Journal Entry 1 by BellaMack from St Helens, Tasmania Australia on Thursday, December 21, 2006

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.  

Journal Entry 2 by BellaMack from St Helens, Tasmania Australia on Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Interesting story but found it a little difficult to follow at times. Probably just me having difficulty concentrating at present. Would like to read another by this author.

Reserved for planned bookbag 

Journal Entry 3 by BellaMack at Australia Post in St Helens Tasmania, You've Gotta Read This Bookbag Australia only -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Released 5 yrs ago (5/23/2007 UTC) at Australia Post in St Helens Tasmania, You've Gotta Read This Bookbag Australia only -- Controlled Releases

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Journal Entry 4 by amberC from Darwin, Northern Territory Australia on Thursday, June 14, 2007

Taken from the Bookbag. 

Journal Entry 5 by amberC from Darwin, Northern Territory Australia on Sunday, October 12, 2008

I enjoyed this. Lots of twists and turns, some were unexpected some were not quite so surprising. I enjoyed the details of life in modern China. 

Journal Entry 6 by amberC at Darwin, OZ VBB -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, December 06, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (12/6/2008 UTC) at Darwin, OZ VBB -- Controlled Releases

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CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Selected from the Oz VBB. Posting tomorrow. 

Journal Entry 7 by luckaye from Logan City, Queensland Australia on Friday, December 19, 2008

Thank you! i read the sequel (The Interior) to this book before I realised there was a first - I do hate to read books out of order, so I will be reading the 2nd book again after I finish this one :)