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Library | Shelf Number | Material Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Hattiesburg Library | FICTION NIEH | Book | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
"Propulsive. . . . Highly enjoyable. . . . It sets up a sequel, one that I very much look forward to reading." --The New York Times Book Review
A fresh, smart, and fast-paced revenge thriller about a college basketball player who discovers shocking truths about his family in the wake of his father's murder
Victor Li is devastated by his father's murder, and shocked by a confessional letter he finds among his father's things. In it, his father admits that he was never just a restaurateur--in fact he was part of a vast international crime syndicate that formed during China's leanest communist years.
Victor travels to Beijing, where he navigates his father's secret criminal life, confronting decades-old grudges, violent spats, and a shocking new enterprise that the organization wants to undertake. Standing up against it is likely what got his father killed, but Victor remains undeterred. He enlists his growing network of allies and friends to finish what his father started, no matter the costs.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
College basketball player Victor Li, the narrator of Nieh's remarkable debut, has little to concern him beyond his next game, until his restaurateur father, Vincent Li, is killed in a burglary at home in L.A. Sun Jianshui, a 30-ish immigrant who was raised by Vincent before he married and left for America, tells Victor that his father was part of a criminal enterprise formed when Vincent was a young man in China in the years after Mao's death. According to Sun, Vincent was murdered for refusing to import a dangerous product called Ice. A letter from Vincent to Victor that Victor finds among his father's papers instructs him to accompany Sun to Beijing and destroy the syndicate. The rich cast includes beautiful young courtesans, Chinese thugs, Russian gangsters, French journalists, and corrupt police in Beijing. Nieh, a Chinese-English translator, has a real gift for language; one character has "a voice that sounds the way strawberries taste." This impressive blend of crime and coming-of-age marks Nieh as a talent to watch. Agent: Bonnie Nadell, Hill Nadell Literary. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
After Victor and Jules Li's father, Vincent, is murdered in an apparent home invasion, the siblings discover that everything they knew about their life is an intricately woven myth. Their mild-mannered father, who they thought owned a chain of restaurants, leaves them nothing but a mystery and a briefcase containing cash and a gun. Then Victor is approached by Sun, a young man from Beijing who claims that he is Vincent Li's right-hand man. Sun reveals that Vincent's organized-crime partners, considered his brothers from childhood under Mao's brutal regime, murdered Vincent because he refused to cooperate with their latest smuggling plot. When Sun delivers a letter from Vincent that implores Victor to honor his memory by going to Beijing and shutting down the organization, loyalty trumps reason. Victor, a thoughtful but aimless college student, finds purpose in battling Beijing's underworld. Happily, Nieh leaves the door open for a sequel to this staccato-paced, character-driven thriller, and readers will welcome the opportunity to follow good-guy Victor's path of retribution and self-discovery.--Christine Tran Copyright 2019 Booklist
Library Journal Review
DEBUT Victor Li is a 22-year-old California student and a fervid basketball player. His Chinese father, owner of four successful restaurants, has been killed in his office, leaving Victor a letter that turns his life upside down. Vincent Li had been living a lie. He was one of a brotherhood of four in China involved in shady dealings. They had sent him to America to extend their business. When he refused a project called ICE, one supported him, but the other two arranged his death. Victor, accompanied by new friend Sun, his father's protégé and bodyguard, goes to China seeking answers and revenge. He finds danger and unexpected allies and learns the truth about his father and the killer. First-time novelist Nieh is a Chinese-English translator and widely traveled, and his Beijing scenes are gritty and scary. Some plot elements may leave readers confused, but the narrative moves briskly and the characters are well developed. VERDICT This late-coming-of-age thriller, in which Victor learns just what he is capable of doing, grabs readers early and doesn't readily let go. [See Prepub Alert, 1/23/19.]--Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale