An Iraq veteran in Beijing finds herself in danger as shadowy enemies, both online and off, abound in this “electrifying thriller” (Publishers Weekly). Iraq vet Ellie McEnroe, injured in combat and recently divorced, is lying low in Beijing. After two years living in China on a semi-expired visa, she’s acquired decent language skills, a sometimes boyfriend, and the hope that someday she can … that someday she can forget what she saw in battle—horrors that haunt her every time she closes her eyes. She’s a stranger in a strange land, her wounded leg is killing her, and her neighbor keeps threatening to report her to the Public Security Bureau, but she’s hanging in there. For now.
Then a chance connection with an Uighur man—a Chinese Muslim minority—plunges her into a world of mysterious government operatives, art dealers, and a dark organization operating in the shadows of a popular online game. When her lover—the artist Lao Zhang—disappears, Ellie needs to figure out who she can trust, and fast. Because the trauma of her past may pale in comparison to the danger she now faces. This taut, gritty thriller brings the complexities of modern urban China visceral life.
“Few writers would be up to the challenge of blending the worlds of urban China, Iraq, and a virtual online kingdom—but Lisa Brackmann wildly succeeds. Prepare to taste the smog, smell the noodles, and rub the Beijing dust between your fingers.” —Eliot Pattison, Edgar Award–winning author of The Skull Mantra
more
A lot of thrillers use exotic locales for their setting. The best of these manage to make the setting part of the story; many simply use it as backdrop. A few wouldn’t work at all if the action moved to another place. Rock Paper Tiger is one of these.
Look up “hot mess” on Wikipedia and you’ll get a picture of Ellie McEnroe, our protagonist (it’s …
Terrific book…the first I’ve read in a long time that kept me up late turning pages.
Brackmann has a lot to say about the perfidy of those in power everywhere who join forces and will stop at nothing to maintain power, about the nasty little deals that governments/corporations/the very rich make with each other, and how their deals affect the …