Emperors Once More

by Duncan Jepson Narrated by Jeremy Swift

Overview

From the author of All the Flowers in Shanghai ("strong on detail and emotional intensity"-Kirkus Reviews), Duncan Jepson, comes a new crime thriller that captures the sights and sounds of Hong Kong and propels the reader into a world of international financial intrigue.

Senior Inspector Alex Soong of the Hong Kong police is a contradictory character: a student of traditional martial arts and Chinese history, he drives an imported Mustang, loves American jazz, and is married to a beautiful, high-maintenance wife, Jun, who cannot understand why he doesn't take a more highly paid and prestigious job.

On the same day as he is drafted in to help Inspector Mike De Suza with the investigation of the motiveless murder of two Chinese Methodists in the financial district, the police are tipped off to an apparently unrelated murder in a deserted Kowloon warehouse: five people dead in a scene of horror which echoes the ritualistic killings of the Boxer Rebellion, a century before. As the first officer on the scene, Alex is shocked to be greeted by the concealed perpetrator, and invited to join him in reasserting China's global supremacy. After dismissing this and a second approach, he recruits historian Professor Elizabeth Yi to help him research the cases' parallels with the Boxer killings.

With Hong Kong about to host an economic summit between the Chinese and the faltering G8 powers who are massively in debt to them--the same Western powers who allied successfully against China in the days of the Boxers--the stage is set for an explosive rewriting of history. When Alex will not join the shadowy conspirators seeking to manipulate public opinion against the West, they seize his wife and the professor. He is forced to run a desperate race against time that will lead him into the pitiless heart of the ancient conspiracy, and pit him against the final ruthless stage of its campaign to alter the balance of power between East and West forever.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

04/06/2015
In this uneven near-future thriller set in Hong Kong, Jepson (All the Flowers in Shanghai) depicts a China in flux, torn between its past humiliations at the hands of the West and its powerful present. Senior Insp. Alex Soong and his partner, Michael De Suza, investigate the sniper murders of two Methodist ministers near Citibank Tower. Later, the killing of a real estate agent in an unoccupied warehouse brings Soong to a bizarre scene where several mutilated bodies and many dead ravens are found in a storage container. At the warehouse, a disembodied voice addresses Soong by name and delivers a diatribe against the West. The voice, presumably the killer’s, also suggests that Soong join him in his quest to combat Western influence. Meanwhile, Soong must contend with his unsupportive wife, Jun, and antagonistic Senior Inspector Ying, who doesn’t share his conviction that the two cases are linked. The personal connections deepen as the killer’s grandiose plans threaten world stability, and only Soong may be able to stop him. Jepson’s informed take on Chinese history lends weight to this otherwise forgettable crime novel. (May)

From the Publisher

"A compelling read both in terms of the pull of the narrative and enticing the reader into empathizing with the central characters... one of the Jepson's greatest strengths is the way in which he manages to write about the ferocity of the violence with a restraint that can be missing in other crime fiction writers.."—Crimepieces

"Jepson's careful equanimity and his graceful and thoughtful presentation of both Western and Eastern history and culture are some of the main elements that make the novel so compelling."—Ying Lo, Time Out (Hong Kong)

"A high-octane mystery... an ambitious and high-minded thriller that challenges the reader to consider the impact of the past on the West's future relationship with China."—David Bartram, South China Morning Post

"Delves into a world of existential discontent to great effect . . . Jepson has consolidated his reputation as one of the region's most exciting writing talents."—The Star

"Entertaining . . . The novel, though a page-turner at heart, takes on a much bigger subject than the classic whodunit. The plot forces the characters to ask how it's possible to acknowledge the past without being burdened by it and illustrates how a misinterpretation of history can be lethal."—Asian Review of Books

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170350506
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	04/05/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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