Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #601460 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Moore, whose novels have been translated into German, Japanese and eight other languages, makes his U.S. debut with a low-key thriller, part of a series to feature Vincent Calvino, a disbarred American lawyer working as a PI in Bangkok, Thailand. An apparent suicide in a failing massage parlor below Calvino's office may be related to the suspicious heart attack of his biggest client, attorney Andrew Danielson. When Danielson's law firm refuses to pay Calvino's outstanding fees, luck arrives in the form of prissy attorney John Lovell. Lovell has been cut loose from the same law firm because of fears he might pry into Danielson's death. He also knows a lot about local celebrity Khun Weerawat's shady deals, which may be relevant to Calvino's investigations for Danielson. As Calvino tries to connect the dots and find out what happened to Danielson, he also attempts to solicit business from four women afraid their husbands are cheating on them. The breezy quality of the scenes with the suspicious wives, the lack of depth to Calvino's character and a predictable resolution undermine an otherwise complex, intelligent novel. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Publishers Weekly Review
I have given up on PW with this review. I could smell taste and touch Calvino when I read this. I went immediately on a hunt for more Calvino books and can't wait for Grove to publish more. There is something very subtle in the way that Moore uses non-flowery language to create a scene so strong that I could smell what Bangkok must be like and see the characters in motion. I am glad I found this author as there is much exciting reading ahead. Publishers Weekly go home.

A riveting story with a compelling protagonist in an exotic setting!
A riveting story! Detective Vinnie Calvino is wise to the intrigues of the motley citizens of Bangkok. He's a great character, a man trying to hold on to a battered integrity despite a clear-eyed view of the many lowlifes, high rollers, beautiful girls, and ugly deals in the so-called Land of Smiles. His asides on relationships, love, Buddhism, Thais, and expats are always spot-on. This isn't especially suprising since the author, Christopher G Moore, is according to the book flap, a longtime Bangkok resident. Having been to Thailand a number of times, I can testify that the tiniest details are wholly accurate and the settings are the real deal. No phony surreal stuff. Moore seems to know the secret ins, outs, and byways of the city and beautifully captures its raw and often painfully poignant vibrancy. He made me wonder why a place so ostensibly foreign is nevertheless so intensely familiar. Maybe it's the straying farang husbands, the corrupt careerist lawyers, and the ruthless Thai bigwigs all trying, like Calvino himself, to make it in the most exciting city in Asia.

terrific Bangkok investigative tale
In Bangkok, attorney Andrew Danielson hires American expatriate private investigator Vincent Calvino to look into an illegal drug operation. With the $10,000 fee and an expected success, Vincent believes he will obtain an investigative position with the World health organization New York as he has the proof.

Two floors below his office is the One Hand Clapping massage parlor Vincent breaks down the door as he expects trouble inside. He is right because he find a dead nineteen years old young "working" girl lying in her bed. The same day Andrew dies from an alleged heart attack; his law firm refuses to pay Vincent his expenses let alone his fee. As demonstrations rock the city, Vincent finds himself unpaid and short cash. Three of the Fab Four expatriate female friends hire him to conduct surveillance of their spouses. Debra, Janet and Ruth have just read The Risk of Infidelity Index, which names Bangkok as the number one city for spousal infidelity. The fourth member Ruth is a recent widow; her spouse Andrew having just died from cardiac arrest. All three of his recent activities soon tie together in a major complex fiasco in which he may return to New York for his funeral instead of for a job.

THE RISK OF INFIDELITY INDEX is a terrific Bangkok investigative tale starring an American expatriate who finds he is getting deeper into trouble when he just wants to collect his fee. The story line is at its best when Vincent causes havoc or explains life in Thailand wit its' spiders, frogs and shells. When the Fab Four appear, the plot turns humorous but loses a bit of its Asian Urban Noir feel. Still this American Farang's misadventures are fun to follow (see MINOR WIFE and SPIRIT HOUSE) as they rival the BANGKOK HAUNTS of John Burdett.

Harriet Klausner