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A Chinese-American detective takes on the seedy underworld
of NYC’s Chinatown.
November 2007| Mystery
$12 Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-56947-478-5
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“Chinatown
Beat is a classic
noir, filled with longing, violence, and that uniquely urban melancholy,
but it also brings something new to the table, a loving specificity of a
people and place, the multicultures of New York’s Chinatown, that has
rarely if ever been encountered in fiction before. A real discovery.”
—Richard Price, Freedomland and Clockers |
“Chinatown, New York, is
said to be more Chinese than China...In a dramatic evocation of the exotic,
Jack Yu, an American cop, born and raised locally, proves himself up to the
task of maneuvering his investigation through the constant collision of American
and Chinese ways. More rewarding than a trip to Chinatown.”
—Qiu
Xiaolong, Death of a Red Heroine |
“A dark slice of New York’s Chinatown
that most of us…have probably never seen. Chang takes us on an unforgettable
guided tour of its lower depths. …In a field awash with pallid noir
thrillers, this one is the real thing. A genuine winner.”
—H. Lieberman, City of the Dead |
"All the expected locales are here -- gambling and dance halls, brothels, secret societies -- but the author, who grew up in Chinatown, keeps things fresh by inserting Chinese phrases and explicating cultural folkways on nearly every page. Chang drops a few stitches as his story knits together, but this is a nasty, terse slice of noir, and Yu is a fellow whose adventures should be worth following." —Washington Post Book World, 12/17/2006 |
| "Chang’s debut novel is one of this year’s most impressive. Here, the object isn’t to figure out whodunit; it’s pretty clear who offed Uncle Four. The suspense comes from tracking Jack Yu through his investigation, navigating the shifting tides of Chinese turf wars, generational tension, and his own internal struggle with being a “standup Chinaman” and an effective cop. This is a character well worth knowing."—January Magazine, Best Crime Fiction of 2006 |
"For readers who relish noir suspense, it doesn't get much better than this stunning novel. Chang effortlessly interweaves a half-dozen interlocking plots, including the story of the murder of local crime kingpin Uncle Four by his desperate and beautiful mistress."—The Boston Globe, 11/26/2006 |
| Best Debut Mystery Novel pick from the South Florida Sun-Suntinel, 12/17/2006 |
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NYPD Detective Jack Yu was raised in Chinatown. Some of his old friends are criminals now; some are dead.
Recently transferred to his old neighborhood, where ninety-nine percent of the cops are white, Jack is confronted with a serial rapist who preys on young Chinese girls. Then Uncle Four, an elderly leader of the charitable Hip Ching Society and member of the Hong Kong-based Red Circle Triad, is gunned down. To solve these crimes, Jack turns to both modern police methods and an ancient fortuneteller.
Henry Chang was born and raised in New York City’s Chinatown where he now lives. He is a graduate of Pratt Institute and CCNY and is currently a security director in Manhattan.
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