Synopses & Reviews
When the body of an American archaeologist is found floating in the Yangzi River, Ministry of Public Security agent Liu Hulan and her husband, American attorney David Stark, are dispatched to Site 518 to investigate. As Hulan scrutinizes this death or is it a murder? David, on behalf of the National Relics Bureau, tries to discover who has stolen from the site an artifact that may prove to the world Chinas claim that it is the oldest uninterrupted civilization on earth. This artifact is not only an object of great monetary value but one that is emblematic of the very soul of China. Everyone from the Chinese government, to a religious cult, to an unscrupulous American art collector wants this relic, and some, it seems, may be willing to kill to get it. At stake in this investigation is control of Chinas history and national pride, and even stability between China and the United States.
The troubled Hulan must overcome her own fears of failure, while David tries desperately to break through the shell that has built up around his wife. As Hulan and David are enmeshed in international schemes for power and the turbulence of their own relationship, these hunters after the truth become the hunted in a fast-driving narrative set against the backdrop of the building of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest and most expensive project China has undertaken since the Great Wall and the subject of great international debate. It is here, in the heart of the Three Gorges, that David and Hulan will battle their enemies and their own natures to see who will win Chinas dragon bones.
Dragon Bones combines ancient myth with contemporary anxieties concerning religious fanaticism and terrorism to tell a story of love, betrayal, history, ecology, greed and gory murder.
Review
Mixing history, myths, and current events, Dragon Bones is an extraordinarily rich novel. It reveals the emotional and economical entanglement of China with the West, and tells a story of violence, lust, greed, fear, and desperation. The novel not only is a page-turner but is also timely. Ha Jin, author of Waiting and The Crazed
Review
"See succeeds in widening the reader's knowledge about the politics and culture of contemporary China while racing along with an absorbing story." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Like See's previous novels, this one is wordy, the dialogue a bit stilted. The sheer amount of information she conveys about historical and modern-day China, though, makes it worthwhile, and the plot is convoluted but fascinating." Carrie Bissey, Booklist
Synopsis
"Dragon Bones" combines ancient myth and contemporary fears of religious fanaticism and terrorism to tell a story of love, betrayal, history, ecology, greed, and gory murder.