Street Music

Poke Rafferty, Book 9

By: Timothy Hallinan

Narrated by: Victor Bevine

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.

©2020 Timothy Hallinan (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

The Perfect Ending

No matter what kind of stories they tell, only the very best writers give us characters we come to know as friends. We think of them as having lives that go on beyond the episodes we know about.

Tim Hallinan has given us this gift with Poke Rafferty, his family and friends, and the very last sentence of this very last story says it perfectly.

Thanks, Mr. Hallinan, and Mr Rafferty, too.

Fantastic Series

The 9th Poke Rafferty novel brings the series to a fantastic conclusion. Rafferty, an American expat travel writer living in Thailand, has been a favorite of mine for years. The books are multi-layered, touching on politics, corruption, humble country poverty, and the daily life of thousands of sex workers who are funneled and trafficked into Thailand's sex tourism trade. Each book in the series is a snap shot of this complicated and nuanced region of the world.

I could go into any number of plot points and highlights, but the thing I'll remember most about the Poke Rafferty books is his wonderful, tortured and emotional relationship with his adopted daughter, former street kid Miaow, and his beautiful wife Rose, once the renowned Queen of Patpong. Miaow, abandoned by her impoverished mother as a small child, has grown into a bright, introverted teenager who is as prickly as a porcupine. Her interactions with Poke have driven the series from the start and are an arrow straight into my heart. I'll reread these books for the rest of my life.

I also need to congratulate narrator Victor Bevine for his perfect execution of this series. It is always a pleasure to listen to his performances. Great work guys.

save for later if you need an escape!

I love this series — the writing, the relationships among the main characters, the insights into the dark aspects of Thai culture. here we get some insight into where Miao came from, but by way of following the heartbreaking downward slide of addiction, the loss of hope and priorities, dignity a d worth. felt totally wrung out when I finished it!!

always well written but just too much side detail

of course Hallinan is great but I couldn't help losing focus from all the side jaunts. I liked his depiction of how a life can take a bad turn and his depiction of the Thai sex industry.

Worst book in the series

This has not been my favorite series to listen to but I have made it through all of the books. This one was disappointing. Back story was incredibly long, so much so that I fast forwarded part of it. Ending was just blah. I think this is the last in the series but it is definitely the last one for me.