Little Saigon

by T. Jefferson Parker

In the aftermath of the war in Vietnam, thousands of desperate refugees fled the killing fields for new lives in Southern California. But for those who settled in "Little Saigon," the war never really ended. The latest victim of the continuing struggle is Li Frye, a popular singer whose songs of hope and home have made her a heroine to her people. Ripped from the stage by masked gunmen, she has vanished into the dark alleys of Little Saigon, where outsiders are met with suspicion and a stony silence as impenetrable as the steaming jungles of Vietnam.

Local surfing legend turned reporter Chuck Frye knows what it means to be an outsider. The black sheep of his wealthy family, Chuck is more at home on a longboard than in a boardroom. But Li is his sister-in-law, and he cannot sit back and let his family or the clueless police investigate the case alone. What Chuck cannot know is that he stands upon the crest of a deadly wave, a swirling vortex of corruption and violence that reaches to the highest levels of the United States intelligence community. And even as he comes closer to the truth, he draws nearer to a terrible secret that many would kill to keep.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Audiobook

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1988

About the author

T. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of 26 crime novels, including Edgar Award-winners SILENT JOE and CALIFORNIA GIRL. Parker's next work is coming-of-age thriller, A THOUSAND STEPS, set for January of 2022. He lives with his family in a small town in north San Diego County, and enjoys fishing, hiking and beachcombing.

Reviews

[Lukasz Pruski · Rating 2 out of 5]

" Frye was sure that Nha's screaming and the sirens wailing in his own eardrums were enough to bring down the walls. Come down, he thought, come down and bury us and make this all untrue. "

Little Saigon (1987) is yet another novel in my new literary déjà-vu project. I am re-reading books by T. Jefferson Parker, an Edgar Award winner for Silent Joe, to me the quintessential writer of Southern California crime fiction of the late 1980s to 2000s. This is Mr. Parker's fifth novel that I am reviewing on Goodreads; my previous ratings are very high (for crime fiction): three four-star scores and a three-star one. Alas, this book is clearly the weakest of the five.

Chuck Frye, an aspiring journalist and an ex-reporter fired from Orange County Ledger, has lived his entire life in the shadow of his older brother, Bennett. Bennett, a Vietnam War hero and a very successful businessman, has always been the parents' favorite. Chuck's life has been marked by a string of failures. He is an excellent surfer, but even there his main claim to fame is being only "the second-best surfer of Laguna Beach."

We meet the brothers during a birthday party in Westminster, CA. This Orange County city has the largest Vietnamese population outside of South-East Asia, thus it is called "Little Saigon." Three men armed with machine guns storm the party, there is shooting, and Bennett's wife, a Vietnamese singer, is abducted. Potential connections with national politics emerge - the situation of Vietnamese refugees in California is a touchy issue in the US - Vietnam relations. FBI is involved in the case, yet also connections with local business are suspected.

While the plot in the first three-fourth of the novel develops plausibly I find the last hundred pages or so very disappointing. I value Mr. Parker's writing highly so it hurts me to call the avalanche of twists and turns of the plot moronic, yet it is a fitting term. Why do we need twists and turns in crime novels? It seems to me that Mr. Parker had quite a good novel but then he noticed the absence of plot contortions and added a lot of them, not caring whether they make sense.

Mr. Parker's prose is, as usual, outstanding. In particular, the beginning scenes at the party are beautifully written. So are the surfing scenes, for instance:

"It was a right-top-heavy, cylindrical and adamant, the sweet-spot rifling toward him as he shot through, rose to the lip and aimed back down for a bottom turn of such velocity that thoughts of disaster peeled from his mind and he finished in balls-out rush that sent him and his board rocketing skyward, then down with a splash."

Another outstanding feature of the novel is the author's sense of location. I happen to know Orange County a little and I recognize it on the pages of the novel. I also like the author's pearls of wisdom about politics, for instance:

"Communism. Democracy. We both know by now that they are only words. They are two fat old women fighting over a bowl of rice."

Very, very marginal recommendation because of the ridiculous fourth quarter of the novel.

Two-and-a-half stars.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the second published book by T.J. Parker (1988) so I gave an excuse for there being to many characters even the plot was a bit forced.

[Skip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty lame effort by TJP about a pair of brothers, one estranged from the family and the other a war hero, who lost his legs in Vietnam, but gained a wife active in a nationalistic effort to help refugees. The wife is kidnapped, and the estranged brother works to solve the mystery. Skip this one.

[Dan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two Brothers..... One Woman...... One War.

In the aftermath of the war in Vietnam, thousands of desperate refugees fled the killing fields for new lives in Southern California. But for those who settled in "Little Saigon," the war never really ended. The latest victim of the continuing struggle is Li Frye, a popular singer whose songs of hope and home have made her a heroine to her people. Ripped from the stage by masked gunmen, she has vanished into the dark alleys of Little Saigon, where outsiders are met with suspicion and a stony silence as impenetrable as the steaming jungles of Vietnam.

