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MWSA Review
Kellie Liang (Chinese name - Kaili) and Aaron Foster embark on a combination business/pleasure trip to Hong Kong. Kellie has two days of meetings with a Chinese business group, and on the second day, she is offered a ride back to her hotel by one of the attendees, Hsieh Liwei. Kellie accepts, and the presumed ride to her hotel evolves into a kidnapping. Liwei takes her to his lavish country home in southern China, determined to get the information he believes she has in order to aid his business exports. Liwei drugs Kellie’s tea and holds her captive in his home, guarded by two young thugs. Liwei searches the young woman’s briefcase and removes her passport and other travel documents to ensure she does not leave mainland China.
Liwei instructs his thugs to return to Hong Kong to retrieve Kellie's belongings for her stay in China. They are not expecting to run into Aaron, Kellie’s boyfriend, waiting in their hotel room for Kellie’s return. The men overcome Aaron at knife point, and he watches while one of them gathers all of Kellie’s stuff. Helpless, Aaron enlists the aid of his friend, Roger, a retired customs attaché in Hong Kong. Aaron and Roger cobble together a group of people to rescue Kellie.
In this rather lengthy story, author Timothy Trainer illustrates the vast cultural differences between Chinese and Western business relationships and the lengths the Chinese will go to achieve their goals.
Review by Nancy Panko (January 2024
Author's Synopsis
It’s a year after Hong Kong’s reversion to China. Aaron and Kellie’s dual purpose Hong Kong trip for business and pleasure descends into chaos when Kellie fails to deliver the blueprint Chinese entrepreneurs seek in hopes of greater riches in the U.S. market. After a day-long meeting, she awakes the next morning across the border in southern China without her travel documents. Aaron, while waiting for Kellie’s return, is attacked in his hotel room. He panics.
Helpless, Aaron enlists the aid of Roger, a retired Customs attaché in Hong Kong. Roger questions the nature of the contents of millions of containers leaving Hong Kong and wonders how he can profit from it. Aaron and Roger cobble together a group of people to rescue Kellie from across the border. This small group of government and non-government people engage in questionable tactics to find Kellie.
Can the group come together to save Kellie or will their personal ambitions prevail?
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller/Crime
Number of Pages: 281
Word Count: 110,000