"Whispering Shadows" will be on sale April 15, 2014.
“Whispering
Shadows” is a novel of modern China, how the legacy of the Cultural Revolution
continues to affect those who survived its cruelty, an investigation into the
disappearance of an American businessman involved in a joint venture with a
Chinese partner, a love story and the long emotional recovery of a father who
has lost his young son to leukemia. Does
the story succeed on all levels? For me it does not. None-the-less this was a good read.
Rather
than the burgeoning romance between the protagonist and a local woman, for me the
heart of the story is the decades long friendship between expatriate German
American Paul Leibovitz, who has lived a life of solitude on Lamma Island since
the death of his son, and Zheng, a Chinese police officer in Shenzhen, a
Special Economic Zone in Guangdong Province just outside Hong Kong, who may
just be the only incorruptible police officer in China.
Sendker’s
insights into the political intrigue, corruption, and machinations of local
party members and industrial magnates in China also illustrate what few
westerners completely understand. It is clear the author has spent a great deal
of time learning about Chinese culture and his descriptions of Hong Kong, Lamma
Island, and Shenzhen are those of
someone with an intimate personal knowledge of the locales and the people who
live there. Sendker also cautions his readers that it is dangerous for a
foreigner to make the assumption that he understands the business or political
or judicial environment in China. Forced confessions still exist. And the wrong
decision in a business deal can get one killed. It happened to somebody we knew
in Kunming in 1992.
I
had the privilege of living in Hong Kong for three years and felt drawn back
into that vibrant world that I learned to love through this book. The themes
are compelling: trust, friendship, gratitude, shame, fear, hubris, empathy,
truth, and consequences. I rate this book a strong 4 out of 5 stars.
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