My first Peter May book. The China series first book. This was a gripping tale. Margaret is invited to teach at a university in China for 6 weeks. She isn't familiar with any cultural differences which makes things rather difficult for her. She is asked to do an autopsy on a burn victim, since that is her area of expertise. Of course the police detective Li Yan is not happy she is involved. Then two other bodies are found that may be linked. This is a can't put it down book. Looking forward to reading the next in the series

I'm only rating this 3 stars because it wasn't much of a thriller or chase for the killer until the 75/80% mark. The first 80% was Margaret not reading up on how to act in Beijing and disrespecting a lot of people because of it and then getting pissed off because of the way they acted in return.

The only thing thing that saved the first 80% was Li and Margarets relationship growing and actually learning about the culture of Beijing in the time frame of 1999.

If you read the authors note in the beginning, he actually spent years overseas learning how everything and everyone works. He spent time getting in the know just to have some inside research on the police in China. It was fascinating reading about the history.

The last 20% was exactly what I had been waiting for, except it was so quick. After having so much info and relationship build up, it seemed like the thrill/suspense/murder was just thrown in to finish the first book.

I'll definitely be going on to the second book because I did enjoy it, even through my thoughts from above.

And let me say, when Margaret was in her element with the autopsies, she was a literal BADASS and I loved her. She was confident, smart, and quick. Past her downfalls, I did enjoy her character along with Li.

But Li's uncle stole the light in every scene he was in. I felt connected and could see where Li's positive qualities came from.

Since traveling to Asia, I've become very interested in mysteries set there that feature native protagonists. In this novel, an American forensic anthropologist and a Chinese police detective clash over culture but must work together to solve a complex murder-mystery with international implications. Though aggravating at times, both characters seemed very real and I'm glad to see that this book starts a series featuring the two.

I was drawn to this as it is a Crime Thriller/procedural set in China. The author's introduction was one of the best insights into a novel I had read. As for the plot, it gets off to a good start when a burning body is discovered in a park.
The main protagonists are an American Pathologist, Margaret Campbell on loan to the Beijing police and detective Liyan.
For an intelligent woman I found some of Campbell's actions and motives didn't ring true mainly before setting off from Chicago can't be bothered reading information provided for her about Chinese Culture, she seemed to fit the cliched stereotypical American abroad.
May liked to impart information about genetics, Chinese culture and police procedures and these at times became info dumps in the form of over long dialogue and unnecessary long paragraphs.
It is not until the last 100 or so pages does the action and the stakes increase for the characters and the book becomes all the better for it. It was a shame it didn't occur before then, or maybe a serious edit.

Very well writte especially the difference between eastern and western culture.

When I read the sentence ;
...'get him into a freezer quick, before he cooks...' I thought yes, I'm going to love this book! sadly though, this was as far as the gore went. I admit, I did read no.3 in this series by mistake, and didn't know it was part if a series until mid-read. That was called Killing room and was sickeningly gory (a good thing)
so I think my expectations where high for the 1st in series. So I found it a difficult read In a way that I was just unable to connect with the story and the crime going on.
In relation to the language of the author, it was a spectacular read. He writes so well and ensures vivid images, and his descriptions of China was colourful and interesting and mostly educating. But when you go into something with a pre conseption of a horror/gory tale of murder and crime...the last thing you are ready for is a lecture in Chinese culture (and there's a huge feel of this through out)
As my mood lifted toward the last part of the book, and I came to realise I was not going to get my blood and guts...I relaxed and started to just enjoy the writing, and found myself becoming obsessed with the relationship between the chinese detective and The American pathologist. This is, I have come to learn...an introductory book, to a much more complex world and a complex series. I would not have known this if I had not read book no.3 so I believe it was meant to be for me.
I just wish I had read it with enjoyment for what it was..and that is a detailed, descriptive story of two people meeting under strange circumstances...and while cultures clash, its obvious that when bad things happen, we are all scared of the same ending that is death.
I have given this 3 stars because despite my growing fondness of it, there are some things that didn't quite sit right with me, and that was the constant comparing of China and the USA... I felt there was no need as it was all self explanitory really. Also, the concept of the crime...ended up being a big conspiracy thing, Im not sure this was done well. I can't put my finger on it, but maybe It was plainly too much out of my depth as a reader, because it was a very complex story with a lot of scientific elements to explain logic of it all.
I am however, wanting to read the next book...more than I thought. And I will risk my reputation here by saying it is purely for the romantic follow up of Detective Li Yan and Margaret Cambell.

