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The Last Six Million Seconds
It is April 1997, and all of Hong Kong is counting down to July 1, when Britain will hand over rule of the country to China. Public anxiety about the transfer of power is running high, but “Charlie” Chan Siu-kai’s biggest concern is a gruesome triple murder case, with no solid leads. Chan, a half-Chinese, half-Irish Hong Kong native and chief inspector with the Royal Hong Kong police, thinks he’s found a breakthrough when three mutilated heads are found floating in Chinese waters. But he grows increasingly frustrated as the Chinese police actively hinder—and the English bureaucrats pointedly ignore—his investigation. As Chan tracks the killers, he discovers cover-ups and conspiracies running deeper than even he had imagined. All the while, in the background, the clock ticks down to the day the British leave . . .
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
51 people are currently reading
546 people want to read
About the author
John Burdett
36 books481 followersJohn Burdett is a novelist and former lawyer. He was born in England and worked in Hong Kong; he now lives in Thailand and France.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
January 30, 2023
For capturing the flavour of Hong Kong in 1997, from a Western point of view at least, I thought Paul Theroux's Kowloon Tong wasn't bad. This is better. The thriller plot meanders, but Burdett's recreation of Hong Kong is bang on - from the ruthless striving of the professional class to better themselves (albeit in a purely financial way) to the downright grumpiness of the place at street level. His bleak portraits of PRC leadership and critiques of British character are also hard to argue with. Well, he's over the top on the CCP leadership. I remember the good old times in China when the pirated CDs and DVDs I bought were - apparently - made by the People's Liberation Army. The PLA ran prostitution in Macao too. But here they use slave armies and export heroin. They also want to buy uranium to make a nuclear bomb; weird, as I thought they had nuclear bombs. A British diplomat in the book warns in a few short years China will be 80% male because of female infanticide - really playing on the fear about the handover in 1997. In reality, the handover was a non-event. We know now that it took a while for China to tighten its fist and the Hong Kong protests to begin.
This novel gets sillier towards the end as the author attempts to unravel the plot for us but I'm still looking forward to reading at least one of his Bangkok novels.
This novel gets sillier towards the end as the author attempts to unravel the plot for us but I'm still looking forward to reading at least one of his Bangkok novels.
June 8, 2021
3.5 Stars rounded down
If you've ever wanted to read a Cyberpunk dystopia novel (think: Blade Runner) that wasn't sci-fi but totally real, look no further than The Last Six Million Seconds, a thriller about the final weeks in Hong Kong before the handover to China (1997). All that's missing are the hover cars and androids!
There's a lot to like about this thriller. The reader gets a crash course in British-Chinese history, is toured through not only the Hong Kong of billionaires, but also the hovels of the poor, the renegade and the criminal, and gets to see how a colonial police force might/did operate. Thrilling stuff indeed.
The mystery - the investigation of 3 very messy and brutal murders (trigger warning: meat mincer!) - is well constructed, but t here's far more going on than meets the eye, which makes some post-reading thought necessary.
Most of the characters, or "players" on the board, do not have a full picture of the situation. That's the real tragedy of the novel. Each player only has their own pieces in view, not knowing how many other players there are, or that they are playing against those with just as urgent of needs, or those with far more pieces on the board than they have. Just like real life crime.
The historical karma is terrible, but ultimately satisfying: China doing back to England what England did to them 100+ years ago...and England freaking out because technology and economies have advanced since then.
General Xian sums the idea up thus:
How could Mao be wrong? How could Lenin and Marx be wrong? So for 40 years we watched China grow poorer from being right, while the West grew richer from being wrong....How did it come about that the West was right after all?...Where had the British money come from to enable them to build the biggest empire in the world?... Westerners work no harder than Chinese, but they make 1000 times more money because of the start they have on us. What did it consist of, this start?...Slaves and narcotics.
After the slaves and narcotics phase of capitalism, who knows, we might even have democracy in China. But we're a long way behind...Aren't you pleased we've taken the path to freedom?
This is, of course, historically correct. The British DID build a good bit of their empire on slave labour and the trafficking of narcotics (opium/morphine) and who can blame the Chinese for learning from the victors who screwed them over so royally?
The only drawback to the novel I found is in the portrayal of the main character, Inspector Chan. He remains superficial, his thoughts and feelings largely kept away from the reader. That he's Eurasian and has a fantastically high rate of resolution of crime, is thought a fanatic etc etc is beaten to death, but we hardly get to see under the man's protective shell. Other characters are far more realistically drawn...or perhaps for our understanding unrealistically draw (in the case of Emily Ping).
All-in-all, The Last Six Million Seconds is a thriller that takes place in deep waters, not on the surface. And there's a lot in those deep waters to learn and think about.
If you've ever wanted to read a Cyberpunk dystopia novel (think: Blade Runner) that wasn't sci-fi but totally real, look no further than The Last Six Million Seconds, a thriller about the final weeks in Hong Kong before the handover to China (1997). All that's missing are the hover cars and androids!
There's a lot to like about this thriller. The reader gets a crash course in British-Chinese history, is toured through not only the Hong Kong of billionaires, but also the hovels of the poor, the renegade and the criminal, and gets to see how a colonial police force might/did operate. Thrilling stuff indeed.
The mystery - the investigation of 3 very messy and brutal murders (trigger warning: meat mincer!) - is well constructed, but t here's far more going on than meets the eye, which makes some post-reading thought necessary.
