Chinese Burn — Eric Clark

‘Well written … convincingly conveyed. Full marks for a suspense story firmly backed by brilliant descriptive recording' â€" Punch

China, 1970s â€" and American railway engineer David Piper is on the run for his life. What started out as a relatively uneventful business trip soon goes awry when a Russian defector - Boris Yakov - breaks into Piper's hotel room and asks Piper to help him contact the CIA.

Against his will, Piper agrees. But his agreement throws him headlong into a political intrigue of international proportions, and Piper is soon in over his head. Now wanted by the Chinese authorities, who are convinced that he is a spy, and also by the Russians, Piper is on the run for his life…

And things are only made more complicated when Piper takes his interpreter, Chu Ming, hostage in his attempt to evade capture and clear his name.

From the author of The Sleeper and Send in the Lions, Chinese Burn is a thrilling political espionage set in the years following the Mao regime.

‘The pace seldom flags' â€" The Observer

‘The setting is exhilaratingly fresh' â€" The Standard

‘A clever, tense, touristically acceptable thriller' â€" The Listener

‘A deft hand at keeping a story astir … Buchan would certainly have approved' - The Guardian

‘The pace of the story is as breathtaking as the chase itself' â€" Oxford Times

‘Crisp and professional' â€" Brighton Argus

Eric Clark is an investigative journalist. According to then Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, his Observer disclosures about gambling led to the decision to change Britain's gaming laws. He has also written four successful thrillers, among them Black Gambit and Chinese Burn.