This fabulous debut spy novel is by a BBC reporter who we have seen compared to John LeCarre. The setting is China about a decade ago, and the novel features Li Huasheng, who escapes from a labor camp after twenty years of re-training and imprisonment. Before he was sent away, he had been providing classified data to the British by running a small group of unhappy scientists at different government labs. He figures his only way out is to restart that process, and he does. Thus, we are led on a detailed tour of modern, urban, gritty Beijing and the challenges of spying in a police state. Like LeCarre, the author takes his time and thoroughly and thoughtfully explores the depths of intelligence and counter-intelligence work. However, he never quite loses you in the details. I've already downloaded the next two the author has written.
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