Most of the characters, or "players" on the board, do not have a full picture of the situation. That's the real tragedy of the novel. Each player only has their own pieces in view, not knowing how many other players there are, or that they are playing against those with just as urgent of needs, or those with far more pieces on the board than they have. Just like real life crime.
The historical karma is terrible, but ultimately satisfying: China doing back to England what England did to them 100+ years ago...and England freaking out because technology and economies have advanced since then.
General Xian sums the idea up thus:
How could Mao be wrong? How could Lenin and Marx be wrong? So for 40 years we watched China grow poorer from being right, while the West grew richer from being wrong....How did it come about that the West was right after all?...Where had the British money come from to enable them to build the biggest empire in the world?... Westerners work no harder than Chinese, but they make 1000 times more money because of the start they have on us. What did it consist of, this start?...Slaves and narcotics.
After the slaves and narcotics phase of capitalism, who knows, we might even have democracy in China. But we're a long way behind...Aren't you pleased we've taken the path to freedom?
This is, of course, historically correct. The British DID build a good bit of their empire on slave labour and the trafficking of narcotics (opium/morphine) and who can blame the Chinese for learning from the victors who screwed them over so royally?
The only drawback to the novel I found is in the portrayal of the main character, Inspector Chan. He remains superficial, his thoughts and feelings largely kept away from the reader. That he's Eurasian and has a fantastically high rate of resolution of crime, is thought a fanatic etc etc is beaten to death, but we hardly get to see under the man's protective shell. Other characters are far more realistically drawn...or perhaps for our understanding unrealistically draw (in the case of Emily Ping).
All-in-all, The Last Six Million Seconds is a thriller that takes place in deep waters, not on the surface. And there's a lot in those deep waters to learn and think about.
April 6, 2017
Imagine Hong Kong just two months before control passed from British colonial administration to the People’s Republic of China. Picture the complex behind-the-scenes maneuvering between the British Secret Service who hold the reins in the colony and the military men who possess the real power in South China and are destined to rule Hong Kong. Now think about a gruesome triple murder that threatens to derail the transfer of power and blacken the reputations of those in control on both sides of the political divide.
This is the reality into which Chief Inspector “Charlie” Chan of the Hong Kong Royal Police is thrust when he is assigned the triple murder case. As you might imagine, in such deep and troubled waters, Chan quickly finds himself confronting the rich and powerful whose whims can distort reality: Emily Ping, a beautiful billionaire with a voracious sexual appetite and mysterious connections; the aging General Xian, who calls the shots in South China; Milton Cuthbert, the scholarly “political adviser” from the Secret Service who is Xian’s counterpart in the city-state; “Wheelchair” Lee, a triad fighter with useless legs; Clare Coletti, a young American heroin addict “owned” by the New York Mafia; and Jonathan Wong, Charlie’s brother-in-law, a greedy lawyer in a prominent Hong Kong firm. These key figures, and other, assorted police officials, diplomats, and triad members, who populate this endlessly complex and unpredictable tale.
The Last Six Million Seconds — the time remaining for British control of Hong Kong as the story opens — is a worthy effort by the British writer, former attorney, and long-time Hong Kong resident John Burdett. First published in 1997 on the eve of the Hong Kong transfer, Six Million was only recently reissued on the heels of Burdett’s success with a series of five other thrillers.
Like a great many other readers, I became aware of Burdett’s work with the publication of Bangkok 8, which introduced an extraordinary Thai detective named Sonchai Jitpleecheep, a complex Buddhist police detective known throughout Bangkok for his brilliance and incorruptibility in a cesspool of corruption and mediocrity. Bangkok 8 has been followed so far by Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts, The Godfather of Kathmandu, and Vulture Peak. I’ve read and enjoyed them all, though I’ve reviewed only the two most recent novels.
This is the reality into which Chief Inspector “Charlie” Chan of the Hong Kong Royal Police is thrust when he is assigned the triple murder case. As you might imagine, in such deep and troubled waters, Chan quickly finds himself confronting the rich and powerful whose whims can distort reality: Emily Ping, a beautiful billionaire with a voracious sexual appetite and mysterious connections; the aging General Xian, who calls the shots in South China; Milton Cuthbert, the scholarly “political adviser” from the Secret Service who is Xian’s counterpart in the city-state; “Wheelchair” Lee, a triad fighter with useless legs; Clare Coletti, a young American heroin addict “owned” by the New York Mafia; and Jonathan Wong, Charlie’s brother-in-law, a greedy lawyer in a prominent Hong Kong firm. These key figures, and other, assorted police officials, diplomats, and triad members, who populate this endlessly complex and unpredictable tale.
The Last Six Million Seconds — the time remaining for British control of Hong Kong as the story opens — is a worthy effort by the British writer, former attorney, and long-time Hong Kong resident John Burdett. First published in 1997 on the eve of the Hong Kong transfer, Six Million was only recently reissued on the heels of Burdett’s success with a series of five other thrillers.
Like a great many other readers, I became aware of Burdett’s work with the publication of Bangkok 8, which introduced an extraordinary Thai detective named Sonchai Jitpleecheep, a complex Buddhist police detective known throughout Bangkok for his brilliance and incorruptibility in a cesspool of corruption and mediocrity. Bangkok 8 has been followed so far by Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts, The Godfather of Kathmandu, and Vulture Peak. I’ve read and enjoyed them all, though I’ve reviewed only the two most recent novels.
