Last Days in Shanghai: A Novel
Luke Slade, a young Congressional aide, begins this business trip to China like all other international travel he's endured with "Leo the Lyin'": buried under a slew of diplomatic runarounds, non–functioning cell phones, and humiliation from the Congressman at every turn. But on their first night in Beijing, their trip is plunged into a deeper chaos: Leo goes on a drunken bender and disappears into the night. Unsure what dubious business his boss had planned, Luke must piece together the Congressman's lies while maintaining appearances with their Chinese contacts.



Amidst the confusion, a little bleary from jet lag and alcohol, Luke receives a briefcase full of money from the mayor of a provincial Chinese city. Luke accepts the "gift," but when he later reconsiders and wants to return the cash, he discovers even more anxiety–inducing news. There's been a mysterious death, and he appears to be under surveillance by Chinese police.



As Luke tries to navigate a complex minefield of corruption, he must also confront his own role in the events. Unwitting marionette? Fall guy? Or perhaps someone more capable of moral compromise than he would have liked to believe? Last Days in Shanghai is an unforgettable debut by a writer to watch. It's both a hold–on–to–your–seat thriller and a pitch–perfect exploration of present day China—the country's rapacious capitalism, the shocking boom of its cities and the wholesale eradication of its traditions.
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Last Days in Shanghai: A Novel
Luke Slade, a young Congressional aide, begins this business trip to China like all other international travel he's endured with "Leo the Lyin'": buried under a slew of diplomatic runarounds, non–functioning cell phones, and humiliation from the Congressman at every turn. But on their first night in Beijing, their trip is plunged into a deeper chaos: Leo goes on a drunken bender and disappears into the night. Unsure what dubious business his boss had planned, Luke must piece together the Congressman's lies while maintaining appearances with their Chinese contacts.



Amidst the confusion, a little bleary from jet lag and alcohol, Luke receives a briefcase full of money from the mayor of a provincial Chinese city. Luke accepts the "gift," but when he later reconsiders and wants to return the cash, he discovers even more anxiety–inducing news. There's been a mysterious death, and he appears to be under surveillance by Chinese police.



As Luke tries to navigate a complex minefield of corruption, he must also confront his own role in the events. Unwitting marionette? Fall guy? Or perhaps someone more capable of moral compromise than he would have liked to believe? Last Days in Shanghai is an unforgettable debut by a writer to watch. It's both a hold–on–to–your–seat thriller and a pitch–perfect exploration of present day China—the country's rapacious capitalism, the shocking boom of its cities and the wholesale eradication of its traditions.
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Last Days in Shanghai: A Novel

Last Days in Shanghai: A Novel

by Casey Walker
Last Days in Shanghai: A Novel

Last Days in Shanghai: A Novel

by Casey Walker

Paperback(Reprint)

$16.95 
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Overview

Luke Slade, a young Congressional aide, begins this business trip to China like all other international travel he's endured with "Leo the Lyin'": buried under a slew of diplomatic runarounds, non–functioning cell phones, and humiliation from the Congressman at every turn. But on their first night in Beijing, their trip is plunged into a deeper chaos: Leo goes on a drunken bender and disappears into the night. Unsure what dubious business his boss had planned, Luke must piece together the Congressman's lies while maintaining appearances with their Chinese contacts.



Amidst the confusion, a little bleary from jet lag and alcohol, Luke receives a briefcase full of money from the mayor of a provincial Chinese city. Luke accepts the "gift," but when he later reconsiders and wants to return the cash, he discovers even more anxiety–inducing news. There's been a mysterious death, and he appears to be under surveillance by Chinese police.



As Luke tries to navigate a complex minefield of corruption, he must also confront his own role in the events. Unwitting marionette? Fall guy? Or perhaps someone more capable of moral compromise than he would have liked to believe? Last Days in Shanghai is an unforgettable debut by a writer to watch. It's both a hold–on–to–your–seat thriller and a pitch–perfect exploration of present day China—the country's rapacious capitalism, the shocking boom of its cities and the wholesale eradication of its traditions.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781619025905
Publisher: Catapult
Publication date: 11/10/2015
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 240
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Casey Walker is a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop and has a PhD in English Literature from Princeton University. His writing has appeared in The Believer, Boston Review, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, novelist Karen Thompson Walker.

Read an Excerpt

We flew business class for nearly a day on a packed and pork-smelling China Eastern Airlines jet, chasing back the sunset. Ambien and all the in-flight Harry Potter movies, my companions. When I fell asleep, I was pursued by wizards and schoolchildren with the powers of the devil. Strange how much of life you spend wishing it would only pass, faster, even faster.
Our driver from the Beijing airport wore white gloves and a bellhop’s cap. A drifting April haze gave the city a gray tint, with dark and shapeless buildings that blurred out on the horizon even as we approached them. My first city view was from our Buick, at a stoplight: fifteen construction cranes strapped to naked three-quarter buildings, many of which looked too tall already to support themselves. I followed one up as far as I could see until the smog and sunshine swallowed it.
“See it, Luke?” my boss said, pointing. “The national bird of China.”
“What’s that?” I said.
“The construction crane,” he said.
I’d heard him try this joke around the office before we’d left. I’d heard all his bits. I made a laugh anyway. Congressman Leonard Fillmore— Republican, California, 51st district; self-styled Asia hand, now embarked on his first visit to mainland China. He was a presidential hopeful with a familial claim to the office: Leo Fillmore was a distant relation of the thirteenth President of the United States, one of the least distinguished in our history. Nearing sixty, Leo looked to me much older, probably from carrying twice his body weight in grudge and grievance. To his friends he was sometimes known as ‘Leo the Lion.’ But the nickname had spread far and wide among his enemies, too—you could hear it whispered up and down the Rayburn building corridors: ‘Leo the Lyin.’

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