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Ava Lee #8
The Princeling of Nanjing
Ava is in Shanghai for the launch of the PÖ clothing line. She has invited Xu, and over the course of the glitzy event and a late-night dinner, she detects a certain hesitancy in him. He confides that the Tsai family, headed by Tsai Lian, the governor of Jiangsu Province and a “princeling” — he is the son of a general who was on the Long March with Mao and a member of China’s power elite — is trying to force him and his Triad organization back into the drug business. Xu is already paying millions of dollars a year to various Tsai businesses, but the family wants more and thinks the new venture can deliver it. Xu believes this move would lead to his eventual destruction and feels he has nowhere to turn. If he opposes them, they will crush him. If he goes along with them, he thinks that inevitably the police and military will hunt him down.
Ava sets out to help Xu deter the Tsai family. As she digs into the breadth and depth of the family’s wealth and corruption, she gets caught up in a huge tangled web, extending all the way to the U.S. and the U.K., where it reaches the top echelons of political power.
Ava sets out to help Xu deter the Tsai family. As she digs into the breadth and depth of the family’s wealth and corruption, she gets caught up in a huge tangled web, extending all the way to the U.S. and the U.K., where it reaches the top echelons of political power.
474 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 2015
16 people are currently reading
664 people want to read
About the author
Ian Hamilton
27 books348 followersIan Hamilton has been a journalist, a senior executive with the federal government, a diplomat, and a businessman with international links. He has written for several magazines and newspapers in Canada and the U.S., including Maclean's, Boston Magazine, Saturday Night, Regina Leader Post, Calgary Albertan, and the Calgary Herald. His nonfiction book, The Children's Crusade, was a Canadian Book of the Month Club selection.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
January 29, 2019
Another excellent installment in the Ava Lee series, where she feels compelled to help her new friend (Xu), who is head of the Triads, by using her prodigious skills as a forensic accountant. Xu is being threatened by the reigning family in Nanjing to enter into a new business venture that will bring big problems to him and his leadership. Meanwhile, Ava, May and Amanda's Three Sisters investment firm is also working furiously to manage the new Po clothing line and a major expansion of a Chinese logistics business. Hamilton's description of various locations make you feel like you are there, and he shares a love of good food with mystery writer, Robert Parker. I always want to grab a pair of chopsticks when reading the Ava Lee series.
July 20, 2017
I simply couldn't get too excited with this book in the series- I don't know - maybe it is another transition stage but Ava has lost a bit of her edge and I'm finding her a bit less interesting.
Of course, I'll try the next one, but my interest seems to be fading as Ava is stalling in China.
Of course, I'll try the next one, but my interest seems to be fading as Ava is stalling in China.
January 30, 2023
As usual just love reading about Ava. Her relationship with Xu is interesting. It seems they have a strong friendship, like a sister almost. Ava is at ease in Xu's household. I wonder where the relationship with Maria is going. Ava seems almost to be reluctant to move further forward. Another great edition to the series
A NetGalley ARC
A NetGalley ARC
May 5, 2016
Hamilton never ceases to amaze me. He writes a fiction series about an unlikely heroine, Ava Lee, who does forensic accounting for a living. Throw away all those notions you had about accountants being boring. There is nothing even remotely ordinary about what Ms. Lee does, and the fact that her work has her traveling the world regularly adds to the mystique.
While most series have a level of predictability after awhile, this series never does. We are treated in this episode to the most lovely charting of how corruption might work in China. You heard some time ago about Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai, famous now for the murder of a British businessman. Bo was a “princeling” of Chinese politics, one of the Eight Elders of the Communist Party of China. He was also governor of Liaoning province and held an important role in the Northeast Area Revitalization Plan, giving him power over what is accomplished and who gets to do it. A result of all that power was a myriad family-owned businesses, dubious connections, graft, and coercion that allowed his family to acquire untold wealth.
Cut to Ava Lee, in Shanghai for a fashion show highlighting her fledgling company’s first collection. One of her backers is the head of the Triads, who comes under pressure from the “princeling” of Jiangsu province (the wealthiest in all China) to start up a synthetic drug operation. Well, Ava decides the best way to get this powerful, unreasonable man to back off is to expose his families dealings. And then Hamilton kindly gives us an education to exactly how graft and corruption can occur in China.
