Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Ghost Shift - by John Gapper - Espionage in China

4 of 5 Stars     Review copy

John Gapper's new novel, Ghost Shift, is a compelling corporate thriller set in modern day China.  Considering John lives in London and is an associate editor and business columnist for the Financial Times you might think that's quite the jump, but as John explains in the acknowledgements, he is no stranger to China.  He's been fascinated by the country for some twenty years and has received a lot of help in researching this story.

Ghost Shift is a complex tale, set in an unfamiliar world and as such was a challenging read for me, but one that was worth the effort.  I found the descriptions of the country and life of the worker in China to be both rich and satisfying and the story of Song Mei and what happens after the discovery in the swamp to be believable right to the very last twist.

This wasn't just a body in a field.  The corpse's shape was hers--same length, same curves.  Then she knew, and everything else receded to nothingness.  All she could see was a woman with the same nose, the same eyes, and the same face.

Her twin.

True, I'm a horror fan, through and through, but every now and again it's nice to step outside of one's comfort zone.  This was one of those side trips and I'm very glad I got to read it.

Ghost Shift  is available for pre-order in both hardcopy and ebook formats.  Look for it to be released on January 20th, 2015, from Ballantine Books, a division of Random House Publishers.

Recommended.

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