February 28, 2021
3.8, really. I love this author’s Bangkok series. Beginning with Bangkok Tattoo. This book is about the last 6,000,000 seconds before Britain handed Hong Kong back to the Chinese in 1997. It was of particular interest because of the time I have spent in Hong Kong and Kowloon. It is a police procedural as well as a political analysis of the Peoples Republic of China, and of British imperialism. The police procedural aspects are quite gruesome, the political analysis is fascinating. A very intelligent book, and I learned a considerable amount.
June 14, 2016
Solid, though I cannot read it right.
John Burdett's Last Six Million Seconds is about a horrific crime committed just as Hong Kong was to stop being a British colony and re-join China. It's a stand alone novel, but I cannot read it as anything but a prologue to his excellent Thailand series.
As in the later series, this book is narrated by an investigator of mixed heritage, part-Chinese, part Irish (rather than part-Thai, part-American), who insists on marking the reader as an outsider, an interloper--calling her or him white devil, or farang, depending--even while acknowledging his own outsiderness. The narrator is a culture-guide, offering a view into Hong Kong (or Thailand), but never full immersion: one is always aware of the narrator's presence.
This book differs from the Thailand series, though, in having additional narrators. It's a tribute to Burdett getting better as a writer that his more recent novels can be sustained by a single perspective. What makes it so hard is that he loves betrayals: in this book, as in the later ones, the crime seems small, if horrible, but then extends outward to encompass local, national, and international politics. Capitalism is always its main engine. But then that outward push reverses, as there are a series of betrayals and reversals, and the prime mover is someone close to the investigator. It's Burdett's way of showing both the large structures of capitalism and the way it destroys individuals. But narrating all these betrayals can be difficult from a single perspective.
Thus, he kind of cheated here, compared to his later books, jumping into the head of someone of the betrayers, to show their thinking. It was necessary, too, because the main investigator, jokingly nicknamed Charlie Chan, is not as fully developed as Sonchai in the later Bangkok series. He has some of the same obsessions--culture of shame versus culture of guilt, musings on differences in national culture, metaphysical speculations, but these feel superficial, a chance for Burdett to say what he thinks rather than the shopworn feel of a real person's real thoughts. Sonchai is more contradictory, even if he acknowledges it, and his religious impulse--his Buddhism--gives his ideas about narrative and causality a defined perspective; the hints at Charlie's Taoism here are never fully developed.
One way to describe Burdett's narrative strategy is to say it combines American noir with British international intrigue--Le Carr, Graham Greene. That joining of different genres is not so easily done here: the stitches are visible. This the case in the shifting narrator's. But also other (outmoded) noir tropes are too obvious. There's the femme fatale. The shop wife. The bad girl with the heart of gold. Indeed, for an author that would later attribute a great deal of complexity to his female characters--even if they are somewhat the product of a sexist imagination--Burdett is downright simplistic here. His women characters are dreamed up exactly so he can flaunt his anti-PC views and poke holes at feminism, all the world sounding worldly. It's not in this book, but he comes across as the kind of guy who'd say something like, "If feminists were really for equality, they'd call themselves humanists."
Of course, anyone who has read Burdett knows he is not a humanist. He has a rather dim view of humanity's future--and its present. One sees the inklings of his later obsessions with bio-engineered human soldiers. His fear of China is, like his sexism, less tempered here, and comes across borderline histrionic. (It could be argued that the fear of China simply reflects the narrative reality of the story he's telling, except that the preoccupation continues in his later novels.) People are corrupt at the best of times, and capitalism is designed to bring out the worst, and so the very bodies or humanity become its food.
The one intriguing mystery left unsolved is the author's picture. It makes him look like a drunk, frazzled product of imperialism, the dissolute Brit who has gone native. It's an odd choice, and no wonder it is not used in publicity anymore.
At any rate, it's a good read, quick but dense, in that Burdett-style, complex with its twist and turns, but unified nonetheless. That it doesn't measure up to later works is a good thing: it proves that, even in this fallen world, practice does make one better.
John Burdett's Last Six Million Seconds is about a horrific crime committed just as Hong Kong was to stop being a British colony and re-join China. It's a stand alone novel, but I cannot read it as anything but a prologue to his excellent Thailand series.
As in the later series, this book is narrated by an investigator of mixed heritage, part-Chinese, part Irish (rather than part-Thai, part-American), who insists on marking the reader as an outsider, an interloper--calling her or him white devil, or farang, depending--even while acknowledging his own outsiderness. The narrator is a culture-guide, offering a view into Hong Kong (or Thailand), but never full immersion: one is always aware of the narrator's presence.
This book differs from the Thailand series, though, in having additional narrators. It's a tribute to Burdett getting better as a writer that his more recent novels can be sustained by a single perspective. What makes it so hard is that he loves betrayals: in this book, as in the later ones, the crime seems small, if horrible, but then extends outward to encompass local, national, and international politics. Capitalism is always its main engine. But then that outward push reverses, as there are a series of betrayals and reversals, and the prime mover is someone close to the investigator. It's Burdett's way of showing both the large structures of capitalism and the way it destroys individuals. But narrating all these betrayals can be difficult from a single perspective.
Thus, he kind of cheated here, compared to his later books, jumping into the head of someone of the betrayers, to show their thinking. It was necessary, too, because the main investigator, jokingly nicknamed Charlie Chan, is not as fully developed as Sonchai in the later Bangkok series. He has some of the same obsessions--culture of shame versus culture of guilt, musings on differences in national culture, metaphysical speculations, but these feel superficial, a chance for Burdett to say what he thinks rather than the shopworn feel of a real person's real thoughts. Sonchai is more contradictory, even if he acknowledges it, and his religious impulse--his Buddhism--gives his ideas about narrative and causality a defined perspective; the hints at Charlie's Taoism here are never fully developed.
