The Skull Mantra - Hardcover
When a headless corpse is found on a Tibetan mountainside, veteran Inspector Shan Tao Yun might seem the perfect candidate to solve the crime - except that he has been stripped of rank and imprisoned for offending the party in Beijing.
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Review:
Once, Shan was the brightest investigator of financial corruption in Beijing; he asked the wrong questions and is serving an indefinite sentence in a labour brigade in Tibet where he has learned to love and revere the ageing monks who toil beside him. When the local prosecutor is found without his head, Shan is pulled from his barracks and obliged to investigate.
Review:
"On what grounds do you refuse, Comrade Prisoner?"Shan did not reply. On the grounds that I cannot lie for you, he wanted to say. On the grounds that my soul has been worn to thin threads by people like you. On the grounds that the last time I tried to find the truth for someone like you I was sent to the gulag for my trouble...
Tan slowly drained his tea and shrugged. "Still, you are not permitted to refuse."
With Prosecutor Jao the fourth senior official to be killed, is there a Tibetan nationalist conspiracy? Or are the monks right to fear the return of Tamdin, demon of protective vengeance? And what is the role of the American geologists Rebecca and Kincaid? Shan is determined to find the truth before the army starts shooting his labour brigade, but wherever he turns he finds himself caught up in the contradictions of Chinese rule and his own conflicting loyalties...
This is a powerful and moving thriller whose polemic against Chinese rule in Tibet and admiration for the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism never takes over from breakneck tension and the slow deliberate unravelling of a complex and ingenious plot. The more we read, the more we are caught up in the cold chill of high plateaux and betrayal; we learn with Shan to trust nobody, and be surprised by unlikely virtue. --Roz Kaveney
"Vivid, absorbing, intriguing" (Sunday Telegraph)
"A cocktail of action adventure...a great read" (Guardian)
"Complex, crammed with Tibetan and Buddhist lore and legend, and utterly fascinating" (Daily Telegraph)
"A cocktail of action adventure...a great read" (Guardian)
"Complex, crammed with Tibetan and Buddhist lore and legend, and utterly fascinating" (Daily Telegraph)
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- PublisherCentury
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 0712680594
- ISBN 13 9780712680592
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages416
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages. Seller Inventory # CHL9538274
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Book Description Condition: Very Good. Shipped within 24 hours from our UK warehouse. Clean, undamaged book with no damage to pages and minimal wear to the cover. Spine still tight, in very good condition. Remember if you are not happy, you are covered by our 100% money back guarantee. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780712680592
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 2000; Signed. Black cloth covered boards with gold spine titles; jacket in Brodart cover; 8vo - over 7 3/4" to 9 3/4" tall; signed by author on title page; interior is unmarked; 397 pages. Seller Inventory # SKU1099372
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Book Description Condition: Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 39309072-20
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Book Description Condition: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 42152174-75
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