Hong Kong, China - Softcover

Arnote, Ralph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812542894 ISBN 13: 9780812542899

Publisher: Tor Books, 1997

Synopsis

Four people among the teeming masses of the "Jewel of Asia" confront the destiny of a frightening and dangerous historic change, the reclaiming of Hong Kong by China in 1997, in a story of love, greed, and revenge. Reprint.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Arnote, an old paperback mystery hand, debuts in hardcover with a trashy and rather tedious tale of Hong Kong on the eve of its reversion to China. Luscious Lacy Locke, senior VP at a Wall Street investment bank where she specializes in Pacific Basin markets, decides to gauge for herself what risks (political or otherwise) might be involved in the Communist mainland's imminent takeover of the Crown Colony. Once she's in the bustling Far East city, Lacy (whose marriage to a philandering TV newscaster is near the breaking point) meets with Claude Van Hooten, an entrepreneurial Dutchman who, with more than a little help from his live-in lover Moia Hsu, has built a very successful fashion-apparel enterprise that could be taken public. The daughter of an influential government official, Beijing-born Moia has considerable clout with the Red regime, owing to her skills in economic development. She has at least one enemy as well, the unsavory Liu Wing (a general in the People's Liberation Army) who loved and lost her. From her base at the Mandarin Hotel, Lacy also renews acquaintances with Brandon Poole, a billionaire Brit whose fortune grew with Hong Kong's emergence as an Asian outpost of unfettered capitalism. In point of fact, she spends appreciably more time with Brandon on the social circuit than in taking care of her employer's business, and as the handsome hardbodies frolic together, the insanely jealous PLA commander takes it upon himself to firebomb one of Claude's factories. A take-charge kind of guy, Brandon dispatches the general and prevails upon Lacy (who gives her husband his walking papers via phone) to consider bearing him an heir, while Claude weds the pregnant Moia. At the close, all sail off aboard a comfortably appointed vessel from Brandon's fleet, hedging their bets on Hong Kong's uncertain future. Given the inane plotting and witless dialogue (``Good company and a fine breakfast have totally cured my jet lag''), many readers may ask: Where is James Clavell now that we need him? -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

What will happen in Hong Kong when, on July 1, 1997, after 150 years of British rule, the People's Republic of China assumes control of the Crown Colony? That's the question energizing Arnote's new novel, a stylish if evanescent financial thriller that's his first hardcover after several paperback mysteries (Evil's Fancy, etc.). Arnote explores the impending odd-couple marriage of communism and capitalism through a large cast of characters. Davy Wong, young activist hero of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, is provided refuge in the island-city from evil Gen. Liu Wing of the People's Liberation Army by world-famous mega-billionaire Brandon Poole, scion of a legendary British line of Hong Kong entrepreneurs. Elsewhere in Hong Kong, New York financial analyst Lacy Locke, who has come to Asia to survey candidate corporations for her company's Pacific Rim mutual fund, meets Dutch fashion tycoon Claude Van Hooten and his exotic assistant, the sensual Moia Hsu, whose father is in the Trade Ministry in Beijing. Moia once had an affair with Liu Wing; now her former but still jealous lover is conspiring to ruin Van Hooten's company, Phuket Color. At the same time, Poole, who's possessed of the expertise and logistical machinery to industrialize China, has plans to buy Phuket Color and also to woo the lovely Lacy away from her philandering New York TV-anchor husband. Colorful cameo characters?including a sexy rock singer, a gay male model and a corrupt police superintendent?contribute to the action, played out against the well-evoked, exotic scenery of Hong Kong. There's adventure here as well as romance, but this enjoyably lightweight entertainment fails to face squarely the heavyweight question that looms over it. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0812542894
• ISBN 13: 9780812542899
• Binding: Paperback