BUT....Also
now that the introduction to the whole Asian backdrop has been done...Peter May just might get to grips with the juicy horrors he was so good at writing in The Killing room.

I have been a fan of Peter May ever since I picked up the first book in his Lewis Trilogy, The Blackhouse, a few years ago. Whilst none of his books have ever reached the same high, I have enjoyed them all.

The Lewis Trilogy will always be my favourite. The first one pulled me in and I was so engaged I went out and brought books two and three instantly. I thoroughly enjoyed them and promised myself I would read more. It took me a while, but I finally got hold of Entry Island. Like books two and three of the Lewis Trilogy, the book was great. It wasn’t The Blackhouse, but I had lots of fun with it. Again, a rather long time period passed before I read my next Peter May book – this time it was the first in his Enzo Files series. Fortunately, I had the five books sitting at my bedside and worked through one after the other. They were my least favourite of his books, but I still had a lot of fun with them. In fact, I’m hoping we’ll get a couple more of them to complete the series. This was followed by a find in the university’s second-hand bookstore. Hidden away, I managed to find one of his older works – Virtually Dead. It was completely different to what I was used to from him, but still enjoyable. At that point, I knew beyond doubt that I wanted to read the China Thrillers; however, I ended up picking up Runaway instead. I have yet to read it as my to-read list got out of hand and I picked up so many books that were parts of series I was part way through, but it is sitting by my bed waiting to be read in the foreseeable future.

Prior to picking up Runaway, I requested Coffin Road on NetGalley. I was disheartened when I did not get a chance to read it. I’ll still pick up the book, but I’d been so eager to give it an early read! Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I jumped at The Firemaker when I saw it on NetGalley. At first, I was confused as to why it was on NetGalley. The book had been out for years – why was it suddenly on NetGalley? I didn’t question it for long – I simply requested the book. I wasn’t going to miss out on the chance of reading it. I was fearful I would not be accepted, that it would be a repeat of Coffin Road, but I was surprised – I quickly found my request accepted. It was at this point in time that I realised why it was on NetGalley. A couple of days after being accepted to read The Firemaker, I walked into a local bookstore and found the book sitting there with a brand new cover. That was why NetGalley had put it up.

My only regret is that it took me so long to read it.

I’ll start by saying that has nothing to do with the book itself – the book was thoroughly enjoyable. The issue was I decided to start reading it at an exceptionally busy time. Trying to read one of your favourite authors during exam period is not the best of plans. Thus, it took me a while to get through it. When I was finally able to sit down and read it, though, I powered through it. I was pulled into the story, left unwilling to put it down until I knew how it ended.

I’ll admit, a bit like his Enzo Files, the first in the China Thriller series was somewhat predictable. I feel as though the Lewis Trilogy will always be his high with surprises – it was filled with such twists and turns. Whilst the same can be said of this book – there are twists and turns throughout – they were not as shocking as in his Lewis Trilogy. You had some expectations of what was to come, as some details were a little bit too obvious. Characters and topics were introduced that did not seem to quite fit in with where the story was going, seeming to appear as mundane conversation, leaving you more than prepared for when they appeared within the deeper story.

Despite this, it was still enjoyable. Even though it is not set in the western world, it is all you would expect from a good crime thriller. Add in the fact that it is set in the east, along with the fact it is written by Peter May, and you suddenly have an extremely rich world coming to live before you. As always, Peter May is more than capable of bringing the setting and characters to life.

As much as I enjoyed the characters and their interaction, I couldn’t help but think the romance aspect was a bit forced. This, however, is partly because the whole ‘adrenaline of the hunt’ induced romance doesn’t really appeal to me. When I care for romances, I prefer them to be slow burners. It was great fun to watch their interaction, to see the way they battled over their different views, but the romance didn’t appeal to me. I’m positive I will come to enjoy it with the rest of the series, yet it seemed like too much for a first book.

Oh, didn’t I mention that? I’m more than happy to carry on. In fact, I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book.

All in all, it is safe to say this is another Peter May series that I’m going to find myself addicted to. In regards to where it sits on my favourite lists, it’s up there just behind Entry Island (my fifth favourite of his books, that I have read to date, in other words).

As a final note, I would like to say the biggest thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to enjoy this one.