Apricot's Revenge
A Crime Novel
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Apricot’s Revenge is an absorbing detective novel and more. Song Ying uses an ingenious plot to investigate social problems in modern China, which makes the book a profound and captivating read, leaving readers thinking long after reaching the last page.
A business tycoon in China is found dead; he apparently suffered a heart attack while swimming. His body is washed onto a beach in a popular resort known as the Hawaii of the East. But soon it becomes clear that he was murdered. Three immediate beneficiaries of his death become the suspects: the vice president of the company, Zhou, who is in line to take over his position; his young widow, Zhu, who stands to inherit a huge amount of wealth; and his arch business rival, Hong, who is competing in a bid over a piece of hot property.
Nie Feng, a young investigative reporter for a magazine, interviewed the victim just a few days before he died. Through his own research, Nie Feng discovers a new suspect who is not on the police’s radar.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chinese author Song's meandering U.S. debut follows Chengdu journalist Nie Feng and the Public Security Bureau's Y District Criminal Division as they investigate the suspicious deaths of Shenzen realty magnate Hu Guohao and his old friend and rival, Hong Yiming. At the novel's core lies a poignant revenge tale forged in the fires of China's Cultural Revolution, but while Song writes eloquently about the plight of Chengdu's zhiqing urban teens separated from their families, relocated to the rural Yunnan border, and forced into manual labor he dedicates too few pages to this aspect of the plot. The police's ineptitude strains credulity, as do Nie's investigative insight and influence, and the characters lack depth. Excessive exposition, frequent digressions, and a dearth of action coupled with a relatively artless translation sap drama and throttle the pace. The howdunit portion of the mystery intrigues, but Song's solution is absurd and leans too heavily on coincidence to satisfy.
