Vincent Calvino is a fictional

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

-based

private eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

created by

Christopher G. Moore Christopher G. Moore (born 8 July 1952) is a Canadian writer of twenty-seven novels, six works of non-fiction, editor of three anthologies, and author of four radio dramas. He is best known for his trilogy ''A Killing Smile'' (1991), ''A Bewitch ...

in the Vincent Calvino Private Eye series. Vincent Calvino first appeared in 1992 in ''Spirit House'', the first novel in the series. His latest appearance is in ''Jumpers'', the 16th novel in the series published in October 2016. "Hewn from the hard-boiled Dashiell Hammett/Raymond Chandler model, Calvino is a tough, somewhat tarnished hero with a heart of gold." His final appearance is in ''Dance Me to the End of Time'', the 17th novel in the series published in January 2020. " Christopher Moore transforms his classic noir sensibility with a thrilling warp drive vision of our tomorrow with the timelessness of today. What a great creative work of fiction."."

Background

Moore's protagonist, Vincent Calvino, half-Jewish and half-Italian, is an ex-lawyer from New York, who, under ambiguous circumstances, gave up law practice and became a private eye in Bangkok. Calvino has often been likened to classic hardboiled detective characters like

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

Philip Marlowe Philip Marlowe () is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The hardboiled crime fiction genre originated in the 1920s, notably in ''Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashiel ...

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

Sam Spade Sam Spade is a fictional character and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel '' The Maltese Falcon''. Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett. ''The Maltese Falcon'', first published as a serial in the pulp ...

, and Mickey Spillane's

Mike Hammer Michael Hammer or Mike Hammer may refer to: *Michael Armand Hammer (1955–2022), American philanthropist and businessman *Michael Martin Hammer (1948–2008), engineer and author *Mike Hammer (character), a fictional hard boiled detective ** ''Mick ...

. "The hard-bitten worldview and the cynical, bruised idealism of his battered hero incent Calvinois right out of Chandler," wrote Kevin Burton Smith in ''January Magazine''. ''The Daily Yomiuri'' called Calvino "a thinking man's Philip Marlowe ... a cynic on the surface but a romantic at heart." ''The Nation'' calls Calvino "a worthy successor of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer." Some critics see Moore's work a little differently however. Douglas Fetherling said "Moore is a genuine novelist who just happens to employ the conventions of the thriller genre, that his real interests are believable human behavior and way cultures cross-pollinate and sometimes crash.

is work In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' in ...

is real prose, not Raymond Chandler stuff, and his motives are as close to art as they are to entertainment."

Vincent Calvino Private Eye Series

Moore's Vincent Calvino Private Eye series is a hardboiled crime fiction in the Western tradition reinvented in an exotic but realistic Southeast Asia. The series is among the first English-language crime fiction that introduces the element of Noir Fiction into the world of Southeast Asian crime fiction. The Vincent Calvino mysteries are dark and realistic, interwoven with contemporary local and international affairs. "Moore's work recalls the international 'entertainments' of

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

... 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''). The ''Thrilling Detective'' has said of the Calvino series: "A big part of Moore's charm is his unerring eye for the intricacies of not just the Thai culture but also the Thai psyche, and the curious demimonde of the expat community, caught forever in the tug-of-war between East and West .... captures the sights and sounds and the lights of Bangkok's nightlife particularly well." Novels from the Vincent Calvino series have been translated or are in the process of being translated into a number of languages, including German, French, Italian, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, Norwegian and Thai. The third novel in the Vincent Calvino series ''Zero Hour in Phnom Pehn'' (originally, ''Cut Out'') won third place in the 2004 "German Critics Award for Crime Fiction" (''

Deutscher Krimi Preis The Deutscher Krimi Preis, or the ''German Crime Fiction Award'', is the oldest and most prestigious German literary prize for crime fiction. It has been awarded since 1985 by the Bochum Crime Archive. Unlike the Friedrich Glauser Prize, which is a ...

'') in the international crime fiction category. ''Asia Hand'', the second Calvino novel, won the Shamus Award sponsored by the Private Eyes of America in 2011 in the Best Paperback Original category. Chad A. Evans' ''Vincent Calvino's World, A Noir Guide to Southeast Asia'' explores the historical and cultural context of the 15 Calvino novels written over 25 years.

Novels in the Vincent Calvino series

* ''Spirit House'' (1992) * ''Asia Hand'' (1993) * ''Zero Hour in Phnom Penh'' (original title: ''Cut Out'') (1994) * ''Comfort Zone'' (1995) * ''The Big Weird'' (1996) * ''Cold Hit'' (1999) * ''Minor Wife'' (2002) * ''Pattaya 24/7'' (2004) * ''The Risk of Infidelity Index'' (2007) * ''Paying Back Jack'' (2009) * ''The Corruptionist'' (2010) * ''9 Gold Bullets'' (2011) * ''Missing In Rangoon'' (2013) * ''The Marriage Tree'' (2014) * ''Crackdown'' (2015) . * ''Jumpers'' (2016) . * ''Dance Me to the End of Time'' (2020) .

References

External links

Vincent Calvino Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvino, Vincent Fictional private investigators Crime novel series

Background

Vincent Calvino Private Eye Series

Novels in the Vincent Calvino series

See also

References

External links