2012 Puddly Awards
 
 
Follow us on TwitterFollow us on FacebookFollow us on TumblrSubscribe to RSS


Recently Viewed clear list


Interviews | January 24, 2012

Jill Owens: IMG Ben Marcus: The Powells.com Interview



Ben MarcusBen Marcus's books The Age of Wire and String and Notable American Women were considered "experimental" fiction because of his unconventional use of... Continue »
  1. $18.17 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    The Flame Alphabet

    Ben Marcus 9780307379375

spacer
Free Shipping!

This item may be
out of stock.

Click on the button below to search for this title in other formats.
Check for Availability
Add to Wishlist

The Killing Room

The Killing Room Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Peter Mays thrilling new China novel brings together Beijing detective Li Yan and American pathologist Margaret Campbell for the third time.

When the mutilated and dismembered bodies of eighteen women are discovered in a mass grave in Shanghai, Li is sent to establish if the corpses are related to an unsolved murder in Beijing, and he finds the most horrifying catalog of killings ever uncovered in the Middle Kingdom.

Once more, Margaret is unsure of her mercurial relationship with Li, and if it will threaten their professional collaboration. Having just suffered the heartbreak of burying her father, she arrives in Shanghai to find any partnership with Li threatened by another woman named Mei-Ling. Born in the Year of the Tiger, Mei-Ling seems to have her claws firmly fixed in Li. How can Margaret, a mere “foreign devil,” compete with Mei-Ling, the deputy head of Shanghais serious crime squad?

Faced with the grisly proposition that the murdered women have been subjected to “live” autopsies, the three soon realize they are tracking a monster of inhuman capacity. The closer they get to this ruthlessly cold-blooded killer, the closer they come to realizing their own personal nightmares.

Peter May combines edge-of-the-seat suspense and a brilliantly evoked picture of modern China to create an unstoppable thriller.

Review:

"In May's rewarding third mystery to feature American pathologist Margaret Campbell and Chinese deputy section chief Li Yan (after 2007's The Fourth Sacrifice), 18 women's bodies — or at least pieces of them — turn up buried at a Shanghai building site. A creepy medical student working as a night watchman on the site is a logical suspect, but he appears innocent — at least of these crimes. Campbell coaxes the identities of four of the women from their body fragments, and each is a poignant yet apparently unrelated story. Campbell also discovers a grisly fact: all the victims had some or all of their internal organs removed — while they were still alive. May offers a little politics, a little romance and a lot of autopsy details, perhaps too much for some, though they are clearly conveyed and pertinent to the case. The plot skips here and there, with some surprising revelations leading to a slightly predictable but gratifying finale. (Feb.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

About the Author

Peter May has been a journalist and is the author of three major television series in Britain, one of them in Gaelic. With an extraordinary network of contacts, he has gained unprecedented access to the homicide and forensic science sections of the Beijing and Shanghai police forces. The Chinese Crime Writers Association named May an honorary member of their Beijing chapter, making him the only Westerner to receive this tribute. May lives in France.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780312364656
Publisher:
Minotaur Books
Subject:
Thrillers
Author:
May, Peter
Subject:
Campbell, Margaret (Fictitious character)
Subject:
Yan, Li (Fictitious character)
Subject:
Li, Yan (Fictitious character)
Subject:
Mystery fiction
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - General
Subject:
Suspense
Subject:
Popular Fiction-Contemporary Thrillers
Edition Description:
Trade Cloth
Series:
Murder in China
Series Volume:
No. 3
Publication Date:
20080231
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
352
Dimensions:
8.54x5.82x1.20 in. .98 lbs.
The Killing Room
0 stars - 0 reviews
$ In Stock
Product details 352 pages St. Martin's Minotaur - English 9780312364656 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "In May's rewarding third mystery to feature American pathologist Margaret Campbell and Chinese deputy section chief Li Yan (after 2007's The Fourth Sacrifice), 18 women's bodies — or at least pieces of them — turn up buried at a Shanghai building site. A creepy medical student working as a night watchman on the site is a logical suspect, but he appears innocent — at least of these crimes. Campbell coaxes the identities of four of the women from their body fragments, and each is a poignant yet apparently unrelated story. Campbell also discovers a grisly fact: all the victims had some or all of their internal organs removed — while they were still alive. May offers a little politics, a little romance and a lot of autopsy details, perhaps too much for some, though they are clearly conveyed and pertinent to the case. The plot skips here and there, with some surprising revelations leading to a slightly predictable but gratifying finale. (Feb.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
spacer
spacer
  • back to top
Follow us on...


Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.