It doesn’t matter that Lee Carruthers has resigned from the CIA; she still can’t resist her former boss, Sidney Worthington, when he calls. He wants to know why Hong Kong antique dealer Henry Wong hasn’t reported in weeks. When she gets to his shop, she sees Henry being carried away by Triad thugs. Triads deal in drugs, protection, human trafficking. What do they want with Henry Wong?She follows … Wong?
She follows the clues, even if it means being in the middle of a stampede of democracy demonstrators, a dangerous walled city belonging to a Triad, or a tricky love triangle. Why is she doing all this for Sidney? One day Sidney Worthington is going to get her killed.
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Have you ever wanted to explore the murkier side of a city? In “Hong Kong Central” I had the impression I was in Hong Kong, with its flashing neons, rain-shiny streets, and tiny, hidden shops. The East and West collide in Hong Kong – English, Chinese, and an ex-CIA agent, Lee Carruthers make up this fast-paced mystery. And a mystery it is! Lee, whose former job entailed tracing criminal money, is asked by her old CIA boss to check on a friend in Hong Kong. But Lee arrives just in time to see him being hustled away by two men. She tries to tail the group, but loses them. Then she discovers he’s being held by a Triad. The case turns personal when she finds out that there is connection to her late father. More disappearances follow – and murder. The story has many twists and turns, and held this reader’s attention. From what I understand, this is part of a series, and I’m looking forward to reading the next ones. If you like local atmosphere and murder mysteries, give this a try!
Lee Carruthers is an ex-CIA agent, but she still does jobs for her beloved, respected and coercive former boss Sidney Worthington. He sends her to Hong Kong to find a vendor of expensive Chinese antiques, Henry Wong. Lee lands immediately into suspenseful action when she finds the antique man Wong who is at that very moment being abducted by triad gangsters. This launches Lee into a maelstrom of mystery, suspense and ever-present danger involving the gangsters, possibly smuggled precious artifacts from early Chinese dynasties, possibly counterfeited currency, more missing and murdered Hong Kongers, corrupt officials, a tangled web from the past involving four U.S. agents who worked together in the Vietnam era, and Lee’s former (and current) lover.
Yes, this is an action-packed, engaging, and intensely suspenseful mystery. But the really unique aspect of this book is Hong Kong itself which has an almost character-like quality. We get to know the city, from the Central business district to Kowloon across the harbor to a tiny village in the New Territories. It is quite clear that Larew knows Hong Kong, its politics and culture, its dark side as well as its beauty, and the looming presence of mainland China.
I’m something of a Chinese history geek. I’ve lived in PRChina and visited Hong Kong many times. It’s quite clear that Larew has done a lot of research, and she knows well what she’s writing about. Reading _Hong Kong Central_ made me so very much want to visit again the always beautiful, and sometimes menacing, city of Hong Kong.
—4.5 Stars—
This book was such an intriguing, exciting, suspenseful, mysterious, adventurous, and thrilling read!
This book is about an ex-CIA agent, Lee Carruthers, who is finally on some much-needed R&R after some close calls on her last mission, when she hears from her former boss, Sidney Worthington. Lee can never turn a job down, especially when it’s Sidney asking. Besides, according to Sidney it’s supposed to be an easy, but urgent job – just check in on a source and friend. Sidney hadn’t heard from him in two months, which is quite concerning since he normally hears from him weekly as he has for the past twenty years. So, Lee agrees to fly to Hong Kong and to check-in on Henry Wong, the antiques dealer of Wong Antiques. She arrives just in time to see him being taken by the triad. Lee acts fast to try to save Henry, but ultimately loses them in the chase. Now knowing that Henry is truly in danger Lee is on the case to save Henry and find out what he is mixed up in. This “simple” case becomes anything but that when Lee accidentally gets caught up with the pro-democracy demonstrators, the Chinese Government gets involved, more disappearances and murder occur, Lee’s ex-lover turns up, Lee learns that this case has a connection to her father, and so much more, but Lee is determined at all costs to get to the bottom of it, find her answers and solve the case.
This book has an excellent storyline that flows, terrific writing style with detailed scenes, fantastic characters, is fast paced, and keeps you completely entertained through the last page.
This book has exceptional mystery crime solving structure with enough clues and excitement to keep you guessing, but still practical and realistic.
I really liked the main character, Lee. She is confident, sassy, tough, intelligent – a total badass! I love books with strong female leads and Lee is exactly that! She is likable, genuine, and someone you can’t stop rooting for. I felt instantly invested in her outcome and enjoyed solving the case alongside her.
I love how this author included historical, cultural, and custom references in her writings as this gives the book that little extra something! I honestly do not know much about Hong Kong, besides what I’ve seen in the Jason Bourne movies and on America’s Next Top Model episodes lol. However, this author provided so much detail and such beautiful descriptions, I felt like I was on the streets of Hong Kong.
Also, the author mentioned interesting facts about Hong Kong such as their anti-noise ordinance. I had no idea that was such a big deal there. But I Googled it and there are dozens of articles about how they are trying to handle this “out of control issue” with things like noise mapping. It said that there were 43,939 noise complaints in 2016 with a city population of 7.2 million people. The articles talked about how these noise issues are leading to health issues related to sleep deprivation and headaches, etc. Very interesting!
It’s clear that the author is well versed in all things related to Southeast Asia and government business including CIA practices and brings it down to a level that can easily be understood and enjoyed by all readers.
There are some exciting twists and turns and unexpected moments that will keep you guessing!
This book has so much to offer the reader, such as, action, mystery, suspense, excitement, intrigue, adrenaline, drama, love, romance, friendship, and so much more!
This book is the third book in the Lee Carruthers Book Series. I had not read the first book before reading this book. I did not get lost or confused, so this book can be read as a standalone. However, there are many references to the previous book and the characters seem to overlap. Since I truly liked this book, I would suggest getting in from the beginning and starting with book one, so you don’t miss anything.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, exciting, intriguing, thrilling, suspenseful, adventurous, mystery book.
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**
Because of the intense opening chase scene in this book, it took me a while to realize that the main character was a female rather than a male. This might seem like a criticism, but it isn’t. As I said, the opening of the book was so action-packed that I might have missed a nuance or hint because I was reading so fast.
Nonetheless, I caught up eventually and realized this is a good book about a retired CIA agent named Lee Carruthers, a female Lee Carruthers. Retired or not, Lee continues to get called for assignments by her handler, Sydney. This time she ends up in Hong Kong. Sydney has asked her to look for a contact that has stopped checking in; an antiques dealer. Lee begins to realize that there is more to the story than she was told and finds that the antiques dealer’s mother was a friend of a lot of people back in the Vietnam War. I say “friend”, but it would be more clear to say it like it is. She, Jenny, sort of slept around. So, who slept with Jenny, Lee’s dad? His buddies? Sydney? Her female friend? Almost everyone? Lee’s not sure if she’s looking for a friend or a half-brother?
This was an easy read with good strong characters. There were even a few so well-defined that I had a picture in my mind of what each one looked like. It was vivid, like the chase scene at the beginning of the book. I will say, I thought she sure looked for the contact, Henry Wong, and worried about the Triad an awfully long time in this book. It did seem to slump a little in the middle. But I enjoyed the story and I sure didn’t regret reading it.
This is Book 3 in a series titled Lee Carruthers series. All have good reviews. Check them out.
***This book was provided to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are definitely my own.