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Paranoia and PTSD in the PRC.
Soho Press, 2010, 368 pages
( Mom's Jesus-emails were my favorite parts. )
Verdict: This was a much better and more entertaining book than I expected, with a very human, believable, and likeable-despite-her-damage protagonist. I would not mind seeing more of Ellie Cooper, and Lisa Brackman has gone on my authors-to-look-out-for list. She hasn't yet convinced me she's awesomesauce that I want to read everything by, but her first book made a favorable impression and compared to some considerably less impressive debut novels I've read recently, I think this one deserves more buzz.
Soho Press, 2010, 368 pages
American Iraq War veteran Ellie Cooper is down and out in Beijing when a chance encounter with a Uighura member of a Chinese Muslim minority at the home of her sort-of boyfriend Lao Zhang turns her life upside down. Lao Zhang disappears, and suddenly multiple security organizations are hounding her for information. They say the Uighur is a terrorist. Ellie doesn't know whats going on, but she must decide whom to trust among the artists, dealers, collectors, and operatives claiming to be on her side - in particular, a mysterious organization operating within a popular online role-playing game. As she tries to elude her pursuers, shes haunted by memories of Iraq. Is what she did and saw there at the root of the mess she's in now?
( Mom's Jesus-emails were my favorite parts. )
Verdict: This was a much better and more entertaining book than I expected, with a very human, believable, and likeable-despite-her-damage protagonist. I would not mind seeing more of Ellie Cooper, and Lisa Brackman has gone on my authors-to-look-out-for list. She hasn't yet convinced me she's awesomesauce that I want to read everything by, but her first book made a favorable impression and compared to some considerably less impressive debut novels I've read recently, I think this one deserves more buzz.
