The Jade Buddha

It is Hong Kong in the nineteen eighties.
The British Crown Colony is on the verge of reverting to Chinese rule. Life is hectic but tentative; there are fears for the future.

The governments of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom are doing all they can to calm local nerves while at the same time pressing Beijing’s rulers to the north for assurances that the rule of law will be maintained.

Beneath the surface other forces are at work; criminal forces dating back centuries but still very much alive. There is a triad war, a war where the winner will amass great power.

Some triad gangs are opportunistic small time pimps and extortionists. Others are extremely well organised and control exceptionally high-value narcotics and other illicit business interests. And they are notoriously brutal to their enemies.

The agencies of law enforcement are involved not just in Hong Kong but across the globe. So too is Simon Garrett; unintentionally but intimately involved. Where not only his life is at stake but others who are dear to him. Their futures are being controlled by a shadowy gangster who will stop at nothing to get what he wants; a green jade Buddha of immense symbolic power.

The Shī fu.

Books Go Social Authors' Group

I have recently joined this group and find it very interesting.

TheGoodReadWipe

TheGoodReadWipe (http://amzn.to/12jKboD) – TheGoodReadWipe purports to be a brief history of LIT-TISSUE. Fred Nurk came up with the idea of printing books on toilet paper. It was a massive success – but unfortunately there was an equally massive downside to the venture. Of course it is fiction but maybe someone will try it.

The Feathers

The Feathers (http://amzn.to/199AsSM)–A serial killer known as The Feathers is terrorizing London – but not the normal serial killer (if there is such an animal). This murderer is experimenting – just how long can he control his victims, torturing them in the most unusual way, before they die? He is getting better with the feathers each time – but that does not mean he will stop. Detective Inspector David Maguire and his partner are on the trail of the killer but it is a trail that has baffled them from the start – what is the killer trying to prove? What is his aim? At the same time investigative reporter Zach Tighe is following the story closely – perhaps a little too closely – and is proving to be far from helpful.

Keepers of The Deep

Keepers of The Deep  (http://amzn.to/YzM0xg) – Nikko is happily playing in the backyard of his home when a giant bird swoops down and clasps him firmly in its talons and soars back into the sky leaving his mother desperately crying behind. And so begins an incredible adventure for Nikko in a fantastical land where the Leaf Children live in trees with magical musical leaves, where the Drongs wage wars against them, where the beautiful Gabrysia is captured, and where Nikko and his new friends must go to the Dead Place in a bid to rescue her. Keepers of The Deep is a story of wonder, of friendship, of trust.

The Catskinner

The Catskinner (http://amzn.to/15VN1Vn ) – A political event that had one of the world's most important but fragile territories facing a threat from within that could upset the balance of power around the globe. Set in Hong Kong during the time of the tense negotiations for the reversion of the territory's sovereignty from Britain to China in the 1980s, The Catskinner accurately portrays the anxiety of the people, the intrigue behind the political manoeuvrings, the vibrancy and splendour of one of the world's great cities. It is also a pulsating thriller involving a killer bent on setting in train a series of devastating events that threaten to shift the path of Hong Kong history forever, challenging regional and world security - awakening the beast in the dragon - and a newspaper reporter who stumbles on the story - and then finds himself not just reporting it but becoming a deadly part of it.

General

While my principal interest is literature I am hoping that this post will be wide ranging and open to comments on pretty well any subject that interests readers.