Following up on his excellent novel A Nail Through the Heart, Timothy Hallinan’s The Fourth Watcher (2008, ISBN 978-0-06-125726-1) is a continuation of the ongoing saga of travel writer Poke Rafferty and his family, ex- bar girl Rose, and adopted daughter Miaow. 

Hallinan is rapidly becoming a fixture in the Bangkok Fiction genre, whose prosaic descriptions of the city of Bangkok are interwoven with a keen sense of drama and a good understanding of the underpinnings of Bangkok’s street powers structure. 

In Watcher, what begins as a relatively innocent game of cat-and-mouse, played with a cloak-and-dagger acquaintance, soon escalates into a dangerous game involving counterfeit money, abutting on international financial politics. Rafferty’s long-lost father is introduced, and his uneasy relationship with his long-absent parent is an ever-present element in the story. Non-traditional — from western eyes — relationships are a hallmark of Hallinan’s books, and again, Rafferty’s family and friends are imperiled by the ongoing series of events that continually escalate throughout the book. 

Hallinan tantalizes the reader with interesting characters, from Treasury agent Elson, who evolves from a nemesis to an ally, to Thai business owner Peachy, a gambling aficionado trying, with mixed success, to elevate her professional standing. 

As with the previous book, Watcher is a real page-turner, and we found ourselves delaying other important tasks to find the time to finish it to see how it would all play out. 

A couple of characters from Heart are missing, the street urchin Superman, and the memorable punter Getting Younger Man. We would enjoy seeing their return in future Hallinan novels, and word has it that the author already has plans for the latter’s involvement in a subsequent book. 

All in all, Watcher is a fast-paced book that we found to be a compelling read, and an excellent addition to any Bangkok Fiction library. Buy it now at the WoWasis estore, powered by Amazon.