You may not be as impressed as I was, but let me tell you I have tried to figure out how this works for years…it always seemed just too blatant to be possible. But the hidden networks of power make it extraordinarily difficult to reveal the true source of the corruption. You will note that only last month the Panama Papers revealed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had extensive hidden overseas caches of money in the names of companies headed by close family members. Well, Hamilton shows how this might be possible.
In this episode there is relatively little exhibition of Ava Lee’s background in bak mei kungfu , a particularly lethal type of Chinese martial arts often used by palace bodyguards in centuries gone by, but there is a little, where Ava takes on two thugs sent to kidnap her into silence. What gives the story impetus is the short time frame in which Ava uncovers the links that made a provincial Chinese governor a billionaire, and the danger that lurks behind every phone call and meeting. In the United States I doubt we’d be using cell phones like Ava did in Shanghai and Nanjing, without regard to who might be listening, but there have to be some ways to bypass plot killers.
Ava is an avowed lesbian with a girlfriend in Toronto waiting for her return, but we sense Ava’s growing attachment to a powerful man in Shanghai and expect that one day that attraction might burst into flame. The unexplored sexual tension adds piquancy to their conversations around the breakfast table slurping congee with scallions. And that’s the other thing about this series that is so delightful: if you’ve ever wondered what to order at a Chinese restaurant, look no further. Hamilton details for us the most exquisite meals, whether at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong or a hotpot restaurant in a side street there and gives us the manners and customs to go along with it. I defy anyone to turn up their noses at the menus items described.
Hamilton was an international businessman and diplomat before he turned to writing. How he came up with a Asian lesbian as a leading lady in his novels is one of the great mysteries of inspiration. His tightly wound and disciplined main character is perhaps a bit too cool to imagine as a friend, but she is someone to admire, certainly, from afar. Hamilton never disappoints in this series, so if you haven’t indulged yet, make sure to get a couple books in the series to get acclimatized. This very fine fiction is as intellectually stimulating as it is culturally rewarding.
While most series have a level of predictability after awhile, this series never does. We are treated in this episode to the most lovely charting of how corruption might work in China. You heard some time ago about Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai, famous now for the murder of a British businessman. Bo was a “princeling” of Chinese politics, one of the Eight Elders of the Communist Party of China. He was also governor of Liaoning province and held an important role in the Northeast Area Revitalization Plan, giving him power over what is accomplished and who gets to do it. A result of all that power was a myriad family-owned businesses, dubious connections, graft, and coercion that allowed his family to acquire untold wealth.
Cut to Ava Lee, in Shanghai for a fashion show highlighting her fledgling company’s first collection. One of her backers is the head of the Triads, who comes under pressure from the “princeling” of Jiangsu province (the wealthiest in all China) to start up a synthetic drug operation. Well, Ava decides the best way to get this powerful, unreasonable man to back off is to expose his families dealings. And then Hamilton kindly gives us an education to exactly how graft and corruption can occur in China.
You may not be as impressed as I was, but let me tell you I have tried to figure out how this works for years…it always seemed just too blatant to be possible. But the hidden networks of power make it extraordinarily difficult to reveal the true source of the corruption. You will note that only last month the Panama Papers revealed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had extensive hidden overseas caches of money in the names of companies headed by close family members. Well, Hamilton shows how this might be possible.
In this episode there is relatively little exhibition of Ava Lee’s background in bak mei kungfu , a particularly lethal type of Chinese martial arts often used by palace bodyguards in centuries gone by, but there is a little, where Ava takes on two thugs sent to kidnap her into silence. What gives the story impetus is the short time frame in which Ava uncovers the links that made a provincial Chinese governor a billionaire, and the danger that lurks behind every phone call and meeting. In the United States I doubt we’d be using cell phones like Ava did in Shanghai and Nanjing, without regard to who might be listening, but there have to be some ways to bypass plot killers.