One way to describe Burdett's narrative strategy is to say it combines American noir with British international intrigue--Le Carr, Graham Greene. That joining of different genres is not so easily done here: the stitches are visible. This the case in the shifting narrator's. But also other (outmoded) noir tropes are too obvious. There's the femme fatale. The shop wife. The bad girl with the heart of gold. Indeed, for an author that would later attribute a great deal of complexity to his female characters--even if they are somewhat the product of a sexist imagination--Burdett is downright simplistic here. His women characters are dreamed up exactly so he can flaunt his anti-PC views and poke holes at feminism, all the world sounding worldly. It's not in this book, but he comes across as the kind of guy who'd say something like, "If feminists were really for equality, they'd call themselves humanists."
Of course, anyone who has read Burdett knows he is not a humanist. He has a rather dim view of humanity's future--and its present. One sees the inklings of his later obsessions with bio-engineered human soldiers. His fear of China is, like his sexism, less tempered here, and comes across borderline histrionic. (It could be argued that the fear of China simply reflects the narrative reality of the story he's telling, except that the preoccupation continues in his later novels.) People are corrupt at the best of times, and capitalism is designed to bring out the worst, and so the very bodies or humanity become its food.
The one intriguing mystery left unsolved is the author's picture. It makes him look like a drunk, frazzled product of imperialism, the dissolute Brit who has gone native. It's an odd choice, and no wonder it is not used in publicity anymore.
At any rate, it's a good read, quick but dense, in that Burdett-style, complex with its twist and turns, but unified nonetheless. That it doesn't measure up to later works is a good thing: it proves that, even in this fallen world, practice does make one better.
March 8, 2011
I read the first six chapters of this book, decided I really didn't care and skimmed the rest just so I could say I'd read it. The premise is excellent, a Chinese-Irish Police Detective is trying to solve a triple homicide (that may actually have been perpetrated by the Chinese Government) in the Last Six Million Seconds before Britain returns Hong Kong to China in 1997. The problem is that the characters are not at all compelling, and are introduced without any backstory at all. I had an extremely hard time remembering who was who and why I was supposed to care what they were doing. Also, being not terribly familiar with Hong Kong culture, I was excited to learn more about the area. Unfortunately, while the descriptions of the geography are rather poetic (rather more poetic than one generally finds in a thriller), the abbreviations and slang used were not really explained very well and instead of being evocative of the scene and the culture, it was just confusing.
As I've been saying, I didn't really like this book, but my husband, who is a much bigger fan of suspense/murder/mystery/thriller type books than I am plans to read it in the near future, and I will let you all know what he thought of it at that time.
Update: My husband has now read this, and he thought I didn't really give it a fair chance. He says it's not an excellent book, but he enjoyed reading it.
As I've been saying, I didn't really like this book, but my husband, who is a much bigger fan of suspense/murder/mystery/thriller type books than I am plans to read it in the near future, and I will let you all know what he thought of it at that time.
Update: My husband has now read this, and he thought I didn't really give it a fair chance. He says it's not an excellent book, but he enjoyed reading it.
November 13, 2016
I am old enough to remember the British rule of HK. Had I read this political thriller then, I would be equally scared with the turnover of the colony to the CCCP. The premise of the story is grim - highly corrupt PLA official(s) will take over the colony, but do you prefer this over foreign rule? Tough for the Hongkongers and a lot of them left in a panic to Canada. The detective in this story is introspective and analytical. Reading this now with the ascent of the PRC, the scenario remains ominous and highly accurate! The author got the Cantonese nuances down pat! A trip down memory lane if you ever lived in Hongkong.
August 11, 2012
I liked this book until about 3/4 of the way through. I found Chan an interesting character and Hong Kong before it's reversion to China an interesting locale. Towards the end, however, the storyline became just a bit too far fetched for me.
July 15, 2017
The main character was interesting, and the portrayal of Hong Kong and China in the leadup to the surrender of HK was fascinating. The plot itself was so convoluted, with betrayals within betrayals, that I got to the point where I couldn't be bothered.
The murders, which involved people being minced in an industrial mincer, bothered me. I kept wondering how the police could have discovered a "vat of human hamburger mince" when clearly, the people weren't deboned before they were minced. I'd have expected the average mincer to jam on the bones.
I have done some Googling and found that some mincers (for pet mince) can mince bones, so it sounds like he did his research. But also, I couldn't understand how the villains had managed to fit each person into the mincer, but had to cut off their heads because they wouldn't fit. Wouldn't the pelvis and the shoulders present just as great an obstacle?
I eventually found these trivial questions so annoying, it affected my enjoyment of the book and I ended up skimming. I wish I could say I cared a great deal about the denouement.
The murders, which involved people being minced in an industrial mincer, bothered me. I kept wondering how the police could have discovered a "vat of human hamburger mince" when clearly, the people weren't deboned before they were minced. I'd have expected the average mincer to jam on the bones.
I have done some Googling and found that some mincers (for pet mince) can mince bones, so it sounds like he did his research. But also, I couldn't understand how the villains had managed to fit each person into the mincer, but had to cut off their heads because they wouldn't fit. Wouldn't the pelvis and the shoulders present just as great an obstacle?
I eventually found these trivial questions so annoying, it affected my enjoyment of the book and I ended up skimming. I wish I could say I cared a great deal about the denouement.
