Chinese Cooking for Diamond Thieves

March 24, 2014
Restaurant critic and nonfiction author Lowry’s wry debut novel combines a caper story with foodie culture in an entertaining mix. The fictitious Beddingfield College in Lancaster, N.H., has just expelled 21-year-old Tucker, who soon after meets beautiful hitchhiker Corrine Chang at an I-93 rest stop and wins her over with his Mandarin. He offers Corrine, who had been working as a gemologist at a Montreal diamond shop, a lift to Buffalo, N.Y., and realizes during the trip that she might be in trouble, when she receives a threatening message on her cell phone. After dropping her off in Buffalo, Tucker proceeds to St. Louis, Mo., to live with his friend Langston Wu and work as a chef at a Chinese restaurant. Shortly thereafter, Tucker learns that Corrine really is in trouble: her former employer, Mr. Sung, has disappeared with $15 million in diamonds, betraying the Flying Ghosts, a Chinese criminal gang. Lowry has produced a zestful first novel, with snappy dialogue, though readers may find the Chinese cuisine and slow-developing romance between Tucker and Corrine more appetizing than the familiar crime fiction ingredients. Agent: Sara Megibow, Nelson Literary Agency.

June 15, 2014
A wry, youthful adventure makes good on its title. How do you write a politically correct novel about a young white man appropriating Chinese culture? If you're debut novelist Lowry, you don't try. Instead, you name your protagonist Tucker-shorthand for white suburban privilege-and give him the background to go with it. Then you have his best friend, Langston Wu, teasingly refer to his "deep, probably neurotic need to try to be part of a culture that neither needs nor wants [him]." Then you leave all that behind and jump into a rollicking plot. Tucker has been kicked out of college right before graduation, so he sets off for St. Louis, where Langston is a chef at a Chinese restaurant. Ever since the friends started working at Langston's uncle's place as kids, the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant is the one place Tucker has wanted to be. At a rest stop, he meets a Chinese-American mystery girl who may or may not have something to do with a bunch of stolen diamonds. Corinne is the type of damsel in distress who quips sarcastically about damsels in distress. Tucker quips back while coming to her rescue. He's lucky, too, possessing many skills that come in handy when they land in St. Louis and the plot thickens: He speaks Mandarin, practices a martial art called xing-i, and has an uncanny ability to read and manipulate any situation, including those involving FBI agents. He is annoyingly always right but consistently charming and decently self-deprecating, equal parts culture nerd and movie spy. Intercut with the action are scenes in restaurants and kitchens, which have the feel of insider authenticity and are a mouthwatering pleasure. The payoff for all the sexual tension between Tucker and Corinne is awfully slim; Lowry never resolves the kicked-out-of-college issue; and despite his awareness of it, he still glosses over the issue of cultural appropriation. But there's food, humor and missing diamonds. It's a fun read.

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June 15, 2014

Tucker has been kicked out of college. On his way to St. Louis to look for work, he meets and picks up Corinne Chang at a highway rest stop. They both end up employed in a Chinese restaurant, and Tucker soon learns that Corinne's life is even more complicated than his own. Together, they take on the FBI, Canadian Chinese mafia, diamond thieves, a Chinese restaurant cook-off, and a budding romance. As lighthearted as Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels and with only slightly more believable characters, this debut novel is filled with witty dialog and a surprising amount of detail on Chinese American culture. Each chapter begins with one of Tucker's rules for life, focusing on such varied topics as fighting, ax murderers, laundry, and lifelong celibacy. Lowry is a food critic in St. Louis and it shows; his love of exceptional cooking shines through in the description of each dish. VERDICT With appeal to fans of cozy mysteries and new adult humor alike, this is a fun ride for readers who want a thrill (without graphic violence) and a cute love story.--Portia Kapraun, Monticello-Union Twp. P.L., IN

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2014
St. Louis restaurant critic Lowry spins a debut novel that will satisfy the literary taste buds of any fiction reader interested in diamond heists, Chinese-speaking martial-arts masters, Chinese food, and wooing done well, with lame jokes and ex-girlfriends included. Booted out of college, Tucker is on the road when he meets the mysterious Corinne Chang. Bored, Tucker takes a not-so-hard gamble and ends up with Chang in St. Louis as a new cook at an interesting ethnic restaurant. On the outside looking in, and referred to as a gwai lo, he quickly impresses his Chinese hosts with his cooking, martial arts, and deft language skills. All of these talents come into play when the Mafia shows up looking for Tucker's ex and the diamonds she may have appropriated. With short, vignette-like chapters headed by Tucker's guiding rules, Lowry's fast-paced tale is reminiscent of John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, or an off-center Philip Marlowe story by Raymond Chandler. That is, it's a chaotic, intriguing, and fun read that delivers quite a punch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)