The Devil's Circle

The Advocate's Devil #3

by Walter Woon

The War is over, the Union Jack flies again over the Municipal Building. Life has come full circle. Or has it? The old certainties are gone and the British are not universally welcomed to take their former place. Malaya is in ferment and the day of reckoning has come for those who fought for the Japanese, with the Japanese and against the Japanese. The air is rife with suspicion and everyone’s loyalty is in question. Racial tensions run high and there’s no telling what will be the catalyst that will throw the country into disarray. Dennis Chiang and his friends are drawn into the chaotic world of post-war Singapore, where accounts must be settled and the colour of justice is not black and white but grey.

This is the long-awaited final installment of Walter Woon’s exceptional The Advocate’s Devil trilogy.

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2011

About the author

Walter Woon is David Marshall Professor of Law and Deputy Chairman, Centre for International Law, at the National Univeristy of Singapore. He was a Member of the High Level Task Force to draft the ASEAN Charter in 2007, and served as Singapore's Attorney-General from 2008 to 2010.

Reviews

[GrabAsia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read. The author is a senior lawyer, and has used his knowledge of the law, combined with his fantastic ability to weave an interesting story intertwined with historical events, to write a wonderful book…it started off as a trilogy and then became a quartet. Volume 1 is about the protagonist Dennis Chiang’s return to Singapore in the heydays of the empire after an education in England Volume 2 starts with the stirrings of Japanese interest in the region, ending the surrender of Singapore in 1942. Volume 3 starts after the end of the war, and I wondered why the author skipped the war itself, then find, gradually, that V3 includes – as flashbacks - accounts of what happens to various characters during the war. There is a hint of what Dennis does during the war, but most of his war is in Volume 4. The last 2 volumes also include very interesting accounts of the Chinese resistance to Japan in Malaya and of the Indian National Army – why Indians joined it and what happened to it. Throughout the series, the character of Mr D’Almeida – senior – looms large.

[Wen Hui · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, struggled with this one.