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The Chinaman

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About this listen

 The "Chinaman" understood death.

Jungle-skilled, silent, and lethal, he had killed for the Viet Cong and then for the Americans. He had watched helpless as his two eldest daughters were raped and killed by Thai pirates. Now, all that was behind him. Quiet, hard-working, and unassuming, he was building up his South London take-away business - until the day his wife and youngest daughter were murdered by an IRA bomb. Then he began to ask the authorities who were the men responsible, what was being done - and was turned away, fobbed off, treated as a nuisance. That was when the Chinaman, denied justice, decided on revenge...and went back to war.

©1992 Stephen Leather (P)2007 Isis Publishing Ltd. Action & Adventure Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Suspense Thriller & Suspense Exciting Scary

Critic reviews

" The Chinaman is a gem of a thriller, perfectly constructed and full of the unexpected." ( Library Journal)
All stars
Most relevant
Great concept covering Asian gorilla warfare to the horrors of the IRA troubles with deceit,mis trust ,good range of interesting characters to pack this thriller out
Bottom line great read that keeps giving

Classic British thriller with a twist

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Early 20th century writer Ronald Knox notoriously specified 10 rules for writing mystery stories. Rule 5 was "No Chinaman must figure in the story". It's a really daft piece of advice, as this brilliant novel shows (presumably deliberately).

Brilliant thriller concept

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I thought this was an excellent “read”, I listened to it in 2 days, and was gripped. I had seen the excellent film with Jackie Chan - it differed slightly, but was still enthralling. Would recommend.

Loved this story

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Expertly written, paced and narrated story of an unlikely hero seeking justice for his murdered family.

The Chinaman

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utterly gripping from start to finish. the detail of research is plainly evident in the depth of the characters. loved it

beautifully written and performed. my favourite book so far !!

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