Local surfing legend turned reporter Chuck Frye knows what it means to be an outsider. The black sheep of his wealthy family, Chuck is more at home on a longboard than in a boardroom. But Li is his sister-in-law, and he cannot sit back and let his family or the clueless police investigate the case alone. What Chuck cannot know is that he stands upon the crest of a deadly wave, a swirling vortex of corruption and violence that reaches to the highest levels of the United States intelligence community. And even as he comes closer to the truth, he draws nearer to a terrible secret that many would kill to keep

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Little Saigon by T. Jefferson Parker is a complex tale of treachery set in 1985 'Little Saigon' in Orange County, California. Surfer Chuck Frye has lost his job as a reporter, and his wife is divorcing him. His brother Bennet is a decorated Vietnam veteran who lost both legs in combat. Chuck and Bennet share a birthday, 5 years apart.

Bennet's wife Li Frye is a popular singer among the thousands of refugees in Little Saigon. Bennet and Li met and fell in love during his tour in Vietnam. Her music inspires the hope of the refugees to return to a restored country. At a well-attended Li Frye concert celebrating Chuck and Bennet's birthday, Li is kidnapped by gunmen.

Chuck and Bennet tirelessly strive to find her. At first they suspect gang members, but then Chuck learns of high-level treacherous moves involving his wealthy family and their latest real estate venture. He's been shut out of the family for years since a terrible tragedy.

Plenty of plot twists, double-crossing characters, grim scenes, shoot-outs and a high-publicity effort to rescue MIAs from Vietnam. Even a deadly snake, a quite effective threat.

Most enjoyable parts of the book for me: the vivid descriptions of driving along Laguna Canyon Road, watching Pageant of the Masters, strolling down Forest Ave and Broadway, heading up the PCH to Newport Beach, surfing hurricane waves.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had not thought about the aftermath of the war in Vietnam for many years. I remember the MIA bracelets with servicemen’s names on them. I decided, after reading this book, that I needed to revisit that part of history inline.

Of course, I am reading this book years after TJP wrote it and evidently it was his second book. I will read anything he has written. This one involves a surfer who is the black sheep of the family….but it is not really a fair assessment as our hero is just a guy unwilling to conform to his father’s expectations…but not someone who is out to hurt others. He end up saving the day, but the favorite brother isn’t so lucky.

I was really conflicted that so many people got away with stuff…really bad stuff. Even Chuck’s father was complicit in a way, but Chuck didn’t even criticize him for the terrible business associates he was involved with. I guess it was unnecessary, but I wanted to “hear” it.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up to four. I like Parker and, for the most part, this one is really quite good. Complex plot, a solid central character and Parker's typical command of the setting. If anything holds this back a bit, it's that the story seems to take too long to unfold. At times, I wondered why I was encountering what seemed to be excessive detail or extraneous characters, but it all comes together ultimately.

I think this ranks in the upper middle section of Parker's works; not his absolute best, but better than his weakest efforts. Fans of the author should definitely include this. Even if you haven't encountered any of his books, you could jump in here, but I still maintain there are better representations among his entire collection.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book would be an improvement over Laguna Heat and for quite a few chapters it seemed to be. But then came chapter 20 which was a terrible sop to prurient interests. It continued downhill after that leading to a disappointing ending. If you are contemplating a T. Jefferson Parker novel for the first time, don't choose this one. Choose a book he wrote after 2000. California Girl, written in 2004, would be a good start.

[Scott Stephen Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly well written as usual.

I avoided this book for 10 years, unusual for me as I have read every other book T. Jefferson Parker has written. As a combat veteran who spent his time in the jungles of The Mekong in the latter 60’s, I just was not sure if I wanted to read this one. I should not have doubted Parker, it was actually like closing an old account for me, an account left open for over 50 years. Thank you sir from your biggest fan, well done!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery and feel for SoCal of that era

Lead character, Chuck Frye, is an appealing sort as he tries to get right with his family while investigating his sister-in-law’s disappearance.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay. The author was a bit verbose. It could have been shorter. Lots of unnecessary sub plots. Overall okay. It took me a long time to read it; almost two months. I agree with most of the negative reviews.

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

War is never really over and refugees can never go back-sad but true; no different in 2017 than when Parker wrote this book

[Dave Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not believe the miss spelled words and grammar errors plus punctuation errors.

[Lawanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook performed by David Colacci

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow in the beginning, but it was Ok as the story line progressed.

[Rick Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: Tough, set in Westminister Vietnamese community with flashbacks to war, surfer overcoming fatal fears; Renegades tough, fast paced crime

Quality: High

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1989. Mystery set in Little Saigon in Orange County.

[HARRY Cullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love and betrayal, greed and jealousy, Vietnam and the imapct on southern california, well spun story

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read 2008

[Mhd]

[got copy at Book Carnival]

[Stephen Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twist and Turns

Parker is always new in his writing. Delivers the unexpected with grace and clarity. Loved the book and loved all the characters, the good and the bad.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my usual type of book but worth reading.

