Pattaya 24/7

Vincent Calvino #8

by Christopher G. Moore

Inside a secluded, lush estate located on the edge of Pattaya, an eccentric Englishman’s gardener is found hanged. Calvino has been hired to investigate. Calvino finds himself pulled deep in the shadows of the war against drugs, into an empire of a local warlord with the trail leading to a terrorist who has caused Code Orange alerts to flash across the screen of American intelligence. In a story packed with twists and turns, Calvino traces the links from the gardener’s past to the door of men with power and influence who have everything to lose if the mystery of the gardener’s death is solved.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

305 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2008

About the author

Christopher G. Moore is a Canadian author who has lived in Thailand since 1988. Formerly a law professor at the University of British Columbia and a practicing lawyer, Moore has become a public figure in Southeast Asia, known for his novels and essays that have captured the spirit and social transformation of Southeast Asia over the past three decades.

Moore has written over 30 fiction and non-fiction books, including the Vincent Calvino novels which have won including the Shamus Award and German Critics Award and have been translated to over a dozen languages. Moore’s books and essays are a study of human nature, culture, power, justice, technological change and its implications on society and human rights.

Starting in 2017, the London-based Christopher G. Moore Foundation awards an annual literary prize to books advancing awareness on human rights. He’s also the founder of Changing Climate, Changing Lives Film Festival 2020.

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book in the series by far.
Enjoyed this book- it is full of interest

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

A murder on an isolated estate belonging to a reclusive, eccentric concert pianist leads to a terrorist plot threatening Thailand and Asia. But the MacGuffin-like plot almost makes the outlandish parts of the story irrelevant. Only at the end, does the terror threat come storming back into events. Otherwise, the reader has much more interest in private eye Vincent Calvino's disintegrating relationship with his secretary, a best friend who is a colonel in the Thai police, and a university trained veterinarian who has elected to take care of goats and make cheese on the pianist's "farm." Throw into the mix a one-time bargirl turned scuba diving instructor turned nun as well as at the end an MIT educated Thai female construction engineer and you have a vague idea of what is going on.

It's always vague with Moore, because of the convoluted, complex nature of his stories. What's news here is he swaps out Bangkok for the seaside "resort" of Pattaya. Calvino must work against the clock to save the city (if you've ever been there, you might wonder why). In so structuring it this way, Pattaya should have much in common with an action thriller. There is a little of that, but it's still mostly character under examination, as in most Calvino novels. Very little lag troubles this novel, as Moore finally hits on the idea of how to advance the story at just about every juncture. This isn't one of his "serious" works, but it ends up being more effective in generating circumspection, I think, than do those heavy handed philosophically laden serious novels. It really is more effective allowing characters to carry meaning than deliberately inject motivating ideas directly into the dialog and musings of those same people.

[Bryan Thomas Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid adventure set in a different setting than the usual which keeps it interesting. I liked this one, but it felt like it took a while to get started as far as the clues. He just seem to be wandering around for a while at first not that it wasn’t compelling because Moores is great at dialogue and characters. But it did feel a little random for a while until the pieces finally came together and then it had a sense of direction about halfway through. Good; recommended.

[Johnny Cordova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher G. Moore is a surprisingly skilled, Canadian-born writer based in Bangkok. Vincent Calvino is a streetwise New York-born private detective milking a modest living from the Bangkok underbelly. Pattaya 24/7 is the eighth book in what has come to be known as the Calvino Series -- worth a look for their deftly constructed plots and even more so for their insights into Thai culture. Start with the first book, Spirit House, which shouldn't fail to capture your attention.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good example of writing from a foreign/exotic locale.