May 31, 2017
In the countdown to the return of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, Chief Inspector Chan is assigned to track down the murderers of three people, some of the grisliest torture and killing one can imagine. It begins with the severed heads being discovered in the water near the border, and then the race is on to identify the bodies. The reader learns what has been going on behind the scenes in the British government, in organized crime groups, and in the wealthy enclaves that Chan's sister has married into. Suspenseful and believable.
November 13, 2022
Great entry by John Burdett. Set in Hong Kong during in the period just prior to the British handover to the PRC in 1997. Though fiction, Burdett is spot-on with his ominous prediction of malevolent PRC rule. “Charlie” Chan, the mixed blood Hong Kong police detective, would be a prototype for Sonchai Jitplecheep in the Royal Thai Detective series, which I read in its entirety. Burdett knows how to write a crime thriller set in Asia. I would have liked to have seen more of Chan in subsequent, but I guess his time was up after the last second ticked off in 1997. Recommended.
December 18, 2017
It is interesting to, after enjoying several books by an author, to pick up one of his early efforts in which you can see some of his emerging style. I love his Bangkok series. This book kept me engaged, especially following the various intrigues, especially as competing interests struggle to control the handover of Hong Kong, and Detective Chan works to solve a quite gruesome murder of three. I don't want to spoil anything, but hopefully you have a strong stomach.
March 8, 2025
Wow! Wow, wow, wow! This was an incredible book! So well written. Charlie Chan came to life. His insecurities and his expertise both coming through. I enjoyed every minute of it. Lots of characters to keep track of, all with different motives and aims. So many twists and turns. In the end, it was kinda horrifying, especially as we are less than 2 months into the peachy turd's 2nd administration. It left you with a sense of doom.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2017
Pretty sexist: The Protagonist Chan: " I'm a tit man." I guess I could write my protagonist like this (if I were a writer), "I'm a penis woman . . ." That off my chest, I enjoyed learning things I never knew about Hong Kong. Mostly, I noticed the crowdedness, especially on the subway, and the constant 90-100% humidity. But this story also kept me involved in it, through all its twists and turns.
December 2, 2017
While this is not as atmospheric as the Bangkok series, it was an enjoyable mystery, with an intriguing protagonist. Be forewarned--two or three parts of it are rather gory and vividly described. I do have some unanswered questions about a couple of the characters, but this does not bother me enough to keep me from recommending it to others.
March 23, 2025
John Burdett's 'The Last Six Million Seconds' is a compelling noir thriller that vividly captures the tense atmosphere of Hong Kong in the final weeks before the 1997 handover to China. I found the book particularly gripping. Chief Inspector 'Charlie' Chan's investigation into a brutal triple murder unravels a complex web of corruption and political maneuvering, involving the British Secret Service, the Chinese military, and the Triads. Burdett masterfully explores themes of colonialism, capitalism, and cultural clashes, painting a bleak yet realistic portrait of the city's underworld and elite. The novel serves as a powerful critique of both British imperialism and the anxieties surrounding Chinese control, with characters driven by greed and desperation. Chan, a Eurasian detective, navigates this treacherous landscape, uncovering deep-seated historical resentments. The intricate plot, filled with political intrigue and social commentary, highlights Hong Kong's precarious position at a pivotal moment. Burdett's gritty portrayal of the city and the characters' moral ambiguity adds depth to the narrative, making it a truly immersive experience. For anyone who lived in Hong Kong during that era, this book is a poignant trip down memory lane, evoking the city's unique blend of tension and vibrancy. The story exposes the dark underbelly of a city on the cusp of a major transformation, filled with betrayals and complex motives. The narrative also includes rich historical context and the author's strong political opinions about the handover, making it a thought-provoking and brilliant read.
October 2, 2025
Amazing
This book captures a time and a place that no longer exists in the form the author describes. I was there. Hong Kong is now a shadow of its former self. So many apt cultural details and political insights.
This book captures a time and a place that no longer exists in the form the author describes. I was there. Hong Kong is now a shadow of its former self. So many apt cultural details and political insights.
January 6, 2018
“It was better to live an Eastern reality than a Western fantasy.”
October 3, 2018
A good thriller but I had to mark it down for the misogynistic language. Hard to believe it was just a reflection if the times in 1997
May 29, 2019
Forget it, Chan, it’s Hong Kong.
August 6, 2019
So much interesting history about the PRC's takeover of HongKong in the 90's. Don't know why it had to be so gorey.
March 26, 2020
Revelatory depiction of segments of Hong Kong life.
May 12, 2022
Overall this is a very good thriller/historical fiction. The picture painted by his description of the city gives a real flavour of Hong Kong to the reader in a way you do not find in most thrillers which gloss over the location in favour of a fast moving plot. I like that it is different and pays homage to the country.
The thriller side of it is very intricate and well written but there is nothing stand out in terms of the thriller part. the stand out part is the exotic location and brilliant way that Burdett creates this flawed hero.
Highly recommended, unless you need a murder a minute thriller, then it may be too slow for you
The thriller side of it is very intricate and well written but there is nothing stand out in terms of the thriller part. the stand out part is the exotic location and brilliant way that Burdett creates this flawed hero.
