Whispering Shadows

February 9, 2015
Paul Leibovitz, the hero of this contemplative, understated novel from Sendker (The Art of Hearing Heartbeats), feels bereft after his young son dies of leukemia. A long-time Hong Kong resident, the German-born Leibovitz is now divorced and living a reclusive life on the outlying island of Lamma, where his obsession for keeping the memories of his son alive has kept him in a continual state of mourning. But his aimless existence is given meaningâand put into grave dangerâwhen he helps an old friend, a Chinese homicide detective, find the truth behind the murder of an American businessman. A burgeoningâalbeit fragileârelationship with a woman he meets while walking complicates his life further. Equal parts crime thriller, romance, and examination of the impact of Chinaâs Cultural Revolution on those who endured its atrocities, this novel is, at its heart, a story about the burden of survival. Despite a predictable ending, it still packs a wallop.

March 15, 2015

Bereaved father and retired journalist Paul Leibovitz finds mystery, and perhaps love, in Sendker's latest (The Art of Hearing Heartbeats; A Well-Tempered Heart). In the wake of the death of his son and the dissolution of his marriage, Paul hides away on a small outlying Hong Kong island, nursing the memories of what he has lost. When the mystery of the untimely death of an American businessman somewhat implausibly finds him, he must help his detective friend Zhang identify the culprit before the case can arbitrarily be closed by the police. Along the way, Paul grows ever closer to girlfriend Christine, who harbors a deep-seated resentment against the Chinese who mistreated her family. VERDICT The mystery is solved relatively early, and there isn't much suspense. The real strength of this book, the first in a new trilogy, is the fascinating exploration of Chinese and Hong Kong society and life. Recommended for those who love international mysteries, of course, but also for readers who will appreciate the lush descriptions of a beautiful country and culture. [See Prepub Alert, 10/13/14; library promotion.]--Liz Kirchhoff, Barrington Area Lib., IL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2015
Sendker's most recent offering continues his literary love affair with Asia, this time following two broken men and the ways in which their lives intersect. After Paul and Meredith Leibovitz's little boy, Justin, dies of leukemia, the couple breaks up, and Paul withdraws from life almost entirely. He buys a house on Lamma, an island that's a ferry ride from Hong Kong, and every year he climbs a peak he used to hike with his son. On one such trip he meets Elizabeth Owen, an older woman whose son Michael, who lived in Hong Kong to manage their family business, has disappeared in Shenzhen; Elizabeth and her husband, Richard, are in Hong Kong looking for him. Elizabeth asks Paul to help her, which he reluctantly agrees to do. Since Justin's death, he's associated with almost no one except Christine, a Hong Kong-based single mother, and Zhang, a homicide detective in Shenzhen. Once Paul brings Zhang into the investigation, they discover that a foreign man's body has been found in a park, and a shadowy and prosperous businessman named Victor Tang may be involved. Much of Sendker's story rests on the shoulders of Paul and Zhang. As broken as Paul in his own way, Zhang continues to confront demons from his past-demons that have left him to atone for terrible guilt from the actions, and inactions, of his youth. The story is rich with detail about Chinese culture and cuisine, but the pacing is very, very slow, and while Sendker's descriptive passages are beautiful and absorbing, sometimes the book feels more like a travel guide than a suspense novel. This novel explores a side of Hong Kong tourists rarely experience, but it has a conclusion that feels rushed despite action that moves at an almost glacial pace.

Starred review from February 15, 2015
Thirty years ago, fascination with Eastern culture lured Paul Leibovitz to Hong Kong. He's now bound there by bittersweet memories of his young son, who succumbed to leukemia. On the anniversary of his son's death, Paul encounters an American desperate for news of her missing son's whereabouts, and in a moment of loss-fueled kinship, he agrees to help her. Michael Brown, a metal-industry executive, was last seen in nearby Shenzhen, so Paul promises to contact his close friend Zhang, a Shenzhen homicide detective. Zhang learns that Brown's brutally beaten body has been found in Shenzhen, and the Chinese authorities quickly arrest a worker from one of Brown's factories. But Zhang is disturbed by increasing evidence of Communist Party and underworld connections to the crime. Haunted by violent memories of his adolescence in the Red Guard, Zhang refuses to stand witness to another innocent man's execution, even as his secret investigation risks his life and that of Paul, who is too loyal to refuse Zhang's request for help. Sendker (A Well-Tempered Heart, 2014), a former Asia correspondent for Stern, applies insider experience to this darkly beautiful, heart-wrenching portrayal of the Cultural Revolution's devastating social legacy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)