Halloween Bingo 2026
I read this for the Raven/Free square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.
I've been to a conference where this author was a featured guest, but I had never read any of his books. He seemed to be a very straightforward guy, not given to fuss. His prose reflects this impression. He sentences are short, as are the chapters. He writes very matter-of-factly. There is no padding of extra words. It is a very unemotional style.
You can say the same thing about Uncle Chow. He lives a very simple life for a senior triad member. His indulgences are few: cigarettes, beer, and betting on horse races. The triad is his entire life and he is devoted to it. Some of this he explains as the loss of his girlfriend as they were escaping mainland China. At several points in the novel, Chow talks to her spirit and he doesn't seem to have ever considered finding another woman. His only other emotional outlet is yelling at the horse races.
The lack of emotion in all the characters bothered me. These are gangsters. There is just no way that they would all be so rational and calm all the time. Regular people are more unpredictable than these men were. Chow does eventually resort to violence, but even then he controls the scenario so thoroughly that the damage is minimal. Usually if violence starts, it gets out of hand. Someone loses his temper and causes chaos. It just didn't seem realistic to me.
I read this for my mystery book club but I really wouldn't consider it a mystery. Yes, there is a bit of intrigue, but I did not find it exciting. By halfway through the book, I had guessed where the plot was headed. I'm glad that I gave Hamilton a try, but his work is really not my thing. Your mileage may vary.
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