Books Received–May 20 (including The Foreigner)
Life is good when you can get the latest Taschen catalog, a finished copy of Little Vampire, and a finished copy of a marvelous new mystery, The Foreigner, all on the same day. I’ve added The Foreigner to my list of recommendations on the sidebar, which allows you to support me as an Amazon associate and also get some great reading material.
Mostly set in modern-day Taiwan, the novel involves financial analyst Emerson Chang’s visit to Tapei on a quest to scatter his mother’s ashes and re-establish contact with his shady brother, Little P, who has been given the family hotel. Soon after, he finds himself mixed up in the dark underbelly of the city. Yes, this is a mystery novel, but more than anything it’s a closely observed character study of Chang, who is charming in a campy way. It’s smart, sharp, and original.
(Tomorrow, btw, should be a big stack of books, my insider post office contact tells me. I just didn’t have time to go pick it up.)
4 comments on “Books Received–May 20 (including The Foreigner)”
Must take a look of The Foreigner! Thanks for the information!
Sure, Daneel! (Hope you got your steampunk copy okay.) I’ll be interested to know if the details ring true in The Foreigner. They seemed “right” to me, but I’ve never visited Taiwan, so…
JV
It arrived two days ago, many thanks again!
I think the details can be credible since the author seems to be a descendant of Taiwanese. Dutch writer Paul Harland’s The Hand That Takes is another piece of genre work set in Taiwan. Though Harland’s interpretation of some Taiwanese religious/cultural activities could be regarded as his own misunderstanding, it is still a very interesting novel. Unfortunately, the book is published by a very small press. And that is also the reason I’m looking forward to The Foreigner.
Is it just me or does Little Vampire look like Stewie from Family Guy.
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