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Sun Piao #1

Dragon's Eye

andy oakes

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Shanghai, The People's Republic of China. Eight bodies chained together and horribly mutilated are found in the mud of the Huangpu River. Sun Piao, a Senior Investigator with the Homicide Squad of the PSB, has drawn the short straw . . . the case stinks of Party and Security Service involvement. Wu, the Chief Medical Examiner, refuses to carry out the autopsies. No hospital will take the bodies in. And Comrade Officer Liping, Piao's head of department, knows things about the murders that he should not know. Piao should dump the case, he knows it; but to walk away from another politically difficult case goes against the grain. He has had to walk away from too many things, too many times. Privileged Shanghai society, the labyrinthine political system, the lowest depths of China's criminal world and its repressive penal institutions . . . Piao's quest brings him into intimate contact with all layers of Chinese society as he unravels its secrets.

460 pages, Paperback

First published November 1,2003
Series
Sun Piao

This edition

Format
460 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 2005 by Pan Macmillan
ISBN
9780330431965
ASIN
033043196X
Language
English

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About the author

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andy oakes

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 12 votes)
5 stars
5(42%)
4 stars
3(25%)
3 stars
4(33%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
12 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
yonellow
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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La verdad es que he dudado mucho entre las 3 o 4 estrellas. Es una buena novela policíaca ambientada en China sobre la investigación de 8 cuerpos encontrados en el río. Lo bueno, y al mismo tiempo lo malo, son las extensas descripciones que realiza el autor. Lo bueno de ellas, es que en algunos momentos consigue situarnos en un mundo tan distinto como China o te introduce en un callejón maloliente de forma muy eficaz. Lo malo de las descripciones, es que en algunas escenas de acción ralentizan demasiado la historia, llegando a aburrir o perder el hilo de la "escena" de acción.
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NMAis4losers
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Por calidad supongo que sería un 2 y medio, pero por gusto personal quedaría en 1 y medio, así que...

Se me ha hecho bastante cuesta arriba esta novela negra ambientada en la República Popular China, con un trasfondo de sangre, vómito y mierda; de mezquindad y corrupción. Ciertamente, un retrato nada halagüeño del país y la época... que no tengo del todo claro cuál es, pero no muy lejana. Un estilo peculiar el del autor, original aunque con ciertos parecidos al de David Peace.
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madkat9
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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n  n

I laud Andy Oakes's valiant effort to drag a realistic rendition of Shanghai and modern China onto the printed page and house it in a classic "noir" binding. A *bow* for his ambition.

Yet what begins, as others have noted, with a promising scene of eight chained cadavers pulled from a river vanishes in a flurry of stylistic flourishes that detract from the tale...

I suggest a read, simply to savour the mesmerising palette of smells - yes smells - that the author evokes. Few writers focus on smell; most paint with visuals swirls and auditory dabs from their imagined world, and although it is startling at times, it gives a sense of the author's imagination.

I recommend reading Dragon's Eye, but at over 400 hundred pages it is a trip for the hardier voyager.

#BookReview #Authors





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felipefelix
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Quite clichéd (but maybe this is a trait of the genre) and about 200 pages too long. This is not a bad story - just long-winded and with unnecessary 'plot twists' added.
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chicthicko
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Auteur britannique, psychologue, ayant séjourné en Chine durant plusieurs années, Andy Oakes a écrit un premier roman intriguant, pas facile d’approche et d’un noir profond.

Le coeur du dragon nous amène dans la Chine moderne du XXIe siècle à Shanghaï, la ville moderne aux gratte-ciel capitalistes mais aussi la ville des années 30, des années troubles.

L’intrigue paraît simple mais les apparences sont trompeuses et très dangereuses. Surveillance, suspicion, paranoïa se disputent la place dans ce thriller. 8 corps sont repêchés du fleuve, enchaînés, mutilés. L’inspecteur principal Piao rencontre dès le début des obstacles politiques et ses collaborateurs tombent comme des mouches au combat. Deux occidentaux dans le lot, dont le fils d’une haut fonctionnaire américain qui veut la vérité.

Un récit explosif mais qui est lent à accrocher le lecteur. Une certaine lourdeur dans le style ou la traduction font que ce premier roman demande un effort de persévérance mais qui est récompensé à la fin.
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ReinKitamura
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Ein Krimi, der in der Volksrepublik China spielt... Das fand ich schon einmal interessant. Die Geschichte startet recht langsam steigert sich dann aber enorm. Die letzten 300 Seiten habe ich praktisch am Stück gelesen.
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