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At one point in Hallinan’s
outstanding eighth thriller set in
Bangkok and featuring American
expat Poke Rafferty (after 2015’s
The Hot Countries), Rose, Poke’s
Thai wife, muses, “People never
knew until it was too late... whether
the place where they pitched
their tent was on the banks of
some Fools’ River.” That noirish
metaphor is central to the missing-persons case that travel writer Poke,
who has a reputation for solving
problems outside of;cial channels,
takes on through his teenage
daughter, Miaow. Buddy Dell, the
independently wealthy father of
Edward, a school friend of Miaow’s,
has vanished. Since Buddy
maintains four separate houses,
each presided over by a different
“auntie,” his absence from Edward’s
home is not unusual—except that
it’s been 12 days. Poke soon learns
that a dozen other men, most of
them foreigners, have recently
disappeared, only to be found
;oating in a canal with casts on at
least one leg. Perhaps Buddy has
fallen victim to the same criminal or
criminals. Hallinan makes the most
of his chosen setting, as well as the
challenges his ethical lead faces to
save a life, despite the indifference
of a corrupt police force. Fans of
hard-boiled detective ;ction will
feel right at home. Agent: Bob
Mecoy, Bob Mecoy Literary. (Nov.)
Timothy Hallinan.
Soho Crime, $26.95 (368p)
ISBN 978-1-61695-750-6
Fools’ River
https://sohopress.com
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immortalized by humans, with appearances by Charles Darwin’s pet tortoise,
Koko the signing gorilla, and Cecil the
Lion, who met her fate at the hands of an
American dentist and recreational
hunter.
The Biggest Prison on Earth:
A History of the Occupied Territories
Ilan Pappe (Oneworld)
The U.S. may incarcerate more people
than any other nation, but its ally Israel
runs the world’s largest prison: the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, where
the Palestinian people lack basic human
rights and are subject to the indignities
of illegal collective punishment. Israeli
historian Pappe lays out how this dire
situation came to be, beginning with the
plans formulated prior to 1967’s Six-Day
War.
Coming to My Senses: The Making
of a Counterculture Cook
Alice Waters (Clarkson Potter)
Chef and restaurateur Waters (In the
Green Kitchen, etc.) wonderfully evokes
the 1970s, when she first opened her
innovative Chez Panisse Restaurant and
Café in Berkeley, Calif. At a time when
Americans were eating processed food,
Waters was at the front of the organic
movement. She is a charming and understated narrator in this intimate and
vibrant book.
Democracy in Chains:
The Deep History of the Radical
Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Nancy MacLean (Viking)
In an impressive feat of intellectual
and political history, MacLean shows
how Nobel Prize–winning economist
James McGill Buchanan’s theories have
shaped today’s political landscape. A
product of the Jim Crow South,
Buchanan was profoundly influenced in
his libertarian views by his opposition to
the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
MacLean’s book acts as a chilling
warning that his ideas, as preserved by
right-wing billionaires and D.C. think-tanks, threaten American democracy.
The Exile:
The Stunning Inside Story of Osama
bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Flight
Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy
(Bloomsbury)
The term “cinematic” doesn’t adequately describe this extraordinary work
of investigative journalism. Scott-Clark
and Levy exhaust every possible source as
they follow al-Qaeda from its origins in
the CIA-backed Afghan mujahideen,
through 9/11 and the subsequent
American wars, to its eclipse by the
Islamic State. In the process, the authors
illustrate the myriad injustices committed in the name of the War on Terror.
The Gourmands’ Way:
Six Americans in Paris and the
Birth of a New Gastronomy
Justin Spring (FSG)
In this excellent history, Spring (Secret
Historian) highlights the American artists, cooks, and writers who introduced
French cuisine to the dining tables of
American homes and restaurants: Julia
Child, M.F.K. Fisher, Alexis Lichine,
A.J. Liebling, Richard Olney, and Alice
B. Toklas. It’s a remarkable story, beautifully told.
Greater Gotham: A History of
New York City from 1898 to 1919
Mike Wallace (Oxford Univ.)
Nobody knows New York history like
Wallace, and his tightly organized tome
is a masterwork on a
crucial period in the
city’s history. New
York as we know it
now was forged during
this time, and Wallace
translates Gotham’s
grit and gusto to the
page perfectly.
Henry David
Thoreau: A Life
Laura Dassow Walls (Univ. of Chicago)
Combining academic rigor with lucid
storytelling, Walls unites Thoreau’s
many facets—as author of the canonical
Walden, abolitionist, naturalist, inventor,
