Why a Booktrail?
2000s: A modern look at mystery and tensions in China.
Enigma of China
What you need to know before your trail
Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is in an unusual situationa poet by training and inclination, he was assigned by the party to the Police Department after he graduated college, where he has continued to shine. Now he’s a rising cadre in the party, in line to take over the top politic position in the police department, while being one of most respected policeman in the department. Which is why he’s brought in by the Party to sign off on the investigation into the death of Zhou Keng.
Zhou Kenga trusted princeling, son of a major party memberwas head of the Shanghai Housing Development Committee when a number of his corrupt practices were exposed on the internet. Removed from his position and placed into extra-legal detention, Zhou apparently hanged himself while under guard. While the Party is anxious to have Zhou’s death declared a suicide, and for the renowned Chief Inspector Chen to sign off on that conclusion, the sequence of events don’t quite add up. Now Chen will have to decide what to do investigate the death as a possible homicide and risk angering unseen powerful people, or seek the justice that his position requires him to strive for.
Travel Guide
Shanghai
Shanghai is a unique city in this novel. A major theme is how the government security forces can often work outside of the normal jurisdiction. House arrest
A major theme is government security forces operating outside normal police jurisdiction. The victim is under a forced house arrest and detained without charge. Internal security and those that police the internet work in the background. The police are often powerless to intervene. Corruption also plays a big part in the investigation. The chain of crabs runs deep.
Another theme is the chinese people’s and government’s relationship to the internet. The main victim is the subject of a “flesh-search”. Concerned citizens conduct exhaustive online searches on the target. The intention is to expose evidence of big living and corruption amongst the elite. The investigation is also defined by regulations on identity and government censorship.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Enigma of China
Destination: Shanghai Author/Guide: Qiu Xiaolong Departure Time: 2000s
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