Flower Net, Lisa See
Flower Net, Lisa See
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Flower Net
A Red Princess Mystery

Author: Lisa See

Narrator: Elaina Erika Davis

Abridged: 5 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/05/2000


Synopsis

In Flower Net, Lisa See gives us a China not often seen: An extraordinary nation that is at once admirable and frightening.

Here the veil is ripped away from modern China--its venerable culture, its teeming economy, its institutionalized cruelty--and the inextricable link between China's fortunes and America's  is underscored.

In the depths of a Beijing winter, during the waning days of Deng Xiaoping's reign, the U.S. ambassador's son is found dead--his body entombed in a frozen lake.  Almost simultaneously, American officials find a ship adrift in the storm-churned waters off Southern California.  No one is surprised to find the fetid hold crammed with hundreds of undocumented Chinese immigrants--the latest cargo in the Chinese mafia's burgeoning smuggling trade.  What does surprise Assistant U.S. Attorney David Stark is his discovery that among the hapless refugees lies the corpse of a Red Prince, a scion of China's political elite.

The Chinese and American governments suspect that the deaths are connected, and in an unprecedented move they join forces to solve this cross-cultural crime.  Stark heads for Beijing to team up with police detective Liu Hulan, whose unorthodox methods are tolerated only because of her spectacular investigative abilities.  Their investigation carries them into virtually every corner of today's China, and leads them to Los Angeles's thriving Asian community--where their search turns up a bloodthirsty murderer at the apex of China's power structure.  Their work together also ignites their passion for each other--a passion forbidden by their respective governments, and one that plays right into the hands of a serial killer.

An accomplished stage actress, Elaina Davis performed in Hamlet, and in Richard II and Troilus & Cressida for the New York Shakespeare Festival.  She was a principal character on television's As The World Turns, and has appeared in the film Contact.

About Lisa See

American author, Lisa See, was born in Paris, France, but spent many years in Los Angeles, primarily in the Chinatown District. Her mother, another novelist, wrote her autobiography which also includes interesting insights into her daughter's life. Lisa See graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a B.A. Degree in 1979.

See had various writing jobs such as a correspondent for Publisher's Weekly on the West Coast and has written articles for Self, Vogue, and More magazines. Lisa See is one-eighth Chinese, and she has done various noted projects concerning the Chinese American population. One such project was featured in the Smithsonian. See has also been an avid public speaker. Adding to her diversification, she also serves as a Los Angeles City Commissioner. See is a member of The Trusteeship, an organization whose members are "prominent women of achievement and influence in diverse fields".

Among her works are: Snowflower and the Secret Fan, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy, and China Dolls. "These books have been celebrated for their authentic, deeply researched, lyrical stories about Chinese characters and cultures". One newer book is about South Korean women of Jeju Island, called The Island of Sea Women. It was chosen as the March 2019 Barnes and Noble nationwide Book Club book to read.


Reviews

Goodreads review by La pecera de Raquel on January 22, 2021

Novela negra en la que EEUU y China tienen que ponerse de acuerdo para resolver dos asesinatos, uno de un chino en EEUU y otro de un americano en China. Fenomenal la trama y los personajes, especialmente la inspectora encargada de resolver el caso en China donde vemos a una mujer joven que tiene que......more

Goodreads review by Kavita on June 03, 2016

I dithered with the rating and the review of this book. I have read and loved Lisa See's historical fiction but this was a very different genre. Set in (almost) modern day USA and China, the book is a murder mystery with international political intrigue, with some smuggling thrown in for good measur......more

Goodreads review by Book Concierge on May 09, 2022

Digital audiobook narrated by Elaina Davis (abridged) From the book jacket: In the depths of a Beijing winter, the U.S. ambassador’s son is found dead – his body entombed in a frozen lake. Around the same time, aboard a ship adrift off the coast of Southern California, Assistant U.S. Attorney David......more

Goodreads review by Encarni on December 01, 2019

Lo primero que leo de esta autora y no será lo último. Me ha gustado mucho la intriga y como se ve perfectamente los grandes contrastes que hay entre China y EEUU en muchos aspectos. La trama está muy bien y los protagonistas me han gustado. Lo recomiendo.......more

Goodreads review by Kim on December 23, 2016

I liked her other books, but this book was a big "meh". A letdown...thought her subject matter would be a winner, but the plotting and characters were very average in an already crowded field. 2.5 stars rounded to 3.......more


Quotes

“An impressive and welcome debut . . . It has been sixteen years since Gorky Park raised the ante in the game of international thriller novels. Now, Lisa See comes to the table to raise the stakes even higher.”Mostly Murder

“If you have . . . an appreciation for atmospheric, tightly plotted suspense stories, Flower Net is a treat. Lisa See begins to do for Beijing what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did for turn-of-the-century London or Dashiell Hammett did for 1920s San Francisco: She discerns the hidden city lurking beneath the public façade.”The Washington Post Book World

“Finish Flower Net and you want to book a flight overseas. . . . A wonderful lesson about the changes going on in China as it emerges as a global economic power.”USA Today

“An unusual and highly successful thriller . . . In this, her first novel, Lisa See brings a cool, knowing eye to Chinese-American relations while crafting a nifty tale of suspense.”Chicago Tribune

“An ambitious and engaging mystery . . . expertly plotted and enriched with rare social, political and historical complication. . . . See has crafted an exceptional narrative, one that tweaks the reader into long hours under the lamp.”The Oregonian

“Fascinating . . . that rare thriller that enlightens as well as it entertains . . . a penetrating examination of modern Chinese culture, the forces that have shaped it and the ways in which it differs so greatly from our own. A good one.”San Diego Union-Tribune

“Colorful . . . [See] has done her homework. . . . Hulan is a provocative mix of vulnerability, bitterness and hardheaded practicality.”The New York Times Book Review

“This page-turner is peopled with an incredibly evil array of villains and jam-packed with both expected and unexpected plot twists.”Rocky Mountain News

“A graceful rendering of two different and complex cultures, within a highly intricate plot . . . The starkly beautiful landscapes of Beijing and its surrounding countryside are depicted with a lyrical precision that [comes] from a deeply abiding connection to the land and its peoples. Also vivid, exact, without any cloying traces of exoticism are See's descriptions of the strangely lit neon shops and streets of L.A.'s Chinatown.”Los Angeles Times Book Review

“This debut thriller is a standout. . . . Exciting . . . See adds an understanding of subtle and complex Sino-American political and social differences, typifies these qualities in a range of well-crafted characters and tops it all with a suspenseful plot.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“High voltage sexual sparks . . . murder and intrigue splash across the canvas of modern Chinese life . . . a vivid portrait of a vast Communist nation in the painful throes of a sea change.”People