The Last Six Million Seconds (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) - Softcover

Burdett, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0307745295 ISBN 13: 9780307745293

Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2012

Synopsis

It is April 1997, and all of Hong Kong is counting down to July 1, when Britain will hand over rule of the country to China. Public anxiety about the transfer of power is running high, but "Charlie" Chan Siu-kai's biggest concern is a gruesome triple murder case, with no solid leads. Chan, a half-Chinese, half-Irish Hong Kong native and chief inspector with the Royal Hong Kong police, thinks he's found a breakthrough when three mutilated heads are found floating in Chinese waters. But he grows increasingly frustrated as the Chinese police actively hinder--and the English bureaucrats pointedly ignore--his investigation. As Chan tracks the killers, he discovers cover-ups and conspiracies running deeper than even he had imagined. All the while, in the background, the clock ticks down to the day the British leave . . .

About this title

Review:

"[A] fine and subtle thriller. . . . Intense and timely." --Chicago Tribune

"John Burdett is purely and simply a wonderful writer." --The Washington Post Book World

"Capture[s] the verve and excitement of Hong Kong in its heyday." --Boston Herald

"Enthralling." --Publishers Weekly

"John Burdett's crime novels . . . are lovely and complex. . . . The reader is transported to a foreign world made familiar through the voice of his guide." --The Denver Post

"Burdett's fever-dream mysteries recast the police procedural as psychedelic peep show." --The New Yorker

"You might find yourself addicted to Burdett's sizzling prose." --San Antonio Express News

"John Burdett is writing the most exciting set of crime novels in the world." --The Oregonian

"Time and again, John Burdett breaks the crime-thriller mold. And then reassembles it, piece by piece. His narrative becomes more than the sum of its parts. . . . Thoroughly enjoyable." --New York Journal of Books

From the Back Cover:

In shops throughout Hong Kong, clocks are ticking down the seconds before control passes from the British back to the Chinese on June 30, 1997. In his explosive new thriller, John Burdett captures the excitement and unease felt throughout the world on the eve of the changeover. When Royal Hong Kong Police Chief Inspector Chan Siu-Kai ("Charlie") is called to the harbor at the South China Sea, he discovers three heads floating in the water. The rest of the remains are found at the bottom of a commercial meat grinder in an abandoned warehouse. Confronted with a case of triple homicide, Chan has to find out why the coast guard and an outside agency are opposed to his investigation. Chan, a determined policeman who is half Chinese, half Irish, goes in search of the killer and the truth behind the British government's attempts at a cover-up.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0307745295
• ISBN 13: 9780307745293
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400