The Borrowed

Retired Superintendent of the Hong Kong Police Kwan Chun-Dok is dying, but before he shuffles off this mortal coil there’s one more case that he can help solve.

Nicknamed ‘Genius Detective’, the central character leads us through six cases, spanning nearly fifty years that feature a murder in a well-known family, the head of one of the Triads, escaping prisoners, police corruption, kidnap and political unrest. All set against a Hong Kong that’s been stripped bare. Not a Photoshopped, airbrushed and soft-focussed version, but one cast in a harsh and revealing ‘warts and all’ light. This work is filled with and array of exciting, vibrant, colourful, greedy, violent, intricate and sleazy tales.

The author transports you through this complex, nuanced and multi-faceted world with skill, intimate knowledge and verve.

As we’re drawn into ‘Uncle Dok’s’ world, we see him held in awe by his colleagues as a revered and skilled investigator with the ability to see through the curtain of lies to the heart of the criminal’s intent. Subterfuge and misdirection are meat and drink to him and he’s not above using these same weapons against the criminals to disguise his own intent; whilst all the time peeling back the layers of deception to reveal the wrong-doer[s], and their intent.

You have to pay attention as every gesture and word has significance, and where there are few honourable men, but much tradition. In the face of insatiable ambition and moral ambiguity, ‘Uncle Dok’ guides the reader and his fellow officers with dexterity, cunning and generosity of spirit. More please.