My first abandoned book of 2019.

I have decided not to finish this audiobook.
It initially appealed to me because the author had a Chinese sounding name, the illustration on the cover featured a character with Chinese features, and I have always been fascinated by issues of culture and belonging.

It started out well enough, with a disagreement between the Chinese and the Americans, which resulted in all Chinese and Chinese-Americans, living in the US, being rounded up and placed in internment camps "for their own safety". Henry Chin, a pharmacist with high level military training in his past, decides to go on the run with his daughter, rather than succumbing to this indignancy. Supported by his army mate Clive, the three of them plan to hide out in the mountains, then skip to Canada once the heat has died down.

What I had not anticipated was a full scale description of guerrilla warfare in the mountains and Chin's backstory, involving more violence in the Panama War. When government incompetence was added to the mix I decided that 75% was was a good enough trial for a book and things were only going to go downhill from there. I think this book was a bad choice for me and is more suited to a male reader with an army background.
The whole was definitely not helped by a monotone narrator.
1.5 stars.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!