THE
VINCIENT CALVINO PRIVATE-EYE SERIES
Winner
of 2004 German Critics Award for International Crime Fiction
(Deutsche Krimi Preis)
Winner of 2007 Premier Special Director’s Award Semana
Negra (Spain)
(Zero Hour in Phnom Penh)
Winner of 2011 Shamus Award for Best Original Paperback (Asia
Hand)
Moore’s
Vincent Calvino is listed among “100 Eyes of Mystery Scene
Era” published in the 100th issue of Mystery Scene Magazine
“Christopher
G Moore's Vincent Calvino series is not only a fine collection
of finely calibrated mysteries, it's also a chronicle of major
upheavals - political, criminal, pathological and even psychosexual
- that have rocked Southeast Asia over the last two decades.”
—Jim Algie, The
Nation
“Moore's
Vincent Calvino novels ... are crisp, atmospheric entertainments
set in a noirish Bangkok.”
—Guardian
“Think
Dashiell Hammett in Bangkok.”
—The San Francisco Chronicle
“Vincent
Calvino is one of the most notable detectives of modern crime
literature.”
—Harmut Wilmes, Klönische Rundschau
“Vincent
Calvino is a terrific character who could only have been drafted
into action by a terrific writer.”
—T. Jefferson Parker, author of L.A. Outlaws.
“The
Vincent Calvino series belongs on every Asian crime list.”
—Booklist
“Every
big city has its fictional detective; and Bangkok’s is Vincent
Calvino.”
—Bangkok 101
“A
vivid sense of place ... the city of Bangkok, with its chaos and
mystery, is almost another character. Recommened.”
—Library Journal
“I
have come late to Christopher Moore's PI novels featuring Vincent
Calvino. And that's been my loss.... Calvino is the hard-boiled
successor of Philip Marlowe, a damaged, beaten-down but never
beaten protagonist who doesn't know when to quit. The Bangkok
he inhabits is full of life, corruption and broken dreams. Moore
drags you in to experience all of it.... His writing recalls the
gritty noir of Chandler and the intrigue of Le Carre with a dry
humour thrown in.”
—Chris Bilkey, Crime Buzz
“Moore
is a stylist much like the writers of the early to mid-20th century
who kick-started the P.I. genre in America. He writes with the
angry and sad voice of Ross Macdonald and the flow of and beauty
of Raymond Chandler. Penning his books in the third-person, he
uses allegory and symbolism to great effect. The Calvino series
is distinctive and wonderful, not to be missed, and I’m
pleased to see that it is finally becoming better known in the
States.”
—Cameron Hughes, The Rap Sheet
“Moore’s
work recalls the international ‘entertainments’ of
Graham Greene or John le Carré, but the hard-bitten worldview
and the cynical, bruised idealism of his battered hero is right
out of Chandler. Intelligent and articulate, Moore offers a rich,
passionate and original take on the private eye game, fans of
the genre should definitely investigate, and fans of foreign intrigue
will definitely appreciate.”
—Kevin Burton Smith, January Magazine
“Vincent
Calvino, the Thailand-based reincarnation of private eye Sam Spade.”
—Cliffhangers
“A
worthy example of a serial character, Vincent Calvino is human
and convincing.”
—Thriller Magazine (Italy)
“Vincent
Calvino is at once in the finest tradition of the lone private
detective and a complete original.”
—Matt Beynon Rees, author of The Samaritan’s Secret
“Calvino
is a wonderful private detective figure! Consistent action, masterful
language ... and Anglo-Saxon humor at its best.”
—Deutschland Radio
“The
hard bitten detective is real, and grittily impressive.... Unlike
many other fictional detectives, he doesn’t play in the
manicured imagination of an armchair novelist. He’s real.”
—Tarun Cherian, Deccan Herald (India)
“If
there’s a new book by Christopher G. Moore, the Bangkok-based
Canadian author, I’ll read that, particularly if it’s
a Calvino private eye one. His novels, set among louche expatriates
in a semi-criminal nocturnal demi-monde, managed to put Bangkok
into a context for me when I was spending time in S.E. Asia. He
leads you into hidden establishments and constructs, some palatial,
some mean hovels in hidden side-streets, to which only a cat could
find its way and that by accident.”
—Peter Stark,Quarterly Review
“Chris
Moore’s series of private-eye tales set in the full mysterious
splendor of bubbling Bangkok, Thailand, remind us anew of how
much meaning we miss out on when we don’t worship true artists.
Underneath Bangkok society is a deeply encrusted demiworld of
hope, despair, corruption and courage that Moore … paints
with maestrolike Dickensian strokes.”
—Thomas Plate, The Seattle Times
“Navigating
Bangkok’s dark sidestreets and myriad underground cultures
requires keen insight as well as the courage to look at corruption
but see the hope that lies beneath. Vincent Calvino, a disbarred
American lawyer turned PI, has been doing that for years as Christopher
G. Moore shows in his award-winning series.”
—Oline H. Cogdill, Mystery Scene Magazine
“Globally
acclaimed, Moore’s neo-noir series [is] as much about the
clash of cultures and mindsets as crime.”
—Bangkok 101
“It’s
easy to see why Moore’s books are popular: While seasoned
with a spicy mixture of humor and realism, they stand out as model
studies in East-West encounters, as satisfying for their cultural
insights as they are for their hardboiled action.”
—Mark Schreiber, The Japan Times
“Although
they are fiction, the Vincent Calvino novels record the main events
that have rocked the history of Thailand’s capital. Moore’s
insights into the Thai society, economy and politics make the
Calvino series a valuable radiography of what Bangkok looks like
through the detached eyes of an expat living in Thailand.”
—Voicu
Mihnea Simandan
“For
those who like their mysteries dark and steamy, Christopher G.
Moore’s Vincent Calvino suspense series is a must read.
Told from the point of view of an expat New Yorker turned Bangkok
private eye, Moore’s novels take you into the bowels of
Southeast Asia, where life is cheap, greed is the norm, sex underpins
even the most casual relationships, and nothing—nothing—is
ever what it appears to be at first glance.”
—Shamus and Arthur Ellis Nominee Joseph Louis, author of
Madelaine and other mysteries
“Fans
of fast-paced detective fiction can enjoy a familiar Asian backdrop
to murder, skullduggery, and espionage. Like the too-human detectives
of popular fiction, Vincent Calvino is a likeable mercenary, a
New York lawyer who’s given up practice to turn P.I. in
the labyrinth of South-East Asian politics, double-dealing and
fleeting relationships. Expect to be entertained as well as gain
an insight into an expat perception of life.”
—NTUC Lifestyle (Singapore)
Copyright
© 2003-2020 Heaven Lake Press, All Rights Reserved.
