The Barbados Conspiracy

The Chinese Woman

by Brian N. Cox

This gripping spy-thriller combines the excitement and suspense of Ian Fleming with the reality of John LeCarre. The author is a former federal criminal investigator and intelligence officer and he uses his background knowledge to bring the characters to life. A poor shopkeeper and his wife in Shanghai are murdered, something these Triad killers have done many time before, but this time they made a mistake...the victims' young daughter was watching. Not finding the daughter was not just a mistake, it was a huge mistake. Many years later in Seattle, FBI Special Agent, Sean McNamara, is in a tai chi class and he finds himself attracted to a beautiful Chinese woman in the class. She seems to be just a PhD student at the University of Washington, but dead bodies seem to crop up when she is around, including a serial killer who is the subject of a police manhunt. A few months later, on the Caribbean island of Barbados, during a hunt for a killer, Special Agent McNamara and the Chinese woman encounter a conspiracy that reaches into the CIA and the halls of Congress and they become the hunted as assassins arrive on the island. This is the first novel in “The Chinese Woman” spy-suspense-thriller series. The second novel, “The Chinese Operation Lion Den” is currently available free at To see all the novels in the series, with descriptions, go INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR Q. WHAT MAKES THE “CHINESE WOMAN” SPY-SUSPENSE-THRILLER SERIES SO SPECIAL. WHAT DIFFERENTIATES THEM FROM OTHER NOVELS OF A SIMILAR GENRE? A. To answer that, perhaps I should tell you what motivated me to write them in the first place. I love novels of this genre, and some include both talented writing and great story lines. What bothered me, however, is that most authors don't understand how law enforcement and intelligence agencies actually operate making good stories unrealistic. Most readers may not be bothered by this, or even realize it, but it bothered me so I decided to write novels that rectified that problem. Q. HOW COULD YOU RECTIFY THIS; WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND? A. I have been very fortunate...for most of my career in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police I was assigned to the Major Crime Section, Commander of the Heroin Importing and Trafficking Unit, and an intelligence officer in the National Crime Intelligence Section (organized crime and terrorism). I got to learn about similar assignments in the US as I often worked with US police and the FBI. One of my best friends, in fact, was a CIA case officer. Q. SO WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO MAKE A CHINESE WOMAN THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE SERIES? A. After I retired from the RCMP and worked at a police college they wanted someone to go to China to study Chinese police training. I volunteered as my wife had recently passed away...I had to stop grieving and get on with my life. What an eye-opener that was...but that is a story for another time. I was treated like royalty at the police colleges and universities and made many friends among the police. I also made a few friends in the Ministry of State Security. Even though Americans and Canadians generally have a negative view of the Chinese, I was surprised to find that the Chinese actually like us; I never heard a single negative comment about Americans or Canadians. Sorry if I am getting off topic. Since I have always wanted to be a writer, I thought, what a great advantage I have had. I am personally familiar with crime, law enforcement and intelligence work in North America, now I have a good understanding of the same in China. I could write an authentic novel in the mystery, suspense, thriller genre completely devoid of unrealistic nonsense. You can see photos of me at a Chinese police college on my

281 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2011

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review: https://girlswithguns.org/chinese-wom...

The multiple plots never quite mesh, and it would probably have served each of them better, if they had been handled in their own volume. There’s also a thread about a serial killer, which doesn’t appear to serve much purpose, and the split of the story between Xiaomei and Sean sometimes makes it feel like the author was uncertain who was really his central character. Cox also tends to go overboard on the descriptive aspects of his characters, beyond what is necessary, and certainly what is interesting. A couple of well-written facets are more effective than a head-to-toe description: we don’t need to identify them in a police line-up.

The main positive is the heroine, who is a strong and effective agent, smart and thoroughly competent in her actions. Her background makes her considerably more interesting than McNamara, and I was left wanting to know more about her further adventures. While not a great work of literature, it is an entertaining one, and I ripped through it quickly. The second volume is free, through a link in #1, in exchange for your email address. At that price, I’m almost tempted to sign up.

