Flower Net - Hardcover

See, Lisa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060175273 ISBN 13: 9780060175276

Publisher: Harpercollins, 1997

Synopsis

In the depths of a Beijing winter, during the waning days of Deng Xiaoping's reign, the U.S. ambassador's son is found dead - his body entombed in a frozen lake. Almost simultaneously, American officials find a ship adrift in the storm-churned waters off Southern California. No one is surprised to find the fetid hold crammed with hundreds of undocumented Chinese immigrants - the latest cargo in the Chinese mafia's burgeoning smuggling trade. What does surprise Assistant U.S. Attorney David Stark is his discovery that among the hapless refugees lies the corpse of a Red Prince, a scion of China's political elite.
The Chinese and American governments suspect that the deaths are connected, and in an unprecedented move they join forces to solve this cross-cultural crime. Stark heads for Beijing to team up with police detective Liu Hulan, whose unorthodox methods are tolerated only because of her spectacular investigative abilities. Their investigation carries them (and the reader) into virtually every corner of today's China - from its glitzy karaoke bars, where the nation's new elite cuts deals, to the labyrinthine hutongs, where ordinary Beijingers have lived and died for centuries.
Stark and Liu's search leads them from the Chinese capital to Los Angeles's thriving Asian community and turns up a bloodthirsty murderer at the very apex of China's power structure. Their work together also ignites their passion for each other - a passion forbidden by their respective governments and one that plays right into the hands of a serial killer.

About this title

Review

Trade relations between the U.S. and China might be tense right now, but when it comes to solving a double murder, things have never been better. In Lisa See's transpacific thriller, The Flower Net, Liu Hulan, an inspector for the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing teams up with her American counterpart and former lover, David Stark, to get to the bottom of two unusual deaths. The American ambassador's son has been found frozen in a lake just outside the Forbidden City; meanwhile, the corpse of a prominent Chinese businessman's son is found floating in a boat off the California coast. It's up to Hulan and David to unravel the tangled skein of circumstance that connects the two murders. Though David Stark may come off a tad stereotypical, Liu Hulan is a fascinating character--a woman who embodies both East and West and who has learned to keep her thoughts to herself as she navigates the treacherous waters of Chinese politics. And See's evocation of Beijing, right down to its old neighbourhoods and the smell in the air, is an added delight, making The Flower Net an exotic distraction for a wintry afternoon.

Review

"This debut thriller is a standout....Complex and exciting....Cleverly confounds readers' expectations". -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Moving smoothly from "On Gold Mountain, the priased memoir of her Chinese-American family, See appleis her knowledge of Chinese customs and traditions to a complex and exciting novel...The fascinating picture of China's political heritage and complex social culture makes this debut thriller a standout."-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)

""Flower Net proclaims See's considerable talents as novelist, skillfully blending suspenseful storytelling, romantic intrigue, and stirring plot twists...[She] vividly render[s] the turmoil of China's recent history and the paradoxes of contemporary life there. This formidable portrayal of China's culture and the country's harsh system of justice constitutes a striking backdrop for See's compelling tale."-- "Booklist

""Flower Net is a lively, exciting page-turner, full of creative twists and unexpected turns. It leads the reader into a mysterious Chinese alchemy that is strange and fresh and highly entertaining."-- Sheryl WuDunn, author of "China Wakes

Edition details

• Publisher: Harpercollins
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060175273
• ISBN 13: 9780060175276
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 333