[Lance Charnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Saigon is Parker’s second published novel, and as such is stylistically much more like Laguna Heat than the much later Charlie Hood series. It’s also the closest he came (at least among the books of his I’ve read) to writing political intrigue rather than a straight-ahead detective mystery.

Parker’s protagonist Charlie Frye is a fired newspaper reporter, a fading surfing champion, and something of a screwup. When his golden-boy brother’s Vietnamese wife Li is kidnapped in the Orange County of 1985, Frye gets dragged into the family’s hunt for her.

Frye has little more to go on than his reporter’s instincts and a sheer cussedness that keeps him soldiering on even when circumstances drag him through some unpleasant situations and general physical danger. As such, he’s the archetypical amateur detective, a trope that usually doesn’t make a great deal of sense but works in this case for one main reason: Chuck is the black-sheep scion of the enormously wealthy and powerful Frye family (a thinly disguised version of the Irvines of Southern California), is known by other wealthy-and-powerful people, and as such gets a bye for doing things that would get us ordinary folk tossed in the can. Luckily, Parker lets Frye flail around and make bad decisions so his amateur status is credible and so he doesn’t turn into Miss Marple in board shorts (which didn’t exist back then anyway).

The bulk of the action centers around the émigré community called Little Saigon in Westminster, the largest collection of Vietnamese outside Vietnam. As it turns out, Li is a heroine of the post-war resistance to the Communist government of Vietnam. Parker manages to guide us along the ever-more-tangled plots and factions in this insular community without leaving us in a knot, although if you’re unused to international intrigue you may find the names a rough go at first.

The passions that still ran high in 1985 have cooled somewhat thirty years on (although they still fly the old South Vietnamese flag down here), but Parker’s descriptions make it easy to connect to this bygone time. His settings are less photorealistic than in Laguna Heat but are still atmospheric and at times reach a lushness you won’t find in his more current writing. But his greatest strength lies in his characterizations, in the way even secondary characters have dimensions usually afforded only the hero and villain in other books. Everyone has shadows and secrets in this book – some you can predict, some you can’t, some that appear only long after the clues have drizzled in. This is one thing that hasn’t changed with Parker’s writing, and the thing that keeps me coming back.

I picked this up along with Wambaugh’s The Golden Orange to see how other authors handle an Orange County setting (where a great deal of my WIP is set). I didn’t expect (but should have) what a time capsule this is. If you remember Orange County from the 1980s, you’ll keep tripping over “oh, yeah, I remember that” moments; if you don’t, you’ll get a view of what the place was like before Real Housewives and The Hills hit town.

Little Saigon isn’t necessarily a must-read but is a fine way to spend a few hours if you’re in the mood for some Southern California noir. Don’t blame me if you come out craving pho.

[Jo Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Parker fails to make you care about or connect with the characters he's created.

[Gene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early days

Having read all of T. Jefferson’s later works, long before starting at the beginning I see how much he’s grown and how much he’s held onto. There are themes in this book that show up in later novels. As a Vietnam veteran, I appreciate that he got the details right, particularly the issues with POWs.

That said I think this was over done on the whole, more complex than it needed to be. Orange County may have a large group of Vietnamese refugees and may well have had the largest number too, maybe still does, but there are other pockets of America that have many as well, I live in one of them. I’m still sorry for what happened to Vietnam and found the people I knew there, and here, to be uniformly good people who have assimilated well into American culture though they still hold on to their own, as do my Nordic ancestors in some ways though we arrived here nearly 100 years before they did. Good book all in all, but I know how much better it gets.

[Terrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mystery part was okay, but the book gets off to a really slow start (I almost put it down), and is complicated by a few too many characters. I liked the main character and his personal story of trying to fit in with his family and help his brother. The story focuses on an older brother who's a Viet Nam vet and is continuing to try to help the Vietnamese immigrants and country. That part becomes a bit tedious and hard to follow sometimes. Not my favorite book b this author. (read to complete a category in the 2015 Reading Challenge - book with author of my initials (TP))

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Saigon by T. Jefferson Parker (St. Martin's Paperback 1989) (Fiction – Mystery). Chuck Frye, surfing legend turned reporter, looks for his wife's sister, who has been kidnapped by local Vietnamese crime bosses and is being held somewhere in the Vietnamese barrio. My rating: 6.5/10, finished 2005.

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the aftermath of the war in Vietnam, thousands of desperate refugees fled the killing fields for new lives in Southern California. But for those who settled in "Little Saigon," the war never really ended. The latest victim of the continuing struggle is Li Frye, a popular singer whose songs of hope and home have made her a heroine to her people.

Nothing to exciting; liked the charactors.

[Aynge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wanted to like this because I loved his Blue/Red/Black trilogy, but I was disappointed. Didn't like Chuck Frye, the main character, and I honestly saw what was coming. That rarely happens to me. The end was unsatisfying as well.

[RJ Koch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it. Just wish it had been an anti war book. The Vietnam War was a bad war. I lived thru it, from an American college student perspective, and actively protested against it. Liked the characters and the writing. As usual too many characters. Late for work...