Water Touching Stone 1

by Eliot Pattison, Scott Brick

Part One Of Two Parts

An unlikely group of outcasts dash across the remote northern reaches of the Tibetan plateau, summoned by the news that a venerated schoolteacher has been murdered and an ancient lama is missing. Two old Tibetans are rushing to restore the spiritual balance lost by the violent death. A sullen Tibetan resistance fighter is racing to battle a new foe. Shan Tao Yun, just release from four years in the gulag, sets out to find justice, an elusive goal among the forgotten people of western China. As he follows the grim path left by the killer, Shan soon finds himself in the dangerous world of the borderlands. Guided by a young woman, Shan begins to peel away the secrets that hide the killer's true motives.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery

Unbound

First published June 6, 2001

About the author

Edgar Award winning Eliot Pattison has been described as a "writer of faraway mysteries," a label which is particularly apt for someone whose travel and interests span a million miles of global trekking, visiting every continent but Antarctica.

An international lawyer by training, Pattison first combined his deep concerns for the people of Tibet with his interest in fiction writing in The Skull Mantra, which launched the popular Inspector Shan series.

The series has been translated into over twenty languages around the world. Both The Skull Mantra and Water Touching Stone were selected by Amazon.com for its annual list of ten best new mysteries. Water Touching Stone was selected by Booksense as the number one mystery of all time for readers' groups. The newest installment, Soul of Fire, was included in Publisher's Weekly's list of "Best Book of 2014".

Pattison's fascination with the 18th century American wilderness and its woodland Indians led to the launch of his second critically acclaimed Bone Rattler series.

His dystopian novel, Ashes of The Earth, marks the first installment in his third book series, set in post-apocalyptic America.

A former resident of Boston and Washington, Pattison resides on an 18th century farm in Pennsylvania with his wife, three children, and an ever-expanding menagerie of animals.

Reviews

[Katrina Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very long book, and a hard read. This is not because of the writing, but the subject matter. Pattison writes beautifully about the landscape and the culture, the interactions between the minority races and their surroundings - a gentler, simpler time. He also writes plainly of the atrocities the Chinese have wrought on those they have 'annexed' and 'improved'. If you thought the Germans were methodical and comprehensive, you haven't met the Chinese. Lamas burnt in their gompas, ani and lamas forced to have sex to break their vows of celibacy, children forced to shoot their parents, sacred artifacts to identify reincarnates of Buddhas destroyed, thumbs of lamas chopped off so they cannot pray with their rosaries, it goes on.
But what stays are the lamas. Their faith and belief, their connection with the world, their deep forgiveness.
A beautiful book, and one which made me do lots of fact checking as I read. Unfortunately, it was all right.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book