NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE - A veteran journalist in Hong Kong
is caught in a shadowy web of truth and betrayal as he investigates the
disappearance of a student protester in this menacing, atmospheric novel
written with "shades of Graham Greene and Patricia Highsmith" (Sunday
Times) from the celebrated author of The Forgiven--now a major motion
picture starring Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes.
"Osborne is a startlingly good observer of privilege, noting the rites
and rituals of the upper classes with unerring precision and an
undercurrent of malice."--Katie Kitamura, The New York Times Book
Review, on Beautiful Animals
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, CrimeReads
After two decades as a journalist in Hong Kong, ex-pat Englishman Adrian
Gyle has very little to show for it. Evenings are whiled away with soup
dumplings and tea at Fung Shing, the restaurant downstairs from his home
on Java Road, watching the city--once overflowing with wine dinners and
private members' clubs--erupt in violence as pro-democracy
demonstrations hit ever closer to home.
Watching from the skyrises is Adrian's old friend Jimmy Tang, the scion
of one of Hong Kong's wealthiest families. Just as Gyle prepares to turn
his back on Hong Kong, he finds one last intrigue: the mysterious
Rebecca, a student involved in the protests, and the latest of Jimmy's
reckless dalliances. But when Rebecca goes missing and Jimmy hides, Gyle
feels that old familiar urge to investigate.
Piecing together Rebecca's final days and hours, Gyle must tread
carefully through a volatile world of friendship and betrayal where
personal loyalties vanish like the city he once knew so well. On Java
Road tells the story of a man between the fault lines of old worlds and
new orders in pursuit of the truth.
