A joint adventure between a widely acclaimed author and a veteran journalist, best-seller author and award-winning filmmaker made this fiction an electrifying study of power and greed and is a thrill to read.
“The Last Mandarin”, explores the themes of estrangement, sacrifice and personal conviction.
The story follows Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese-American and former food blogger, and her mother Vivien Li, a Tiananmen Square dissident turned global human rights activist. When simultaneous security and fire alarms trigger worldwide panic, the duo is called to the White House to interpret the potential threat from China, forcing them to navigate both global stakes and personal estrangement.
This plot spins a fast-paced and suspenseful political thriller while the narrative moves from Washington, D.C. to Ohio and Hong Kong keeping us engaged in the political tension. The interaction between Alice and her mother adds emotional depth and intimate moments. I appreciated how in the story elements such as an ancient legend and a secret language invented by women are smoothly incorporated to enrich the narrative and provide a unique cultural dimension.
This story is well crafted, as compelling characters and most of all maintains suspense from start to finish. Appreciated most of all the journalistic realism of the political aspect of the story.
I warn you it’s an exhausting read following Alice and Vivien around the globe to track down the culprit….
What will be the fates of Alice’s family, the U.S. and China, and the history of the world as we know it……You will have to give this thriller a go….
My thanks to St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur Books for this ARC which I received via Netgalley for my thoughts: this is the way I see it.