Ava is an avowed lesbian with a girlfriend in Toronto waiting for her return, but we sense Ava’s growing attachment to a powerful man in Shanghai and expect that one day that attraction might burst into flame. The unexplored sexual tension adds piquancy to their conversations around the breakfast table slurping congee with scallions. And that’s the other thing about this series that is so delightful: if you’ve ever wondered what to order at a Chinese restaurant, look no further. Hamilton details for us the most exquisite meals, whether at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong or a hotpot restaurant in a side street there and gives us the manners and customs to go along with it. I defy anyone to turn up their noses at the menus items described.
Hamilton was an international businessman and diplomat before he turned to writing. How he came up with a Asian lesbian as a leading lady in his novels is one of the great mysteries of inspiration. His tightly wound and disciplined main character is perhaps a bit too cool to imagine as a friend, but she is someone to admire, certainly, from afar. Hamilton never disappoints in this series, so if you haven’t indulged yet, make sure to get a couple books in the series to get acclimatized. This very fine fiction is as intellectually stimulating as it is culturally rewarding.
January 13, 2016
So the first thing you should note is that I read this book within a 24 hour period- from the time it arrived on my kindle at midnight until 8pm the following day (with sleep of course in between).
I really love this series- I wait patiently for the next book in the series every year and have yet to be disappointed.
This time we see Ava still settling into her roll as a business woman versus a debt collector, though her past business isn't something that can be left behind easily and she finds herself in need of her investigative skills once again trying to help her friend Xu with his own Triad related business. There is less violence than we've seen in previous books, but that doesn't detract one but from the problems Ava needs to solve with regards to a powerful Chinese family. The pages kept me turning and I'll be preordering the next book as soon as it's available!
I really love this series- I wait patiently for the next book in the series every year and have yet to be disappointed.
This time we see Ava still settling into her roll as a business woman versus a debt collector, though her past business isn't something that can be left behind easily and she finds herself in need of her investigative skills once again trying to help her friend Xu with his own Triad related business. There is less violence than we've seen in previous books, but that doesn't detract one but from the problems Ava needs to solve with regards to a powerful Chinese family. The pages kept me turning and I'll be preordering the next book as soon as it's available!
October 2, 2015
It never fails, as soon as I start reading about Ava's travels and her business she goes off and astounds me once again. Ian is a brilliant writer and because I'm Ava Lee's number one fan I'm sad. It will be another year before I'll be able to read The Couturier of Milan. I want to read it now of course, but I can wait. I think....Huge thanks go to Laura and the whole team at House of Anansi for introducing me to Ian's incredible writing.
September 2, 2019
Book #8 in the Ava Lee series
It is a sheer pleasure to read Ava Lee’s globe –trotting experiences. Each story is fresh. Although I know what to expect Mr. Hamilton throws enough curveballs to keep me curious and engaged. This latest follows “The King of Shanghai” where Ava embarked on a business partnership, The Three Sisters investment firm.
The “The Princeling of Nanjing” begins with a fashion show to launch the Po line of designer clothes. Before she can cherish her success, Ava is visited by Xu, who has a very serious problem. Xu is in trouble with a corrupt political dynasty and needs Ava’s help in the hope of finding something that can take the pressure off…. Ava and Xu had developed a relationship and a mutual trust in the last book.
It took me a few pages to get back into the groove and recall where I had left off but after a short time I was completely swept up in the story and enjoyed spending time with Ava as she navigates her world. In this episode we are treated to a lovely blueprint of how corruption might work in China. What I missed the most is we have little exhibition of lethal type Chinese martial arts that Ava often uses to put her words across, there are some subtle moves when she takes on two thugs sent to kidnap her but not what we usual see. The story moves along slowly and has many personal moments. Something is definitely brewing between Ava and Xu, seems we may have a growing affection here. Hopefully we will see how far this unexplored sexual attachment goes. It surely added piquancy to this story after all Ava is not into men…. What make this series delightful are the details Mr. Hamilton describes for the most exquisite meals, the customs and manners experienced whether you are in a high end or a hotpot restaurant. ….he compares a dish to a picture, a sport game, a musical performance and gives it personality…. I dare you not to smack your lips and savour along with the characters…. :) Some may find a wee bit too much description of food and too much traveling on unfamiliar roads in this book, I did at times. Ava is one smart, sassy, Toronto-based forensic accountant.
