Last Days in Shanghai: A Novel

by Casey Walker

Luke Slade, a young Congressional aide, begins this business trip to China like all other international travel he’s endured with “Leo the Lyin’”: buried under a slew of diplomatic runarounds, non-functioning cell phones, and humiliation from the Congressman at every turn. But on their first night in Beijing, their trip is plunged into a deeper Leo goes on a drunken bender and disappears into the night. Unsure what dubious business his boss had planned, Luke must piece together the Congressman’s lies while maintaining appearances with their Chinese contacts.

Amidst the confusion, a little bleary from jet lag and alcohol, Luke receives a briefcase full of money from the mayor of a provincial Chinese city. Luke accepts the “gift,” but when he later reconsiders and wants to return the cash, he discovers even more anxiety-inducing news. There's been a mysterious death, and he appears to be under surveillance by Chinese police.

As Luke tries to navigate a complex minefield of corruption, he must also confront his own role in the events. Unwitting marionette? Fall guy? Or perhaps someone more capable of moral compromise than he would have liked to believe? Last Days in Shanghai is an unforgettable debut by a writer to watch. It’s both a hold-on-to-your-seat thriller and a pitch-perfect exploration of present day China—the country’s rapacious capitalism, the shocking boom of its cities and the wholesale eradication of its traditions.

Genres: China, Fiction, Literary Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 16, 2014

About the author

Casey Walker is a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and has a PhD in English Literature from Princeton University. His writing has appeared in The Believer, Boston Review, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, novelist Karen Thompson Walker, author of The Age of Miracles.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to read this new novel set in contemporary China because I haven't come across many novels about China by authors who haven't lived there for a long time. So it was refreshing to see a debut writer tackle this complicated setting. I thought Casey Walker did a great job of portraying the workings of Chinese business and politics, even with the ubiquitous drinking and prostitutes. The plot was thrilling--a congressional staffer loses his boss in China and finds himself in a mess filled with bribery, murder, and more--and the pace of the story kept me occupied for the most part. I found some errors with the Mandarin and how he referred to written Chinese as "Mandarin." It's Chinese, pure and simple. Mandarin is a dialect. Nevertheless, these little things didn't distract from the beautiful writing and the exciting plot.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read. Walker entertains in every carefully crafted sentence. As befits a Princeton PhD, he sparkles in developing a lead character who is both world wise and weary in his mid-twenties, yet still attempting to do his duty in a corrupt world. This is an ambitious work for a first novel, a coming of age tale that reveals the nexus between business and politics in present day China, from the peasants seeking fortune in the city to officials climbing desperately for the prize. The early part of the book is a bit heavy on narration and the musings of the protagonist, and the plot does fade from view toward the middle, but as the story picks up steam, the dialog sparkles and the arc of the character’s development ends on a satisfying note. A brilliant debut

[Boris Feldman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pointless. Inelegant. Utterly without redeeming literary value.
I will now avoid authors whose Principal Credential is the Iowa Writers Workshop.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

At 24, Luke Slade is mourning the end of his relationship with his girlfriend, Alex, when his boss takes him on a trip to China. Luke is a top aide to Republican Congressman Leonard (Leo) Fillmore, whose questionable ethics have allowed him to make the journey courtesy of a shadowy billionaire, a principal in a Chinese-American joint venture in real estate, Bund International. Soon after arriving in Beijing, Leo wanders off in a drunken stupor, supposedly to his hotel room, but he cannot be found the following day. Left adrift, Luke sticks to his boss’s schedule, representing the Congressman, in hopes of minimizing the damage from Leo’s disappearance. Soon, everything goes badly awry.

This book is another in a very long list of novels to come from the talented graduates of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. It shows. The prose in Last Days in Shanghai is consistently elegant and distinctive. The author is clearly intimately familiar with the Chinese setting of the book. Without doubt, he has spent a lot of time in China. And the plot contains the makings of an exciting story. Unfortunately, it disappoints. I expected . . . more. The action doesn’t add up to the suspenseful tale I anticipated. It’s a thriller that doesn’t quite thrill. Too bad. But I’ll be looking out for something better from Casey Walker in the future.

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting noir of modern china and its corrupt capitalism, being corrupted via a usa congress person and his aide,. story revolves around the aide, who 'unknowingly' takes a case full of cash for a promise of construction contracts, then he has to run for his life. a fun and literate debut thriller/noir with seemingly accurate details of 'inside china".

[Margaret Goodlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really DO NOT recommend this book. It was boring, uninteresting, terrible. The writer wasn't bad, there was just a terrible non-plot. And the ending was extremely unsatisfying. Just nothing to recommend here.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like 2.5 stars. The China parts were interesting, the story was very dull and kind of like a bad action movie. Not a good bad action movie, just a bad action movie.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promising debut—I would agree except that it seemed to take some strange turns and in the end, I didn’t like it as much as in the beginning.