Highly recommended, unless you need a murder a minute thriller, then it may be too slow for you
June 25, 2013
Overall Rating: Culturally Interesting
I am a longstanding fan of Burdett’s work, so let’s acknowledge my positive bias before I delve into the details. The immediate aspect that strikes me as a Western inhabitant in Burdett’s books is the reflection of Western culture as seen and occasionally adapted by the East. Personally, I have little love for Western culture, but it is always intriguing to see how others see/are affected by it in both positive and negative ways. Burdett, for what he lacks occasionally in grammar and word choice, makes up for in the elaborate, yet also strikingly simple, plot. He is very talented at poignancy and knowing what points in the story to underplay or leave hanging for the reader to assign a vast chasm of interpretation. In The Last Six Million Seconds, Burdett exceeds my own expectations, based on his Royal Thai Detective series, of which I am fond. Upon picking up this book, readers may initially find the title intriguing, thinking perhaps that the plot of the novel is indeed on strict time restraints which may enhance the plot by building drama. Also, it is an unconventional use of time units, really why would you measure time in seconds when months are more efficient? This alone is eye catching, and also befuddling as you begin to read the novel and are introduced into a political conflict and not a hostage situation. Then Burdett gives us a bread crumb, revealing as he does so his own genius, about the last million seconds representing the six million people in Hong Kong. Now as readers we know that this is a book about the entire fate of Hong Kong, which is at times easy to forget when we get caught up in the whodunit layer of the novel. Burdett has brilliantly wrapped a story around a historical event which then has implications for events happening now. He is offering his own fictional account about a man facing inevitable hopelessness of losing, of the corrosive qualities of communist China. Of course this interpretation is from a typical Western viewpoint, and is not what is actually presented to the reader. Burdett makes it clear that the people of Hong Kong are made of sterner stuff, that see the stormy political climate as a part of life rather than an apocalyptic event, as no doubt Westerners would react if put in the same situation. Perseverance is an Eastern quality heavily incorporated into this story, not coupled by outraged indignation as it would be in a novel written by Western arrogance and entitlement.
Though I am not a fan of the mechanics of John Burdett’s writing, I acknowledge that his own unique voice is firmly there in his manner of understatement. This does, however, make it difficult to ever really form bonds with his characters, though I get the distinct impression that Burdett doesn’t write for his characters, but rather so he can write novels where West and East meet, indeed all of his novels have a sort of trickster at the cultural crossroads he designs. If, as a reader, you are interested in having that deep connection of truly understanding a character, perhaps Burdett’s writing isn’t for you, though I would still recommend it as a chance to expand horizons.
Overall, this is a book which is more impressive upon reflection as opposed to when you read it. It is not full of cliff hanger drama, or even personal drama, though there is a sense of imminent political doom from even the very beginning of the story. I greatly enjoyed it, though there were some parts of the book that were slow moving and a tad difficult to move through. It may not be my favorite book, or even my preferred genre, however it is a book with immense merit woven together by a talented craftsman.
-http://caffeinatedcynic.weebly.com
I am a longstanding fan of Burdett’s work, so let’s acknowledge my positive bias before I delve into the details. The immediate aspect that strikes me as a Western inhabitant in Burdett’s books is the reflection of Western culture as seen and occasionally adapted by the East. Personally, I have little love for Western culture, but it is always intriguing to see how others see/are affected by it in both positive and negative ways. Burdett, for what he lacks occasionally in grammar and word choice, makes up for in the elaborate, yet also strikingly simple, plot. He is very talented at poignancy and knowing what points in the story to underplay or leave hanging for the reader to assign a vast chasm of interpretation. In The Last Six Million Seconds, Burdett exceeds my own expectations, based on his Royal Thai Detective series, of which I am fond. Upon picking up this book, readers may initially find the title intriguing, thinking perhaps that the plot of the novel is indeed on strict time restraints which may enhance the plot by building drama. Also, it is an unconventional use of time units, really why would you measure time in seconds when months are more efficient? This alone is eye catching, and also befuddling as you begin to read the novel and are introduced into a political conflict and not a hostage situation. Then Burdett gives us a bread crumb, revealing as he does so his own genius, about the last million seconds representing the six million people in Hong Kong. Now as readers we know that this is a book about the entire fate of Hong Kong, which is at times easy to forget when we get caught up in the whodunit layer of the novel. Burdett has brilliantly wrapped a story around a historical event which then has implications for events happening now. He is offering his own fictional account about a man facing inevitable hopelessness of losing, of the corrosive qualities of communist China. Of course this interpretation is from a typical Western viewpoint, and is not what is actually presented to the reader. Burdett makes it clear that the people of Hong Kong are made of sterner stuff, that see the stormy political climate as a part of life rather than an apocalyptic event, as no doubt Westerners would react if put in the same situation. Perseverance is an Eastern quality heavily incorporated into this story, not coupled by outraged indignation as it would be in a novel written by Western arrogance and entitlement.
Though I am not a fan of the mechanics of John Burdett’s writing, I acknowledge that his own unique voice is firmly there in his manner of understatement. This does, however, make it difficult to ever really form bonds with his characters, though I get the distinct impression that Burdett doesn’t write for his characters, but rather so he can write novels where West and East meet, indeed all of his novels have a sort of trickster at the cultural crossroads he designs. If, as a reader, you are interested in having that deep connection of truly understanding a character, perhaps Burdett’s writing isn’t for you, though I would still recommend it as a chance to expand horizons.
Overall, this is a book which is more impressive upon reflection as opposed to when you read it. It is not full of cliff hanger drama, or even personal drama, though there is a sense of imminent political doom from even the very beginning of the story. I greatly enjoyed it, though there were some parts of the book that were slow moving and a tad difficult to move through. It may not be my favorite book, or even my preferred genre, however it is a book with immense merit woven together by a talented craftsman.
