The Risk of Infidelity Index: A Vincent Calvino Crime Novel

Vincent Calvino #9

by Christopher G. Moore

Christopher G. Moore’s internationally-acclaimed, prize-winning series starring Vincent Calvino, disbarred American lawyer turned Bangkok P.I. finally comes to North America with The Risk of Infidelity Index , a gripping novel set in a superbly textured, masterfully rendered Bangkok. When his surveillance of a major drug piracy ring ends in definitive video evidence, it looks like Vincent Calvino’s fortunes are about to turn. But when the client dies of a heart attack and Calvino finds the body of a murdered massage girl downstairs, the authorities get suspicious of the farang who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. To make matters worse, with the dead client unable to pay, Calvino is desperate and forced to take on a job he doesn’t following husbands for jealous expat housewives. Featuring a brilliant cast of characters including a wealthy Thai celebrity protected by important political connections, a lawyer with perfect memory, a Shakespeare-quoting police colonel, and Calvino’s loyal assistant, Ratana, The Risk of Infidelity Index is a thrilling read from an important name in literary crime fiction.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Detective, Asia

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

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

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially, I was really excited to read this. Thought it would be like one of those crime noir mysteries with a jaded private investigator. Unfortunately, as I read on, there were definitely moments that felt unnecessary and I wanted the author to get on with it. Then, my favorite character in the book, Lovell ends up being murdered. Additionally, totally out of the blue, it turns out that him and Ratanna somehow found time to go out amidst all of the chaos, and he's leaving a baby behind. I really liked him and was super disappointed when he died. Then, even though it seemed like everything was absolutely lost, the resolution was extremely short and seemed kind of thrown together. After sending out a bunch of emails, he had this super powerful guy on the run. Plus, he has no problem killing three people, who were bad people, but it seemed like he wore the white hat so I definitely did not see it coming. I wish the author had gone more into how the whole thing started, because yes, there were implications of the why's, but nothing concrete was given. Lastly, there were a lot of typos that I noticed throughout the book, which I find very unusual in something published. It would have been nice for there to be some spacing throughout the book to make it easier to read. There were times where I was totally confused about who's perspective I was reading.

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish.

By page 100 it was clear that nothing interesting was going to happen. This is your standard style-over-substance writing and a bog standard plot so drab that the author feels the need to remind us of things we already know every two or three pages so we know what he thinks is important. The characters are so thin they are ghostly. Also, in a pet peeve of mine, the author reminds us that we are in Exotic Bangkok with constant insertions of the local patois (reading this was like having an old style telephone by your side: ying, ying, ying) and dry lengthy expositions of Thai culture.
The story assumes you are already invested in the main character, which is a misapprehension. Given that this is book 9 of an established series you would expect there to be some backstory. What we are given are characters acting upon an untold backstory, meaning we have no sense of the stakes to any of the decisions being made. Why does Calvino want to retain his secretary to the point he will only move to WHO is she comes with him? Why is he even in Bangkok? Who is this chum who just shows up in the local bar to drag him to a cooking class? Given how fond Moore is of exposition about unnecessary details of Thai culture, he could have thrown in a sentence or two that explains just WTF is going on.
Furthermore, I really really really object to a book that trades on exoticism to this degree. The Bangkok community that we spend time with may be the expatriate rabble, but Bangkok intrudes constantly in obnoxious ways. The worst dynamic that we are shown is an insular clot of westerners living in Bangkok, working and socializing among themselves, only sallying forth to abuse Thai women. While this situation is probably true, to some degree, that does nothing to remove the stench of Moore's presentation of the city. The only reason expat characters leave their insular world is to find opportunities to be constantly groping, squeezing, kissing Thai women(ying, ying, ying). The two exceptions are Calvino who is too world weary to bother, and a guy attempting a respectful relationship with a local girlfriend. She (of course) comes to hate him, and he is murdered soon after for not being one of the boys.
So it's a tedious and poorly written sex tourism guide to Bangkok hidden in the guise of a poorly plotted noir fiction, and because it took me two months to push to page 100 where it was clear this was just a bad novel I am giving it a rating (not my usual habit when I fail to finish a book).

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the cusp of the smartphone era, Moore wrote a sort of techno-thriller. At least for him. Computers, thumb drives, and cell phones play an outsized role in this story. That, then, makes Infidelity somewhat different from other works of his I've read, which were published 15 or 20 years earlier. Still this one is captivating enough. Maybe it's because I know someone who is a major pharmaceutical repackager in Bangkok, and fake pharma is at the center of Infidelity. Just like I know a couple of highfalutin American lawyers who have set up offices in Bangkok and whom I wouldn't trust to so much as mention a real estate or business deal. The creepy foreigners on the take rings true. Just as does the smooth as silk Thai gangster who pulls all the strings behind the curtain.

