The Last Mandarin
A Novel
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4.2 • 285 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A gripping thriller about family and power co-written by Louise Penny, #1 bestselling author of the Gamache novels, and Mellissa Fung, an award-winning journalist.
A mother and a daughter race against time in this all-too-real thriller that reaches from Tiananmen Square all the way to the White House.
Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese American and former food blogger, has long lived in the shadow of her mother, Vivien Li— a Tiananmen Square dissident turned world-renowned human rights activist and passionate advocate for a free and democratic China.
When security and fire alarms go off simultaneously all around the world, setting off a panic, the signal is traced back to China. As world leaders scramble to respond, Vivien and Alice are called to the White House in hopes Madame Li can interpret the Chinese intentions. But why involve Alice?
If China isn’t behind the attack, Vivien warns, someone even more dangerous is pulling the strings. Mother and daughter must join together to overcome their estrangement if they have any hope of preventing global catastrophe. From DC to Ohio to Hong Kong, they work to prevent the next attack, along the way decoding an ancient legend and uncovering a secret language invented by women, for women.
The Last Mandarin is an electrifying study of absolute power and voracious greed, political terror and personal conviction. But it is also an intimate examination of choice, of sacrifice, of memory and myths, both cultural and personal. It is the story of a mother and daughter, as well as a compelling international thriller about the precarious balance of power across the world, and within a family. And what happens when both break down.
In a world ruled by power, even family can be a weapon.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Which is tougher to navigate: a dysfunctional mother-daughter dynamic or an international terrorist conspiracy? Journalist Mellissa Fung and best-selling author Louise Penny inextricably entwine the two in The Last Mandarin. Alice Li blogs about food; her mom, Vivien, a dissident in her native China, is an international political advocate. When Chinese malware triggers literally every alarm on the planet simultaneously, the U.S. government reaches out to Vivien—and, unexpectedly, Alice, whose crush, Liam, turns out to be somehow connected. There’s a ton of globe-trotting adventure and high-stakes espionage involving everything from a hidden language to a lost, secret city. But Penny and Fung wisely foreground Alice’s sarcastic humor and Vivian’s maternal disapproval, making their constant back-and-forth a big part of the fun. Nuggets of Chinese history, superstition, and spirituality laced throughout add extra layers of resonance. The Last Mandarin is one of the freshest thrillers we’ve seen in ages.
Customer Reviews
Hi, my code name is Jam.
I am not a writer and it’s hard for me to explain things, This is not my ordinary kind of reading, but somehow I was drawn to it. The book was a great page turner. Thank you to the two ladies who wrote this book and for all the entertaining hours. The suspense and all the amazing action that went into the details.
WHAT A GREAT Adventure
J. Amidon
. ( Jam )
P S
Please ladies stay healthy and remain great friends. I’m looking forward to more of your exciting thrills in the future.
Brilliant worldwide spy and terrorist novel
I love everything about this book. The plot involves a terrorist organization with a main conspirator in the USA and a co-conspirator in China. The protagonists are a woman of Chinese origin and her American daughter who have been at odds with each other for many years. The plot will hold your attention until the last page and the mystery is revealed. Please, please, get a copy of this book through your library, or buy an e-copy, or a physical copy of the book. Then be prepared to read, be amazed, and not be able to put it down, except to sleep. You will not be sorry
Disappointed
Louise Penny has stepped outside of Quebec Province again. This time, she partnered with journalist Melissa Fung on an international thriller set in Washington DC and parts of China and Hong Kong. The book opens with alarms going off — phones, buildings, everywhere. This will be the first of several orchestrated attacks that force the presidents of the United States and China to determine who is behind the terror.
I was disappointed by The Last Mandarin. I pushed through the absurd first part of the book; it’s too unbelievable to manage. I mean, a food blogger who becomes ensnared in an international plot to destroy the world? I really enjoyed the Chinese history and machinations — all new information to me — for which I credit Melissa Fung.