-http://caffeinatedcynic.weebly.com
November 21, 2012
This book is advertised as being in print for the first time in 15 years – a significant time frame, for fifteen years ago Hong Kong was getting ready for the handover of rule of the country from England to China, a momentous occasion after one hundred years of British rule. This is a fascinating book, with writing that is by turn wonderful, delightful and enchanting. The protagonist, “Charlie” Chan Siu-kai, Chief Inspector, Homicide, Eurasian – half Irish, half Chinese, 36 years old, and divorced.from an Englishwoman. He loves his city: We are told that “Chan would have turned down the governorship of Hong Kong so long as he could always be Chinese in an Asian street market;” he “liked the smell of Chinese books, subtly different from Western books. There were no pictures on the heavy paper covers, no commercialism at all; the print was everything. It was the way books should always smell: paper, binding and words, no frills.”
As the book begins, eight weeks before the handover, a public clock, large and digital, reads six million seconds. As one bystander says, “one second for each of us – and disappearing.” As the book ends, the display shows less than two and a half million seconds left to run: 28 days to go. The time in between shines a light – not the most flattering, to be sure – on the country and the people. That unflattering portrait is not limited to the Far East, it should be noted. The book provides an insight into that world that few non-inhabitants get to see [other than events such as the very public murder of students in Tiananmen Square in June of 1989].
The cast of characters includes the Commissioner of Police, the Right Honorable Ronald “Ronny” Tsui, JP; Chief Supt. John Riley; Inspector Richard Aston, 24-year-old blond Brit; a 49-year-old alcoholic shoplifter from the Bronx; also “an aging psychopath, a sex-hungry billionairess and a scheming diplomat,” of whom Charlie says his “penthouse flat was to light, air and space what Chan’s was to darkness, asphyxiation and cramp“ and notes that he owns “the best collection of opium pipes Chan had seen outside an antiques dealer’s showroom.”
It is noted that “the Chinese Navy, always sensitive to foreign incursions, had never forgiven the theft of Hong Kong by bullies in British uniforms more than a hundred years before” and that “it was true what they told you when you first came out: The longer you remained in the Far East, the less you understood.” When he is working on a particularly gruesome triple murder at the outset of the novel, Chan believes he’s being sabotaged, but doesn’t know the source. The answers don’t come till the end, in one of many surprising turns of events. This is a dense book, but well worth the submersion. It is highly recommended.
February 1, 2014
Considering that the very first (and still, very best) espionage novel I read was The Honourable Schoolboy, all subsequent espionage novels have a lot to live up to. Especially when they take place in Hong Kong. Oh Jerry Westerby, you set the bar high. So obviously this book is pretty spectacular.
I loved the atmosphere. Burdett's novels are full of sensory stimulation - he helps you to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste the worlds he creates, from the lobby of the wealthiest bank in Asia to the slums and hovels of the "borderlands". This book was also full of believable psychological atmosphere. Chan's narration is full of his thoughts regarding himself as half-Chinese, a Hong Kong Chinese, and as a Chinese man employed by the British. Burdett uses these reflections to paint a picture of the "Chinese" soul, as well as an Irish one. Normally I don't buy into this kind of ethnic labeling, but he does it in a very subtle and genuine way, and it worked in the novel. Plus, the quintessential British espionage novel is founded on what makes the Brits British - how their makeup led to the rise and fall of their empire - so I figure it's just another page out of Le Carre's book (if you will).
Not to say that this was derivative - not at all. Another thing I loved about the book was its originality. The plot twisted all over the place, and the book was full of surprises. And the end... well, wow. Chalk one up for the conspiracy theorists.
I loved the atmosphere. Burdett's novels are full of sensory stimulation - he helps you to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste the worlds he creates, from the lobby of the wealthiest bank in Asia to the slums and hovels of the "borderlands". This book was also full of believable psychological atmosphere. Chan's narration is full of his thoughts regarding himself as half-Chinese, a Hong Kong Chinese, and as a Chinese man employed by the British. Burdett uses these reflections to paint a picture of the "Chinese" soul, as well as an Irish one. Normally I don't buy into this kind of ethnic labeling, but he does it in a very subtle and genuine way, and it worked in the novel. Plus, the quintessential British espionage novel is founded on what makes the Brits British - how their makeup led to the rise and fall of their empire - so I figure it's just another page out of Le Carre's book (if you will).
Not to say that this was derivative - not at all. Another thing I loved about the book was its originality. The plot twisted all over the place, and the book was full of surprises. And the end... well, wow. Chalk one up for the conspiracy theorists.
May 24, 2014
Originally published in 1997, now in 2014 I've just read the reissue of 2012, and thought this was an eye-opener into what was really happing in darkest China--the corruption, the drugs and arms trafficking, the sky-high amounts of money being played with, the collusion with a Britain fearful of inconvenient political repercussions and the triads, the mafia connection, the economy-owning People's Republican Army, the closeness of the politicos and the businessmen and the gangs. But then I took a look at today's South China Morning Post (May 24, 2014) and found the lead story on the Liu Han corruption case, "extensive and tangled web of bribery," "running a criminal gang," having 1.1 billion HK$ to himself, and that this is "the largest prosecution of a criminal gang on the mainland for many years." Today's news story reads like a synopsis of Burdett's 17-year-old novel. This was a laser look into the British rule of convenience and public face, the collusion among everybody in Hong Kong and the Mainland, the power of a single group of old Army guys, now the richest company owners in South China. At the time of turnover, this may have seemed like a revelation, but it was business as usual, the business that just went on working and that we see today--the odd scandal coming to light as the cockroaches scatter for the dank corners. And all this in such a well-written book--with, of course, the Burdett trademark of stomach-turning gore done in great detail and over and over and over. If I had my own copy, I'd highlight those parts and read around them for one of the most intriguing, eye-opening and breath-holding stories I've read in a while. To re-read.