[Fred Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

“3 plus” - descriptions of China very accurate from my experience

[B. Cheng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad quick read, author definitely did some research on spots in China and that aspect was a bit fun...

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: The author is a friend of mine.

I think this book got off to a slow start, but once it got going, it was an insightful commentary on modern society, especially on people's ability to overlook truths about their lives that might require them to re-evaluate themselves. I don't know enough about either contemporary China or the US Congress to judge the pictures the book gives of them, but, as presented, they are very fitting settings for explorations of the novel's themes. Like the plot, I feel like the protagonist in particular developed a bit too slowly, but he was believable and--especially toward the end--sympathetic. There aren't very many secondary characters, but they are well-drawn and compelling. The book is well-written, and especially has some very nice descriptive passages, but it felt like it took a little while for Walker to settle into his voice. In terms strictly of what happens, the book really starts to pick up about halfway through--I really enjoyed trying to piece together all the intrigue and figure out what Luke had gotten himself into. The ending felt a bit rushed and was a little too ambiguous for my liking, but it fits with the tone of the novel as a whole and ties up all the themes quite nicely. Overall, while the pace was a bit uneven, I thought this was a very enjoyable and promising debut novel. I look forward to reading more from Walker.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed a good bet for our current political times - a story of politics, greed, amorality, and cynicism. Our hero is the fool of the story, while every other character is markedly higher on the self-knowledge scale of human development. You may be different, but my sympathy for the main character - and thus my sympathy for the book - waned roughy halfway through, although I made it to the end. Try it if you're looking for a story more about politicians running amok than insight into China.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is very good. It kept me involved in this nice, light read from starter to finish. The characters were for the most part pretty shallow, which contrasted nicely to the depth we get to experience with Luke, the narrator and primary character. It was easy (for me) to like him and forgive his naïveté (he's young) and budding cynicism (trying to survive as a congressional aide). And when we attempted to turn the corner emotionally and act with a level of certainty and maturity, he seemed to always hold a little back. I forgive him that as he's growing up this new / first chapter of his professional life without a father to guide him. The story itself wasn't developed enough (for me) to give it more than three stars but the author's writing style is comfortable and it was a quick enjoyable read for me.

[Paul Downs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prose: excellent. Clearly a trained and experienced writer. Characters: interesting, and I did find myself giving a damn about what happened to (most of ) them. Plot: confusing. Theme: dunno. Politics is corrupt? Business is corrupt? China is corrupt? Some people in those pursuits are corrupt? It doesn't rise to a soul-haunting portrait of the human condition at the intersection of two countries.

Good effort from Walker - I would happily read his next book.

[Mainlinebooker · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that is definitely not worth your time..A young congressional aide goes to China with his duplicitous boss only to find himself given a briefcase filled with money as a gift from a mayor in Kaifeng. A death occurs; he is under suspicion by the police, but nothing more dramatic happens. The tension is non existent and the moral conundrums feel empty. One to skip..

[Leslie]

It's kind of hard for me to rate this as I like straightforward and spare writing; this has a lot of parenthetical phrasing, which diverts the flow. Interesting setting with a view of a culture that many Americans don't know about.

[Steven Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant writing, with an ending I didn't see coming. Not the formulaic mystery-thriller usually on my nightstand. A fine tale of an anti-hero- and other really interesting characters - adrift in a moral dilemma with chinese overtones.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

One word, " eh ". I would give this 2.5 starts as it was just just 'okay'. A lot of history of China thrown in this novel along with a lot of cliche's, stereotypes, etc. about China and the Chinese. Just an american author's attempt to write a decent novel revolving around Chinese cities.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a Goodread win for me. Perhaps I am not seeing or reading what others are seeing or reading but I am disappointed in the book. I have found the book to be slow and dry and am forcing my way through it.

[VeggieMan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t finish this book because it just wasn’t that interesting to me. I got it for the suspense but maybe the plot just wasn’t for me. It was hard to keep reading so i’m dropping it. Glad I got it from the library and that I didn’t buy it

[Matt Carl · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read, but not really my thing. Too much corrupt politician cliche, and uninteresting characters.

[Jun Qian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a fun book to read and there are witty sentences. However, the overall story lacks forward thrust and the ending is less than plausible.

[Nancy Cook Lauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Corrupt politicians, an interesting peek into present-day China and some lyrical prose that really sings. So why can't I give this book a 4? Must be the plot. Well worth the read, though.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out okay but turned very complicated and involved. Couldn't really care about the main character after getting two-thirds the way through. Great descriptions of life in China, however.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really interesting concept... unfortunately, it was very vulgar? Maybe it was meant to be humorous but it made me cringe and put the book down. A shame.

[Jeanine Gibson]

It is not bad.

[Mike Harper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cynical and without ugh of a plot.