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Decoded tells the story of Rong Jinzhwen, one of the great code-breakers in the world. A semi-autistic mathematical genius, Jinzhen is recruited to the cryptography department of China's secret services, Unit 701, where he is assigned the task of breaking the elusive 'Code Purple'. Jinzhen rises through the ranks to eventually become China's greatest and most celebrated code-breaker; until he makes a mistake. Then begins his descent through the unfathomable darkness of the world of cryptology into madness. Decoded was an immediate success when it was published in 2002 in China and has become an international bestseller. With the pacing of a literary crime thriller, Mai Jia's masterpiece also...
'Cracking another country's cipher is an undercover fight to the death...' Hidden deep in the mountains, the recruits at 'Unit 701', China's secret services, operate in a dark, shadowy world. There is the 'wind-listener', a blind surveillance officer who can hear sounds from miles away; the beautiful, unstable maths genius who meets a violent end; the old man who deciphers codes in his dreams; the spy who recounts a dangerous mission from beyond the grave. In this story of conspiracies, geniuses, revolutionaries and terrible moral choices, people sacrifice everything for a world of secrets - until, ultimately, it destroys them.
A dazzling literary thriller set in Japan-occupied China from the most translated Chinese novelist of our time. China, 1941. At the height of the Second World War, Japan rules over China. In Hangzhou, a puppet government propped up by the Japanese wages an underground war against the Communist resistance. Late one night, five intelligence officers, employed as codebreakers by the regime, are escorted to an isolated mansion outside the city. The secret police are certain that one of them is a communist spy. None of them is leaving until the traitor is unmasked. It should be a straightforward case of sifting truth from lies. But as each codebreaker spins a story that proves their innocence, wh...
If you loved Gone Girl, then make this page-turning debut next on your reading list: “Sabine Durrant offers more twists than a rollercoaster in her thriller Under Your Skin, which proves you can trust no one” (Good Housekeeping). Gaby Mortimer is the woman who has it all. But everything changes when she finds a body near her home. She’s shaken and haunted by the image of the lifeless young woman, and frightened that the killer, still at large, could strike again. Before long, the police have a lead. The evidence points to a very clear suspect. One Gaby never saw coming… Full of brilliant twists and turns, Under Your Skin is a dark and suspenseful psychological thriller that will make you second guess everything. Because you can never be too sure about anything, especially when it comes to murder.
Five code-breakers gather in the mountains of China. Which one is a double agent? A World War Two spy thriller from the most translated Chinese novelist of our time. China, 1941. While war rages in Europe, Japan has established itself as the supreme power in Asia. The beautiful province of Hangzhou has become a stronghold of the Japanese puppet government. One day, five officers from the code-breaking department are escorted to an isolated mansion outside the city. One of them has been sharing secrets with the communists. No-one is leaving until the traitor is uncovered. It should be a straightforward case of sifting truth from lies. But as each code-breaker spins a story that proves their innocence, events are re-framed, and what really happened is called into question again and again. Part revisionist history, part playful meta-fiction, The Message is at once an absorbing and cerebral spy thriller and a commentary on storytelling itself.
The phenomenal #1 Chinese bestseller, with over 3 million copies sold. This is a searing exploration of what makes a hero: a literary masterpiece, available in the English language for the very first time. The boy grows up in a small village in south China listening to stories about the Colonel: some say he was a legendary army doctor during the war, some say he was a traitor to the Party, still others say he is a wicked sex machine. The stories are bawdy and mesmerizing, always larger than life. Yet in reality, the Colonel is just a middle-aged man who loves his cat. And why on earth does everyone call him 'the Eunuch'? From these disparate sources, the boy tries to piece together who the C...
The inspiring, relatable, and sometimes outrageous true story of how one man used 100 days of rejection therapy to overcome fear and dare to live more boldly “Rejection Proof smashes fear in the face with a one-two punch. You’ll laugh out loud at Jia’s crazy social experiments, but you’ll also go away thinking differently about what you can accomplish.”—Chris Guillebeau, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Pursuit Jia Jiang’s TEDx Talk, “What I learned from 100 days of rejection,” has amassed over ten million views! Jia Jiang came to the United States with the dream of being the next Bill Gates. But despite early success in the corporate world, his first atte...
Punctuated with great wit, beauty, and playfulness, Mason's brilliant and beguiling debut novel reimagines Homer's classic story of the hero Odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of Troy, opening up this classic Greek myth to endless reverberating interpretations.
“Be careful trying to place blame, or it might come back to you,” Ceng Guangxian’s father warns him after the first time his good intentions end in ruin. Yet time and again as Guangxian comes of age, bad luck and his own desires for a bigger, better future wreak havoc upon his family, fortune, and social reputation, leaving him scrambling to find the causes of the mishaps that define his life. Dong Xi’s Record of Regret, here in its first English translation, introduces readers to a masterpiece of contemporary Chinese literature, and to the unparalleled tragicomic style of one of China’s most celebrated writers. Set in the wake of China’s Cultural Revolution, the novel follows Gu...
Inspector Chen is excluded from a poetry case as he awaits possible disciplinary action, leaving him to reflect on his career . . . but does his past hold a clue to the poetry case? After a number of grueling cases Chief Inspector Chen is facing mounting pressure from his superiors, many of whom are concerned with where his loyalties lie. What's more, he is excluded from an investigation into an incendiary poem posted on an online forum. Wracked with self-doubt and facing an anxious wait to discover the fate of his career, Chen is left to reflect on the events that have led to where he is now - from his amateur investigations as a child during the Cultural Revolution, to his very first case on the Shanghai Police Force. Has fighting for the Chinese people and the morals he believes in put him in conflict with the Party? Why is he being kept away from the new case? As well as his career, is his life now also at risk?