July 15, 2012
The title refers to the time left, at the start of the novel, to the official handover of Hong Kong to China by the British. As a thriller set in the politics of the period, it's great. The author obviously understands the political and cultural environment of the period, and one can only desperately hope that he's exaggerating (though I suspect not...).
Unfortunately, his understanding of some of the technical details of his plot seem a bit weak. Our hero, Chief Inspector "Charlie" Chan, discovers a cache of "pure" Uranium 235, but fortunately leaves its actual recovery to others - who die gruesomely of radiation burns within a couple of days. Well, I grew up immersed in nuclear physics - my father taught it to nuclear plant operators - and I was pretty sure that couldn't happen. No less an authority than the US Centers for Disease Control agrees with me. Without generating too much of a spoiler, suffice it to say that earlier he accepts personal testimony as definitive without apparently back-checking the facts, and later he has to send evidence to Scotland Yard for analysis, which surely any competent lab could have handled in Hong Kong.
Still, if you're not overly worried by a few little incongruities, the story is fascinating (and scary - more for its depiction of China, and what China's growing economy means for the rest of the world in the future, than for the actual criminal acts that are ostensibly being investigated.
Unfortunately, his understanding of some of the technical details of his plot seem a bit weak. Our hero, Chief Inspector "Charlie" Chan, discovers a cache of "pure" Uranium 235, but fortunately leaves its actual recovery to others - who die gruesomely of radiation burns within a couple of days. Well, I grew up immersed in nuclear physics - my father taught it to nuclear plant operators - and I was pretty sure that couldn't happen. No less an authority than the US Centers for Disease Control agrees with me. Without generating too much of a spoiler, suffice it to say that earlier he accepts personal testimony as definitive without apparently back-checking the facts, and later he has to send evidence to Scotland Yard for analysis, which surely any competent lab could have handled in Hong Kong.
Still, if you're not overly worried by a few little incongruities, the story is fascinating (and scary - more for its depiction of China, and what China's growing economy means for the rest of the world in the future, than for the actual criminal acts that are ostensibly being investigated.
June 10, 2012
This is the second book by John Burdettt, the author of the Sonchai Jitpleecheep novels, a series that shares several characteristics with The Last Six Million Seconds. This earlier book is, however, a superior work of fiction in my opinion. Burdett might have been a less experienced craftsman when writing it, but the book somehow has more charm, the story more to say, and the characters more appeal, even when they come off as unsympathetic, than those of his later books. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Bangkok books quite a bit as entertaining crime novels and depictions of Thai culture, but as a novel in its own right, I think The Last Six Million Seconds works better.
If you are familiar with Burdett's other work, you know what to expect, more or less. This is a crime novel only inasmuch as the genre serves as a vehicle to frame the detailed descriptions of Asian culture and the studies of characters caught between Western and Eastern societies (although Inspector Chan, like Jitplecheep, is ultimately more Asian than Caucasian).
If you like the books published by Soho Crime and the work of authors such as Eliot Pattison and James McClure, then you'll most likely find something to enjoy in The Last Six Million Seconds.
If you are familiar with Burdett's other work, you know what to expect, more or less. This is a crime novel only inasmuch as the genre serves as a vehicle to frame the detailed descriptions of Asian culture and the studies of characters caught between Western and Eastern societies (although Inspector Chan, like Jitplecheep, is ultimately more Asian than Caucasian).
If you like the books published by Soho Crime and the work of authors such as Eliot Pattison and James McClure, then you'll most likely find something to enjoy in The Last Six Million Seconds.
May 16, 2020
I liked this, the latest book I read by Burdett. I really enjoyed all of his Thailand books. This one was about Hong Kong, so I was skeptical, but he did a good job, imho.
It's so ironic! I was reading this while students in Hong Kong are protesting against their daddy, China's totalitarian rule. And this book took place in 1997, so long ago, but it was during the last 6 million seconds before HK officially returned to China from its former rulers, the British as per an agreement signed in 1897.
Isn't that cool?! Some dead people signed a contract a hundred years ago...sure! Hand it back to China, I'll be dead!
That is some tricky shit going on over there, though, dear reader. This author seems to have some understanding of certain ideas, like, being an expat in Asia. That is just fascinating, to me. Also, I visited Hong Kong about 10 years ago, and I loved it, I was as fascinated by it as Burdett seems to be. My daughter visited HK with her boyfriend at the time. God only knows what curiosities they observed when they were there.
So I loved this book.
Nice job, Mr. Burdett. Keep 'em flowing; I'll keep looking forward to them!
It's so ironic! I was reading this while students in Hong Kong are protesting against their daddy, China's totalitarian rule. And this book took place in 1997, so long ago, but it was during the last 6 million seconds before HK officially returned to China from its former rulers, the British as per an agreement signed in 1897.
Isn't that cool?! Some dead people signed a contract a hundred years ago...sure! Hand it back to China, I'll be dead!
That is some tricky shit going on over there, though, dear reader. This author seems to have some understanding of certain ideas, like, being an expat in Asia. That is just fascinating, to me. Also, I visited Hong Kong about 10 years ago, and I loved it, I was as fascinated by it as Burdett seems to be. My daughter visited HK with her boyfriend at the time. God only knows what curiosities they observed when they were there.
So I loved this book.
Nice job, Mr. Burdett. Keep 'em flowing; I'll keep looking forward to them!
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