But that's not the main thrust of the plot. Poke has a sideline. He finds people. An Australian woman asks him to look for her uncle, and then another woman with a past, (yes, a terrible one, but not in the way the other pasts are terrible) asks him to find someone who stole something from her. The two cases are intertwined, as they so often are in crime novels, but not in the way you might think.
What Poke uncovers about the uncle and the woman is so bad that you might want to avert your eyes rather than read about it. It really is that horrible, so be warned. There are abuse and torture here for sure. How much love, kindness, and friendship does it take to redeem these things? That's part of what the novel's about.
Hallinan has lived in Bangkok, and he knows what he's writing about: the cops, the street kids, the sights, the smells. It's all here. The story is gripping, and the writing is fine. As good as the book is, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone because of the content. If you read only books about those nice little murders where nobody gets hurt, this one's not for you. But if you're looking for a nail through the heart, you won't find better reading. Grab it now.