This city, Bangkok, and country really is a place that can devour idealism and honesty. Best to swim in your own pool and never look past the fence in your own backyard. Bad things will happen. And that occurs to Vincent Calvino in this novel. He has principles. And just like any good noir hero, he tries to fight back against them. Reluctantly, he's brought into a widespread scheme of corruption and murder that reaches to the top levels of Thai society.

Infidelity starts out being a much less grittier work than those of Moore I've so far read. But it makes up for it in the last third of the book. Calvino becomes involved in more direct violence (receiving and giving) than in the earlier works. Too, there is less philosophizing about Thai culture this time around. That's a good thing. Moore doesn't lecture, as he does in earlier works, and lets events speak for themselves and characters' actions and words demonstrate beliefs and assumptions without a third voice narration. Much better, I think.

[Robert Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

++It is difficult to think that this is number 9 in the Vincent Calvino series, but the first to be published in the United States. The beginning of this book didn't grab my interest right away, but as things progressed it became more and more convoluted and interesting. Largely a story of lawyers, disguised murders, marital infidelity, and the corruption caused by money and the power it engenders.++

[Carotta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ja, sparenswert

[Jenni Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the writing - the story isn't that original but the setting is vibrant and interesting.

[Bryan Thomas Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best book yet in the series. Really well done. Thoroughly compelling, enjoyable. With a lot of fun twists. Highly recommended.

[Kristina · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst written book i have ever read in my life. I did learn about Bangkok though.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read about this series, but this is the first time I've picked up one of this author's novels. I liked it and first thing today I ordered my own copy, and scoped out the other books in the series.

The main character in this book, set in Bangkok, is Vincent Calvino, an ex-pat New Yorker who runs his private eye business out of an office in the same building as a massage parlor. He's just finished a huge surveillance gig, gathering evidence for an attorney who asked him to get the goods on a major drug piracy operation. Everything is looking up, except that Vincent broke one of his cardinal rules: get the money up front. His failure to do so causes him severe problems when the client dies of a heart attack in a toilet. To make matters even worse, he stumbles onto the body of one of the girls from the massage parlor at her place of business, attracting the attention of the local police who don't trust him anyway. As if this isn't bad enough, in order to make ends meet he does two things: first, he tries to put pressure on associates of the dead client (and the bad guys on whom he dug up the evidence) in order to get paid, and he agrees to take a job for a group of women who put stock in a book called "The Risk of Infidelity Index." This book lists Bangkok as the number one spot in the world where husbands will be unfaithful, and his job is to find evidence that the husbands are cheating. Neither one of these options, as it turns out, are ideal, and get our man Calvino into a world of trouble.

Moore has developed some great characters here, including Calvino himself, Calvino's good friend Colonel Pratt, a local high-ranking policeman who has a knack for spewing Shakespeare in appropriate moments, an Italian chef who gives cooking lessons to the cheated-on spouses but can't speak Italian, an associate of the dead attorney who has an eidetic memory and stands on principle, and even the bad guy, who is one nasty piece of work. But it's not just the characters that make the book -- Bangkok itself becomes so real you can feel the steam from the humidity. Moore is an awesome and talented writer, and it's a shame that not many more of his works are available here. This book is actually #9 in the series, so I do believe I've probably come into the series a bit too late, and I'm sure I've missed something. But that's okay. This book holds it own as far as I'm concerned.

I would recommend it to people who enjoy crime fiction, and to those who want something different from the norm in their reading. It's an engrossing story and it's well plotted, and should appeal to people who are more inclined toward noir with an exotic twist. Overall...a good find, considering I picked it totally out of thin air.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always fun to find a new author, and that I did when I picked up Christopher Moore's Asia Hand at the Ashland Public Library. I was thrown into the steamy, despairing world of Vincent Calvino's Bangkok, Thailand. Moore popped up again in Bangkok Noir (note: not published by Akashic), an anthology of original crime fiction by locals and others, all set in Bangkok. I found The Risk of Infidelity Index on PaperbackSwap.com and was thrilled to continue the trip.

Vincent Calvino is a smart, but somewhat hapless private detective. Maybe he's got too much of a conscience, or too many rules in his playbook, but he's certainly not setting the investigative world on fire. Calvino gets in with a group of women, wives of executives working in Thailand. They've used a scorecard, The Risk of Infidelity Index to figure out if their husbands are cheating on them, and hire Calvino to get the goods on their men.