“The Princeling of Nanjing” is a thrill of a read that is hard to put down.
It is a sheer pleasure to read Ava Lee’s globe –trotting experiences. Each story is fresh. Although I know what to expect Mr. Hamilton throws enough curveballs to keep me curious and engaged. This latest follows “The King of Shanghai” where Ava embarked on a business partnership, The Three Sisters investment firm.
The “The Princeling of Nanjing” begins with a fashion show to launch the Po line of designer clothes. Before she can cherish her success, Ava is visited by Xu, who has a very serious problem. Xu is in trouble with a corrupt political dynasty and needs Ava’s help in the hope of finding something that can take the pressure off…. Ava and Xu had developed a relationship and a mutual trust in the last book.
It took me a few pages to get back into the groove and recall where I had left off but after a short time I was completely swept up in the story and enjoyed spending time with Ava as she navigates her world. In this episode we are treated to a lovely blueprint of how corruption might work in China. What I missed the most is we have little exhibition of lethal type Chinese martial arts that Ava often uses to put her words across, there are some subtle moves when she takes on two thugs sent to kidnap her but not what we usual see. The story moves along slowly and has many personal moments. Something is definitely brewing between Ava and Xu, seems we may have a growing affection here. Hopefully we will see how far this unexplored sexual attachment goes. It surely added piquancy to this story after all Ava is not into men…. What make this series delightful are the details Mr. Hamilton describes for the most exquisite meals, the customs and manners experienced whether you are in a high end or a hotpot restaurant. ….he compares a dish to a picture, a sport game, a musical performance and gives it personality…. I dare you not to smack your lips and savour along with the characters…. :) Some may find a wee bit too much description of food and too much traveling on unfamiliar roads in this book, I did at times. Ava is one smart, sassy, Toronto-based forensic accountant.
“The Princeling of Nanjing” is a thrill of a read that is hard to put down.
April 2, 2019
This one felt a bit over the top. It was about giant miscommunication and general misuse of powers which made it a bit disconcerting.
Still, the writing as excellent and Miss Ava, as usual, impeccable.
Still, the writing as excellent and Miss Ava, as usual, impeccable.
February 2, 2017
Ava Lee settles in as 小老闆 (Xiao Lao Ban or Little Boss)
This is the 2nd novel of the Ava Lee sub-series called the Triad Years, where the formidable forensic accountant has moved on from her debt collection years with Uncle and is instead running the Three Sisters investment firm with her friend May Ling Wong and her sister-in-law Amanda Yee while also lending support to her new ally/silent partner, the Triad chairman Xu.
The plot here follows closely upon the end of the previous book "The King of Shanghai", with Three Sisters continuing their plans for the launch of Clark Po’s PÖ clothing line. Ava Lee has to juggle that with a project of assisting Xu in a behind-the-scenes business struggle with a corrupt Chinese political and business dynasty.
Ian Hamilton has not lost his touch with the new challenges of making fashion clothing line launches and international forensic accounting investigations suspenseful. The plot zips along and before you can say “bak mei”, Ava is back in the groove, even when facing what initially seems like the insurmountable odds of an entire 3-generation family dynasty. She is indeed the "Little Boss".
I am already looking forward to The Couturier of Milan, the expected next book in the series.
p.s. minor quibble, there were a few instances of typos between the words “one” and “once”, which obviously could not be caught by spellcheck. e.g. pg. 309 “get out of here in once piece."
This is the 2nd novel of the Ava Lee sub-series called the Triad Years, where the formidable forensic accountant has moved on from her debt collection years with Uncle and is instead running the Three Sisters investment firm with her friend May Ling Wong and her sister-in-law Amanda Yee while also lending support to her new ally/silent partner, the Triad chairman Xu.
The plot here follows closely upon the end of the previous book "The King of Shanghai", with Three Sisters continuing their plans for the launch of Clark Po’s PÖ clothing line. Ava Lee has to juggle that with a project of assisting Xu in a behind-the-scenes business struggle with a corrupt Chinese political and business dynasty.
Ian Hamilton has not lost his touch with the new challenges of making fashion clothing line launches and international forensic accounting investigations suspenseful. The plot zips along and before you can say “bak mei”, Ava is back in the groove, even when facing what initially seems like the insurmountable odds of an entire 3-generation family dynasty. She is indeed the "Little Boss".
