i) Years ago, coming out of a Shanghai subway station, David passed a man dressed in what looked like dirty blue medical scrubs. Squatting on the pavement, under a street light, the man had a basket of live crabs in front of him. For whatever reason, David looked back and saw him pick up his … China Sketches: Company
HOLIDAY GONE WRONG “I don’t think I set the alarm, did you?” Robert asked. “No dear…you always do it.. ” “I’m not sure I did. Can we go back?” Why is his mission in life to make us late? Jane took a couple of deep breaths. “I’m sure you’ve set it. Shina will be there … Buenos Aires Triad Chapter 4
STOLEN WATCHES Six months after his father died, Lucas started buying stolen watches. The old man had chased scum selling stolen stuff or fakes out of the shop with a wooden table leg. Worse still, with a few exceptions, Lucas was buying from foreigners: a Paraguayan, a Senegalese, and assorted others. “Foreigners?” his father would … Buenos Aires Triad Chapter 3
THE TARGET Exiting the plane and walking down the steps to the tarmac, Diana felt a thrill at being outside, but then she saw the line stretching out of the terminal. She didn’t understand what was going on at first – was this the line for immigration? With his hat in the checked luggage, her … Buenos Aires Triad Chapter 2
Links go to my reviews on Goodreads Sexual Fascism — In these essays the USA compares poorly with China in terms of sexual freedom White Faced Lies — This graphic novel details the rent-a-white-guy in China phenomenon Unwelcome — An anti-coming-of-age novel set in China and the US, gripping in the tear-legs-off-a-spider kind of way Default … Eight indie/small press books I reviewed in 2022
The Dragonhead: The Godfather of Chinese Crime–His Rise and Fall by John Sack My rating: 5 of 5 stars As others have mentioned, “The Dragonhead” is a great read taken as a novel but doesn’t hold up as a true story. The Dragonhead himself, Johnny Kon, crosses over into Hong Kong in the 60s as … The Dragonhead
They sent me to Wellington for training. Two nights in a hotel room with Sky TV and meals paid for. What else could I have wanted? After a good night’s sleep, I reported to the depot. The muscular Norm waved at me from the other end of the aeroplane-hangar space. Norm was staying in the … Delivery
https://shepherd.com/best-books/crime-novels-set-in-argentina
I was interviewed by Wellington’s Spanish language radio program Qué Onda. I talked about China, including my time in Wuhan, Argentina, and my book Buenos Aires Triad.
In ‘Civilization and its Discontents,’ Freud tells us that civilisation necessitates the curbing of the natural expression of the libido, and this repression leads to neurosis. The answer is to redirect the libido into work or artistic expression. For author Isham Cook, the state keeps us in fear of our libido as a mechanism of … Sexual Fascism
