"What begins as a routine missing person's case becomes a complex web of deceit, danger and international intrigue in this superb mystery. On sabbatical from duties as an operative for a group known as Friends of the Family, Neal Carey, last seen in A Cool Breeze on the Underground, is visited in Yorkshire by his mentor and asked to find a brilliant, albeit lovesick scientist and convince him to get back to work. Robert Pendleton, a biochemist and...

"An epic, mesmerizing debut novel set against a rapidly changing post-Cultural Revolution China that reckons with the costs of pursuing one's dreams and the lives we leave behind"--

"Terrill's fascinating political history shows why China remains, in the words of Lucien Pye, "a civilization masquerading as a nation." Drawing on years of study and observation as well as new research, Terrill brings dynastic China to life while illuminating the remnants of the old empire that still underscore China's domestic and foreign policies. The Chinese dynastic state's blend of idealism and realism, attachment to doctrine, paternalism, and...