The Runner

The story opens with members of the Chinese Olympic swimming team cycling to practice through the winter cold. We don't just read about that cold, we feel it to the bone. When the get to the pool we smell the chlorine, we sense their excitement, tomorrow they are going to swim against the Americans. Then to their horror they see their best swimmer hanging by the neck from the high dive, apparently a suicide. This is followed by another apparent suicide, a weightlifter dies in the arms of his mistress. Why are Olympic athletes killing themselves? This is the question that Li Yan, back in China with his now pregnant American mistress, pathologist Margaret Campbell must answer. Though their relationship is frowned upon by the Chinese authorities, they need Margaret's skills, they need Li as well. But even as they need them, the authorities cannot understand why one of their own would want to marry a foreigner and this aspect of Chinese culture is as much a part of this wonderful story as is the investigation into doping, Triads and corruption that grab the reader by her eyeballs and keep her fingers blistering through the pages as this book races to a pulse-stopping ending that you'll never forget.

There are two mysteries running though this excellent novel. The first involves a series of deaths of top Chinese athletes just prior to a competition with the United States. The second involves the on-again-off-again romance between Section Chief Li Yan and the American pathologist, Margaret Campbell, who is almost in her ninth month of pregnancy and carrying his child, It remains for the combined sleuthing of the pair to determine whether or not the deaths of the six top-rated athletes are a coincidence or something much more sinister. At the same time, will their planned marriage in two weeks take place? Tune in and find out. Overall, it is a provocative story, keeping the reader on the edge of his/her seat on both themes. At the same time, the author provides interesting insights into Chinese culture and society, as well as the clashes among other characters. Well-written and well worth reading, and recommended. [The book has been simultaneously published in a trade paperback edition, ISBN 978-1590587119, $14.95.]

As China prepares to host the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the country is filled with pride and excitement even though traffic will be stopped for the Games. However, as the countdown begins to the contests, gold medal contender Sui Mingsham is found dead by the pool; an apparent suicide. Soon afterward an Olympic weightlifter is found dead. Three more top level athletes have also died. Pressure is on Beijing police Section Chief Li Yan to solve ASAP what appears to be the work of a serial killer as five accidents/suicides seems improbable before nations pull out of the Games out of fear for the safety of their athletes. He asks his pregnant American fiancée forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell for help on solving the deaths that he believes are murders. Complicating their lives is his father and her mother have come to Beijing for the wedding. This is a great entry in one of the best police procedurals on the market today. The story line is faster than Usain Bolt can run the 100 yet also contains a deep look at Beijing on the brink of hosting the Olympics. The lead couple is a terrific pair as their cross Pacific romance grows stronger. Fans will relish this super saga while seeking the backlist that includes The Firemaker, Snakehead and Chinese Whispers (which apparently occurs after The Runner since the lead pair has a baby son in that tale). Harriet Klausner