| Zhong Fong, convicted killer and former head of Special Investigations in Shanghai, had been exiled to an impoverished area beyond the Great Wall. After years with no communications allowed, he receives a warning telegram from a former colleague in Shanghai. Then he is picked up, brutalised and thrown into the trunk of a car by two equally viscious men: one a thugish lump of a man, one a cruel politico.
Although he is continuously tortured, infected with typhoid and cruelly beaten, it becomes clear to him (because they do not attempt to kill him) that he is "needed" for some purpose. He finds out that the Chinese government wants him to use his investigative skills to solve an unusually hideous crime that involves the murder of 17 foreigners during a celebration on a "slut" boat on Lake Ching. By solving the murders, Fong can earn his way back from exile and back to his beloved Shanghai. Demanding and getting his two former helpers from Shanghai: Lily a forensics expert and "Grandpa" a coroner; he sets about questioning the three brothers, inhabitants of a very inbred group of people from an island in the middle of Lake Ching, who have been accused of the crime. Fong suspects that the killings were arranged by someone in a powerful political office in Beijing and that he has been brought up, not to find the killers, but to find the "rogue" polititian who ordered the murders. But the gruesome nature of the crime speaks of a horrid vengeance. He finds an old cormorant fisherman who relates a tale of romantic intrigue and archaeological treasures involving a beautiful young girl from the island. Slowly he pieces together a story of infidelity and money lust which caused a convergence of motives. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - depressing/sad How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: Misc. Murder Plotlets - Big focus on forensic evidence What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 30 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - power The antagonists are: - evil politicians How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting Asia/Pacific Yes Asian country: - China City? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references - actual description of sex Unusual forms of death - hanging - decapitated - perforation--bullets - perforation--swords/knives Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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