I am already looking forward to The Couturier of Milan, the expected next book in the series.
p.s. minor quibble, there were a few instances of typos between the words “one” and “once”, which obviously could not be caught by spellcheck. e.g. pg. 309 “get out of here in once piece."
May 29, 2017
The publication date on Goodreads shows 2015 but the copy I won in the Giveaway as an ARC shows a pub date of May 9, 2017. This suggests a full editing so I am looking forward to a streamlined story. The description states ". . . crime fiction with armchair travel." Excellent!
Maybe I set my expectations too high because of the book's synopsis. With so much attention to food and fashion, I seemed to miss the story's plotline. And the action scenes were few and far between. My best guess, though, is that I came at the tail end and need to know more that transpired with the characters, especially Ava, in the rest of the series.
Excellent writing throughout and fans will no doubt enjoy this latest episode, especially for the scenery and nightlife of exotic Nanjing.
Maybe I set my expectations too high because of the book's synopsis. With so much attention to food and fashion, I seemed to miss the story's plotline. And the action scenes were few and far between. My best guess, though, is that I came at the tail end and need to know more that transpired with the characters, especially Ava, in the rest of the series.
Excellent writing throughout and fans will no doubt enjoy this latest episode, especially for the scenery and nightlife of exotic Nanjing.
March 30, 2016
I generally enjoy Ian Hamilton's Ava Lee series. This one is a light read, and less repetitive than the earlier ones (we all know Ava's wardrobe rituals - is it the black linen pants or the skirt? the pink, white or blue Brooks Brothers shirt? will she wear a touch of lipstick? or one of her Giordano tshirts) thankfully this time around the author trusts that his readers know her routine, which saves it from becoming outrightly annoying. There are the other usual elements - exotic locations, a little martial arts, big business, and the forensic accounting Lee is so well known for. I was a little disappointed with this one - it felt more like Ava was using UK and US newspaper outlets to do her dirty work. While effective in some regards, I felt let down story-wise. Plus, everyone's too darn polite, and I found the dialogue to be somewhat ho-hum. Maria should run for the hills - not only is she a boring, door mat, she's likely never going to see Ava again, in her black linen pants or skirt, Brooks Brothers shirt, Tank watch....
June 5, 2016
Haven't dipped into this series for a while, but I quite enjoyed this episode of Ava Lee's adventures. She is in Shanghai for the launch of a clothing line and in an effort to help a Triad friend she ends up investigating a powerful Chinese family. The threat of violence abounds here, but it is the investigation itself and the accounting angle that moves her case forward. Satisfying story.
January 17, 2016
Did not enjoy as much as previous Ava Lee books. Miss the presence of Uncle. Miss the kick ass fights. TMI about the business/banking world. Hoping the next book will be as good as previous books in the Ava Lee Series.
October 26, 2016
I don't know why, but I love this series. This instalment involves trade in China. Interesting. Recommended.
February 8, 2017
As excellent as all the previous publications. A great entertainment.
May 4, 2017
“A Smooth Page Turner.”
Ava Lee is with May Ling and Amanda, her partners in the Three Sisters business in Shanghai, as they start their clothing business. Their benefactor, Xu is on hand, but he reveals that a powerful Chinese family is forcing him into the drug business, and they won’t take no for an answer. He is truly between a rock and a hard spot. Drugs are a business he doesn’t want in, and if he says no they could destroy him. Although he doesn’t ask Ava for help, she feels obligated to look into the family’s financial dealings. What she finds is proof of bribes and illegal money laundering, something that might look bad within the other Chinese power structures. She begins following the money, and things get more complicated when the head of the family discovers who is doing it.
This is the 8th Ava Lee novel, and the writing continues to be smooth and topnotch. The story is character driven, and the characters actually become part of the reader. We feel a kinship to Ava, May Ling, Amanda, Xu, Sonny, Suen, and everyone involved. They are like our own family. Highly recommended.