The Risk of Infidelity Index is a nice metaphor for Bangkok, it's politics, government and culture. The Daily Telegraph says, "The real star of the book is Bangkok, which Moore, a long-term resident of the city, brings to vibrant, sleazy life."

--Ashland Mystery

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not a major mystery fan, I've found myself reading several lately. Most are formulaic, and I usually get bored on the second of most author's works. Exceptions are when I am given a look at a strange time or place or culture (think Tony Hillerman, or Lindsey Davis). That may happen when I read another of this author's works, but I'll try it when I can. So far, it seems he's well known all over the world, but just recently published in the US. Although the hero is a Hammett-like hard-drinking has-been, the darker side of modern Bangkok is brought to light (accurately?, who knows?), which adds an intriguing aspect to the mystery genre.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of this series before picking up this book at the airport, but this is exactly the type of series I enjoy--terrific characterizations, a plot with some twists that isn't too hard to follow, and a great setting in Bangkok. (This book provided an interesting counterpoint to John Burdett's Bangkok series, which I highly recommend.) Vincent Calvino, disbarred American lawyer now working as a PI in Bangkok, definitely wants out. And he thinks he has found the client to get him out. And then everything changes. Lots of action, some twists and some government corruption: who could ask for anything more?

[Sanuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It is action packed but the characters are also well defined. The novel is set in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand which adds an exotic taste to the novel. This novel is about an American P.I. who have found some illegal activities some would prefer not to be revealed. There is also some investigation of infidelity and all this is described vividly in the day to day life of foreigners living in Bangkok.

[Jeremiah Genest · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun, but not cerebral crime novel. A warning that the tone of the narrative is slightly off — the general satire seems a bit too blunt, and downright mean especially when women are involved. But I really like the flashy style which successfully captures the dizzying contradictions of modern Bangkok and the book was very fun and easy to read.

[Missmath144 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first three-quarters of the book more than the end. Also, there were places where I wasn't clear about what the author was saying; this happened frequently, but not relating to anything significant in the plot, so it wasn't too distracting. Maybe I'm just getting too old. Anyway, I enjoyed it enough that I will try another book in his Vincent Calvino series.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was turned on to Christopher G. Moore by Pat at Poisoned Pen book store in Scottsdale, AZ. Searched and finally found Spirit House. Loved the book. Finally found this book. Liked it even more.

Learned more of Vincent's past and his motivations.

Superb book. Hope to see the rest of the series make it to the states.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on the traditional noir detective novel; a New York ex-pat running a 2-person private detective agancy in modern bangcock. It had a bit of a Marlow feel to it. A little herky jerky in the narrative at times, but still a solid B-. I don't know if I was inspired to read any more in the series, though.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice enough book in the suspense category, with some strong characters. A bit slow at the beginning. The author's split narrative perspective betrays more of a screenwriters craft than a straight ahead novelist. (The violence and ease of the resolution are a little too clean given the essential nourish ness of the novel.

[Johnny Cordova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bangkok noir at its best. The ninth book in the Vincent Calvino series. Christopher G. Moore, his fingers ever on the pulse of the Bangkok streets, once again creates a believable and gripping plot structure rich with political intrigue and memorable characters. It’s fun to read about Bangkok while living in Bangkok. I find these books to be perfect interludes to my non-fiction studies.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting views of Bangkok and Thai life. Not a very lovable main character/ detective. Rather gratuiosly violent in places. It was not a very convincing wind-up at the end. Very contrived and not at all convincing (not even very logically put-to-gether). I probably will not read any more of this series.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so mystery set in the financial world of modern day Bangkok. I read it to learn more about Thai culture and society, as well as the geographical landscape of the city where my cousin lives. Mission accomplished.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preferred Spirit House but still enjoyed this one as well. Plot was a bit more languid b ut definitely held it's moments of tension. Look forward to findmore but unfortunately, I think I've tapped the public library system out on this series already.

[Aurora · Rating 2 out of 5]

I brought this home after a customer enthusiastically recommended it and actually handed it to me. I read about 100 or so pages and nothing about it was appealing to me, so ...I'm moving on.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun but too violent and sexist for me to whole-heartedly recommend

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Vincent Calvino (the detective) novel and definitely not my last. A trifle violent for my taste, but it was very addictive. Will definitely read more.

[Sue]

I had never heard of this author, sort of picked up the book by accident in Italy. It seems like a well-written mystery, but in a writing style that I don't like.

[Suevw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - learned lots about Bangkok AND that I've got a new author to get more of!!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book to get a flavor of Thailand....an OK mystery but not all that Thai.

[Harvee Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective novel set in the multi-layered, complex society of Bangkok. More here...

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to force myself to push through this one.