falešných bankovek. Jenže smůla nechodí o samotě, a tak se rozjíždí spirála událostí, na jejímž konci bude Rafferty muset pečlivě volit, jak moc hrát vabank, aby neohrozil své blízké. Nebo spíš - aby je ještě někdy viděl živé.

After seven years in Bangkok, American travel writer Poke Rafferty finally feels settled: his family is about to grow larger, and his adopted Thai daughter, Miaow, seems to have settled in at junior high school. 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. As Miaow's carefully constructed personal life falls apart, Rafferty discovers that the murders are part of a conspiracy that reaches the top rungs of Bangkok law enforcement, and beyond. Miaow's discovery threatens the entire family—and if that's not enough, in order to survive, they may ultimately have to depend on someone who has already betrayed them.

Eight years ago, Poke Rafferty, an American travel writer, and his Thai wife, Rose, adopted a Bangkok street child named Miaow, forming an unconventional intercultural family. That family has weathered extreme challenges—each of its three members carried the scars of a painful and dangerous history—but has stuck together with tenacity and love (and a little help from some friends). Now that family is in jeopardy: the birth of Poke and Rose’s newborn son has littered their small apartment with emotional land mines, forcing Poke to question his identity as a dad and Miaow to question her identity as a daughter. At the same time, the most cantankerous member of the small gang of Old Bangkok Hands who hang out at the Expat Bar suddenly goes missing under suspicious circumstances. Engaged in the search for the missing American, Poke is caught completely off-guard when someone he thought was gone forever resurfaces—and she has the power to tear the Raffertys apart.

A late-night poker game thrusts ex-pat writer Poke Rafferty into a dangerous world when he is offered the chance to write the biography of Khun Pan, a controversial billionaire. As Rafferty and his family become entangled in a deadly political power struggle, they face threats from those who want to suppress the book and others eager to reveal Pan's secrets. Amidst a backdrop of treachery and an Asian babyselling ring, Rafferty must navigate perilous waters to protect his loved ones and uncover the truth.

"Burglar Junior Bender may just be our favorite literary P.I."—Entertainment Weekly It’s three days until Christmas and Junior Bender, Hollywood’s fasttalking fixer for the felonious, is up to his ears in shopping mall Santas, Russian mobsters, desperate holiday shoppers, and (’tis the season) murder. The halls are decked, the deck is stacked, and here comes that jolly old elf. Junior Bender, divorced father of one and burglar extraordinaire, finds himself stuck inside the Edgerton Mall, and not just as a last-minute shopper (though he is that too). Edgerton isn’t exactly the epicenter of holiday cheer, despite its two Santas, canned Christmas music, chintzy bows, and festive lights. The mall is a fossil of an industry in decline; many of its stores are closed, and to make matters worse, there is a rampant shoplifting problem. The murderous Russian mobster who owns the place has decided it takes a thief to catch a thief and hires Junior—under threat—to solve the shoplifting problem for him. But Junior’s surveillance operation doesn’t go well: as Christmas Eve approaches, two people are dead and it’s obvious that shoplifting is the least of the mall’s problems. To prevent further deaths, possibly including his own, Junior must confront his dread of Christmas—both present and past.

A dark figure from Rose's past disrupts the seemingly stable life of Poke Rafferty, a travel writer settled in Bangkok with his wife and adopted daughter. As Poke confronts the shadows of Rose's history as a Patpong dancer, he embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth behind her transformation from a shy village girl to a figure in Bangkok's notorious red-light district. The revelations threaten not only their family’s peace but also Poke’s ability to cope with the secrets that lie ahead.

Los Angeles burglar Junior Bender is in the middle of burgling a house when the job goes terribly wrong. After barely escaping, he sets off a chain reaction of blackmail, strong-arming and escalating crime. To pay off his underworld debts, Junior is forced to break into the house of the most powerful man in Hollywood; the shadowy, widely feared studio mogul known as King Maybe. This is the fifth in Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender Mystery series.

Poke Rafferty, an American expat in Bangkok, is trying to build a new family with his fiancée Rose and streetwise Miaow. Just as he begins to find stability, he becomes entangled in a series of complications when he takes in Miaow's troubled friend and agrees to help locate a missing uncle and confront a blackmailing thief. As he navigates these challenges, Poke finds himself in perilous situations, forcing him to confront the darker aspects of the culture he once overlooked, putting his loved ones at risk.

Set against the vibrant backdrop of Bangkok, Poke Rafferty's settling down is disrupted by the unexpected return of his estranged father, Frank, who brings chaos with him. Accompanied by a box of rubies and pursued by a dangerous gangster, Frank's arrival triggers a series of threats, including a rogue Secret Service agent targeting Poke's fiancée, Rose. As danger looms from all sides, Poke must rely on his resourcefulness to protect his newfound family and confront the shadows of his past.