Ava Lee is with May Ling and Amanda, her partners in the Three Sisters business in Shanghai, as they start their clothing business. Their benefactor, Xu is on hand, but he reveals that a powerful Chinese family is forcing him into the drug business, and they won’t take no for an answer. He is truly between a rock and a hard spot. Drugs are a business he doesn’t want in, and if he says no they could destroy him. Although he doesn’t ask Ava for help, she feels obligated to look into the family’s financial dealings. What she finds is proof of bribes and illegal money laundering, something that might look bad within the other Chinese power structures. She begins following the money, and things get more complicated when the head of the family discovers who is doing it.
This is the 8th Ava Lee novel, and the writing continues to be smooth and topnotch. The story is character driven, and the characters actually become part of the reader. We feel a kinship to Ava, May Ling, Amanda, Xu, Sonny, Suen, and everyone involved. They are like our own family. Highly recommended.
June 10, 2017
I got a super surprise today! I had won a copy of The Couturier of Milan, the latest Ave Lee novel, and the package arrived with a copy of The Princeling of Nanjing included! SO glad. I love the character and her awesome capabilities. The best kind of Wonder Woman. Will have to read this one first before the Couturier.... I've missed some of the middle books in the series, but will do what I can to remedy that.
I was going back and forth about my rating, gave the book 4 but it's really at least 4 1/2. The Mystery Book Group read The Disciple of Las Vegas in March 2013. This was the first readily available book from the series available in the US.
I had not planned to do so, but I picked up the book on the 7th when it arrived in the mail and read a bit and then a bit more on the 8th and then yesterday I sat with the book all day long. I had a bit left to read this morning, but must have read 3/4ths of it yesterday! My eyes are going to fall out. I just couldn't stop. There is a lot of accounting tracing but Hamilton even makes that exciting! There were so many times I was thinking, No, Don't DO that! It was just very intense. Another great outing. And how nice that I have the new book due out in October to read as well. I think I need to do some practical things for a day or two though.....
I was going back and forth about my rating, gave the book 4 but it's really at least 4 1/2. The Mystery Book Group read The Disciple of Las Vegas in March 2013. This was the first readily available book from the series available in the US.
I had not planned to do so, but I picked up the book on the 7th when it arrived in the mail and read a bit and then a bit more on the 8th and then yesterday I sat with the book all day long. I had a bit left to read this morning, but must have read 3/4ths of it yesterday! My eyes are going to fall out. I just couldn't stop. There is a lot of accounting tracing but Hamilton even makes that exciting! There were so many times I was thinking, No, Don't DO that! It was just very intense. Another great outing. And how nice that I have the new book due out in October to read as well. I think I need to do some practical things for a day or two though.....
May 6, 2019
Back to my favorite forensic accountant Ava Lee.
This time she’s following the money trail of the tangled web of companies and payments and contracts and accounts of a top Chinese provincial leader’s family members. How sad that it is totally believable that this family amassed twenty billion dollars in assets.
The tension and mystery come from the question of is this family powerful enough to quash the story that is developing about their wealth? And quash it in a way that would make the telling and the teller go away forever? And what if the governor himself is not directly involved?
This time she’s following the money trail of the tangled web of companies and payments and contracts and accounts of a top Chinese provincial leader’s family members. How sad that it is totally believable that this family amassed twenty billion dollars in assets.
The tension and mystery come from the question of is this family powerful enough to quash the story that is developing about their wealth? And quash it in a way that would make the telling and the teller go away forever? And what if the governor himself is not directly involved?
September 4, 2024
Ava is in Shanghai for the launch of the PO clothing line when she notices that Xu is troubled. Some very powerful people are trying to force him into the drug racket. Ava decides to look into those people’s finances and a new adventure begins. This is number 8 in the series and is probably as good as many of the ones that have gone before in this great series, but it is all wearing thin for me. Hamilton has done his best to move the series along, adding characters and developing the central plot, but it seems like very much of the same even if it is different in many ways. It is still one of the best series, and it is probably just me that needs a rest.
July 20, 2017
Another great story about Ava Lee and her various experiences and uncanny instincts. I read Courtier of Milan first so I am working my way backwards. However, I have ordered the previous Ava Lee books so hopefully, I can read them in order. Ian Hamilton's use of short chapters entices the reader to read 'just one more' and before you know it, a great deal of time has passed. His sense of heightening anticipation is well crafted especially for this genre. This is not heavy reading but like a wonderful dessert.
