I’m delighted to bring White Crane Strikes by Ivy Ngeow on behalf of ZooLoo’s Book Tours. Massive thanks to both Zoe and the publishers for my place on the tour and my copy of the book.
An enormous mansion. A Chinese restaurant. A baby on the way. Handyman Jerome “Jay Jay” Lee has landed a dream job. An underground tong seems to think so too.
Chicago, 1971. Jay Jay’s girlfriend wants a big knock-’em-dead wedding and a new bigger apartment with the whole ball of wax. Grateful when her art world schmoozing lands him a fixer-upper gig for a wealthy arts patron, he has no idea about the sleeping dragon he’s about to wake. His boss gets him a Chinatown side hustle, and Jay Jay looks the other way when he overhears an organized crime conversation for fear of losing the much-needed extra income and takeout treats. But when the Chinese restaurant manager vanishes, Jay Jay is trapped in threatening tong talk and the chow is now no fun. His family is now deep in hot soup.
Will Jay Jay be able to save them before he’s crispier than a burnt wonton?
White Crane Strikes is a standalone. Fans of Lehane, Ovidia Yu and Naomi Hirahara, who like compelling characters, stirring settings and surprising twists, will love this smart and witty thriller.
A book that intrigued me with its synopsis. Sounded as chaotic as my life, okay, over exaggeration there but you get the picture. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect as I started reading and this sometimes makes my experience of a book perfect.
It’s a story that is a crime thriller but one thats blended with so many other elements that makes it so much more. I mean, Triads too! I was so caught up in it I didn’t want it to end.
There are a large cast of characters that I had to take in and they are a varied and strange bunch. They do make for a totally entertaining read though!
Jay Jay Lee is a handyman who gets some work through Dallas, his pregnant wife. While working on a run down mansion he discovers old bones in a hidden basement. A Chinese Restaurant owner goes missing who he has just been introduced to by Alfred Sutton, the owner of the mansion. Then he overhears a conversation that he shouldn’t have. All this creates a mystery that just deepens the more he discovers. On top of this events on the home front make him wonder just who he can actually trust.
Jay Jay was my favourite, I loved his tenacity, which did mean he got into deeper trouble from it, but he just reminded me of me sometimes. He is a worrier and can be a soft touch too, me all over, so I connected to him really well. Ivy Ngeow has created characters that are three dimensional and unique. Everyone plays their own part perfectly to make this book one I enjoyed so much.
The 1970s setting was detailed and it transported me right there. I could picture everything so vividly in my mind and it made it quite an immersive read for me. I loved the twistiness of this plot. It meant that I never knew what would be next and that really topped it off.
White Crane Strikes is such a different, entertaining and so intriguing book. With a conclusion that makes me need the next book! If you enjoy a story that keeps you on your toes from start to finish, I recommend this easily.
Buy Links
Amazon https://geni.us/P5IIW
Author Bio
Born and raised in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Ivy Ngeow is the author of three published novels and numerous short stories, one of which has been performed and broadcast on the BBC World Service.
Others have been published in literary journals such as Burning Press, Lunate, Fixi Novo anthology and and also broadsheets like The Straits Times.
Her debut novel won the 2016 International Proverse Prize, and was published in Hong Kong in 2017. She holds an MA from Middlesex University where she was awarded the University’s 2005 Literary Press Prize, an international competition, out of 1500 entrants. Most recently, she was editor of Asian Anthology New Writing Vol.1 which was published in Feb 2022 in London.
Her lates novel was on a longlist of 12 for the 2021 Avons x Mushens Entertainment Prize for commercial fiction by a BAME writer. Ivy is a regular suburban mum who loves dogs, cake and piano-pounding. She lives in London.
Follow her at
Twitter : https://twitter.com/ivyngeow
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/ivyngeow/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/ivyngeowwriter
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