Skull Mantra - Softcover
When a headless corpse is found by a prison work gang on a windy Tibetan mountainside, veteran police inspector Shan Tao Yun might seem the perfect man to solve the crime - except that he himself is serving an indefinite sentence in the gulag for offending the Party in Beijing. So the district commander must grant him a temporary release.
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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 0712684484
- ISBN 13 9780712684484
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages416
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003199792
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THE SKULL MANTRA
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Century Books, London
(2000)
ISBN 10: 0712684484
ISBN 13: 9780712684484
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Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: Good+. First Thus. PB, pictorial card covers, 397pp. General rubbing, creasing to covers, which a tendency to curl lightly, insde has tanning to page edes, remainder tripes to upper edge, else square & tight. The first in the Inspector Shan series of Tibetan thrillers and won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 2000. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Seller Inventory # jen001823
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Used; Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books. Seller Inventory # 4329897
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The Skull Mantra
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Century, Australia
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Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Good. Trade Paperback. *** PUBLISHING DETAILS: Century, Australia, 2000. *** CONDITION: This book is in good condition. *** ABOUT THIS BOOK: When a headless corpse is found by a prison work gang on a windy Tibetan mountainside, veteran police inspector Shan Tao Yun might seem the perfect man to solve the crime - except that he himself is serving an indefinite sentence in the gulag for offending the Party in Beijing. So the district commander must grant him a temporary release. *** Quantity Available: 1. Category: Fiction; Crime; ISBN: 0712684484. ISBN/EAN: 9780712684484. Inventory No: 09080078. The photo of this book is of the actual book for sale. Seller Inventory # 09080078
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The Skull Mantra
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Century Books Ltd
(2000)
ISBN 10: 0712684484
ISBN 13: 9780712684484
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Book Description Paperback. The corpse is missing its head and is dressed in American clothes. Found by a Tibetan prison work gang on a windy cliff, the grisly remains clearly belong to someone too important for Chinese authorities to bury and forget. So the case is handed to veteran police inspector Shan Tao Yun. Methodical, clever Shan is the best man for the job, but he too is a prisoner, deported to Tibet for offending Beijing. Granted a temporary release, Shan is soon pulled into the Tibetan people's desperate fight for its sacred mountain and the Chinese regime's blood-soaked policies. Then, a Buddhist priest is arrested, a man Shan knows is innocent. Now time is running out for Shan to find the real killer.in an astonishing, emotionally charged story that will change the way you think about Tibet-- and freedom-- forever. "The Skull Mantra" is the winner of the 2000 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. 2000. A trade paperback copy in very good condition with an old bookseller sticker on the front wrap. Seller Inventory # 17256798
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Skull Mantra, The
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Century, London, England
(2000)
ISBN 10: 0712684484
ISBN 13: 9780712684484
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Book Description Large Softcover. Condition: Good. First UK Trade Paperback Edition. Large softcover, first UK trade paperback edition, 564gms, 397 pages. A headless corpse. A disgraced investigator. A conspiracy of silence. Book is in good condition with minor general wear and tear and moderate page discolouration/spotting throughout, otherwise no other pre-loved markings. Seller Inventory # CRIFIC72109
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