[Bill Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Chinese Woman: The Barbados Conspiracy reads like an Ian Fleming novel, indeed the main character could be a female James Bond.
It is obvious the author is well versed about China and it's levels of law enforcement, and he is equally knowledgeable about the FBI and other North American police agencies. He has woven this familiarity into a rapidly paced crime thriller that has twists, turns and surprises in every chapter. The characters are interesting and over a number of years the story takes place in China, Seattle and Barbados. It is graphically written, detailed and is an enjoyable read.

Bill Sharp

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seattle, WA. Sergeant Tony Farrow (Seattle PD CSIU) greeted Detective Rick Gonzalez (Yaqui tribe/Scottish, Seattle PD Homicide), Detective Rita Tessier (32, A/A, partner, Seattle PD Homicide, Washington St. U; PS) at the crime scene.
The Crime Scene Investigation Unit (CSIU) was busy doing their part.
MO: sexual assault/strangulation.

Captain Watson had called FBI SAC McNamara requesting additonal help.
FBI SA Diane Swanson (lead invetigator), & FBI SA Luke Zibotsky (USC; JD) were sent.
Chief Percy “Barney” Beck (Eggletown PD) met with the 2 of them.
Sharon Harrigan (victim #1), Theresa Polisky (victim #2), Lucy Furlong (victim #3), all the same MO.

ASAC Sean McNamara (CID) assigned FBI SA Gary Webster to the case.
ASAC McNamara was also coming along.
FBI SA Arthur Morelli FBI SA Cynthia McDonald, & FBI SA Tim Docker would assist.
Agent Zhan Fong (4th Bureau Chinese State Security) who is assigned to keep an eye on FBI SAC Paquette.

Sr. Judge Hampton Forbes (Illinois Supreme Court) had been gunned down on the steps of the Supreme Court building.
Why had Tang Ming called Lieutenant Du Yaoping
What were Li Mei, & Jade Liang (assassin, aka Liang Xiao Xiao, former Snow Leopard Commando) up to?

FBI SAC Li Mei (38, aka Zhen Xiaomei, intelligence) had arrived to help out with the case.
Their speacility is counterfeit products.
The Chinese Ministry of State Security cliams this is a huge strain on the Chinese or US economy.
The illegal clothing/shoe manufactoring employee large amounts of Chínese PPL.

What were Wen Tai (Seattle, MHT gang leader, Shanghái U; engineering), & Liu Wei (24, Seattle, MHT gang member), discussing?
US Chinese Ministry of State Security. What was Agent Rhona Lu meeting with Sr. FBI SAC Gordon Paquette (39, husband/father, Seattle, Counter-intelligence, UCLA JD, FB; TE) about?
What did SSA Wang Xu US Chinese Ministry of State Security call FBI SAC Li Mei about?

Warning: This book contains extremely graphic adult content, violence, or expletive language which is only suitable for mature readers. It may be offensive or have potential adverse psychological effects on the reader.

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written crime thriller book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a huge set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great crime thriller movie, or better yet a mini TV series. To be continued. A very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author; TYBC Enterprises Inc.; 1 edition; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Kelly Crowley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was horrible.
Let's start with there were quite a number of grammatical errors. There were chunks in this book that should have been edited out, there are places in this book where information should have been and isn't. Tell me that at least this was self published. That no publishing company touched this. If any company published this then they need to rethink about who they hire.

[Carol Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Story

Wow this book was hard to put down with meeting Lei Mi when she was a young girl who made a promise to find the price who killed her parents Meeting Sean and Gary and their great partnership in law enforcement Terrific story will follow author

[Stuart Silverman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great plot, super read.

I read both the first and second books in the series. They are well written with excellent characters and plots that are complex but clearly described. Good for all mystery and spy book fans.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reading

This was a very good book, it was well written and hard to put down. Excellent character development and a suspenseful, mysterious, plot line.

[TaenneLeigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like police, detective & crime stories. It was a very gripping read and I couldn't put it down during the last 4 chapters! I'm going to start the next one!!!

[Terri Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping

Very interesting tale. I enjoyed it completely! Goods narrative and was able tro pictrurdw trhew placwea I my minds weywe

[Tracey Billing]

I got about 24% of the way into this book, I felt it was hard to get into.