February 25, 2024
DNF at exactly 40%. At almost halfway through it became clear that nothing was ever going yo happen in this book. Literally it's just pages of excruciating irrelevant details ......what coffee she drank, what she wore, etc etc interrupted by a bunch of accounting discussion. The last few books in this series have gone downhill, & it's officially hit rock bottom. Would be -0- stars, but I gave an extra because the product placement that overwhelmed this series for the first 5 or 6 books seems to be limited now to Brooks Brothers, so that's at least something.
August 9, 2017
This book tells a lot about the characters in the book and is lengthy in detail and has back story as
well as introductions to the many characters throughout this book. It tells the details of the business in fashion and the story of the The princeling of the title is Tsai Lian, governor of Jiangsu, one of the largest and wealthiest provinces in China. In short they control and rule everything. A must read for book lovers everywhere.
well as introductions to the many characters throughout this book. It tells the details of the business in fashion and the story of the The princeling of the title is Tsai Lian, governor of Jiangsu, one of the largest and wealthiest provinces in China. In short they control and rule everything. A must read for book lovers everywhere.
February 20, 2018
Reading this book was a major departure from my usual reading genre and I'm glad I went down "the road less taken." Interesting characters with great plotting in a cultural atmosphere I am totally unfamiliar with were a total eye opening and wonderful reading experience for me. I can't wait to read the other books in the Ava Lee series, The Triad Years. Hats off to the goodreads giveaway program for exposing me to another gifted author!
April 26, 2020
Pretty much what you expect from the Ava Lee series. The earlier novels in the series were better because now Ava is more than a run of the mill lesbian forensic accountant, clothes horse, and practitioner of an ancient Chinese martial arts discipline. Now she is a partner in a high fashion line of clothing, and too much of the story is taken up with ravings about fashion shows and other irrelevant crap. A ploy to attract more women readers?
May 27, 2020
As someone who never managed to watch more than three minutes of The Godfather or anything else mafia related, I was nervous I wouldn't get through this book. Nope. This is a great fictional introduction to how the triad works, and how who you know means everything. As always, Ava is the unflappable heroine we expect, dealing with situations that balloon out of control. I'm excited to read the next book already.
September 1, 2023
Disappointing. Not only does Ian not have an appreciation for the complexand widely accepted guanxi based relationships and paths to success, his notion that legal counsel would advocate a media expose bordered on both the unprofessional and unethical. Furthermore, the actions that Ava takes are hardly connected to the goal of backing off the pressure to create an illegal drug factory. Ava deserves better from Ian.
October 7, 2023
In The Princeling of Nanjing Ava flexed more mental than physical muscle and I quite enjoyed this version of how she bested the worst. That said, I feel I understand Ava rather well as I am working my way through the series in chronological order -- which means I have also read the 4-part prequel/spin-off The Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung series. I'm not positive that I would have enjoyed this book as much if this book had been my introduction to Ava Lee.
November 18, 2023
Quotes I liked:
pg. 141:
"You're always in such a rush." (Johnny)
"My former partner used to say that people who are content to let life come to them never have a life worth mentioning." (Ava)
pg. 346:
"The most important thing, though, is to act. The moment you hesitate, someone else makes your decision for you, and that never works out." (Ava)
Pg. 457
"Xiao lao ban - Little Boss." (Auntie Grace)
pg. 141:
"You're always in such a rush." (Johnny)
"My former partner used to say that people who are content to let life come to them never have a life worth mentioning." (Ava)
pg. 346:
"The most important thing, though, is to act. The moment you hesitate, someone else makes your decision for you, and that never works out." (Ava)
Pg. 457
"Xiao lao ban - Little Boss." (Auntie Grace)
September 15, 2025
I have started back in on reading these Ava Lee books by Iam Hamilton which I enjoy for their Asia/HK based stories. This particular one was very long, and the crime involved was a financial one, rather complex. A bit like three card Monty, guess where the money is now. While this type of crime is very common, it is difficult keep the suspense up. I will read the next one because I own it, but otherwise I am not sure that I would. The ones that press this one, I liked better.
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