NO EXIT
Wanted on corruption charges in China, and forced to hustle a living in London’s Mah Jong dens, life is tough for Inspector Jian and his daughter Weiwei. But it grows bleaker still when a triad gang blackmails Jian into tracking down an unlikely young robber.
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Jian and Weiwei scramble between London's grimiest bedsits and its swankiest penthouses as they penetrate the glittering world of 'princelings' – the rich children of the Chinese elite.
Locked in a desperate struggle, with no way out in sight, it will take all their wiles and some lucky gambles to come out alive.
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'Very well written and paced. Deserves purchase. My book of the Month.' The Critic Magazine, Jan 26
‘A visceral, fast-paced read, laced with tension on every page.’ Ivy Ngeow, author of In Safe Hands
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'A page turning thriller that moves at a feverish pace.' Lily Samson, author of The Switch
The long overdue sequel to Bad Traffic. Timely and worthwhile though, in my opinion. China, and refection on the Chinese experience, continues to be woefully missing in western literature, there's almost nothing. But China is really important; for a start, it is battling to be global top-dog (and will probably win). Culture types (as well as everyone else) should pay more attention. f course a Chinese writer would be much better placed to write all this kind of stuff than me - but writers based in China are severely censored.
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As for the story, it started with the observation that in London the richest and the poorest people are often Chinese. So I constructed a story that in good crime noir style would take in those two extremes, while trying to look at my home city with alien eyes. I worked in princelings, the Tigers and Flies campaign, 'white gloves', the overseas Chinese experience and as much as I could research about triad gangs and Mah Jong dens. As usual I wanted to write something propulsive that takes place over a short time frame. I don't even want my characters to go to sleep, to give them even that much respite. They should be fighting for their lives at every turn.
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