This is a long short story that might also be staged as a one or two act play. It is set in a suite at the prestigious Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok along the banks of the Chao Phraya River. The story concerns several characters who have volunteered to field phone calls from ex-pats suffering from the holiday doldrums. The callers are away from home and missing their friends and family during the festive Christmas season. Varying degrees of loneliness and depression afflict them. The theater masks on the cover are meant to suggest the elements of both comedy and tragedy at play in the story. As usual, McFinn has created a host of interesting characters and a repertoire of scintillating dialogue.