This book sounded really good but didn’t resonate with me at all. I couldn’t understand why the main character did what he did. ( )

spannend

After losing his child and then his marriage, Paul has retreated from the world. He lives in solitude on Lamma Island in Hong Kong, enjoying the peace and avoiding crowds and conflict. On the anniversary of his son's death he hikes up the Peak and whilst resting at the top he gets into conversation with Elizabeth Owen, an American whose son has disappeared in Shenzheng, just over the border. Reluctantly Paul becomes involved in the mystery surrounding Michael Owen and through this reevaluates his relationships with Zhang, a police officer he has known for many years, and Christine, a new friend.

Usually books that try to run two narratives parallel to each other fail miserably, the writer is more comfortable in one genre and the other becomes frustrating, this is not the case here. Sendker has written an exciting thriller which looks at the changes to modern Communist Chine as commerce and wealth come up against tradition and party values. On the other hand he has written a beautiful story of old sorrows being addressed and life moving forward, of love and of friendship. Paul needs to address the death of his child and accept that he can love again, Zhang needs to confront the horrors of his youth. Both work brilliantly because of the power of the plot and also the emotional power of the characters' stories. Sendker is a truly talented writer and this book is haunting in so many ways. ( )

WBN book. Loved it. ( )

Kad se ogradimo od svih novih uspomena da bi zadrzali stare, desava se da nas sadasnjost iznenadjuje..kako je otac Pol pomogao nepoznatim roditeljima da saznaju o smrti svoga sina jedinca...kako se i on na tom putu pomirenja oprostio sa svojim sinom i nastavio zivot...odlicna prica ( )