Bad Traffic: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: dirty white van, vanity book, Ding Ming, Black Fort, Wei Wei (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British author Lewis does a splendid job in this compelling thriller, his second novel (after Go), of dramatizing the challenges of strangers in a strange land. Inspector Ma Jian of the Chinese Public Security Bureau, whose wife died when the deeply flawed inspector was driving drunk, has let his only child, his daughter Wei Wei, attend Leeds University in England. When Jian receives a late-night phone call from a desperate-sounding Wei Wei that's interrupted, Jian travels to the U.K. At Leeds, Jian, who doesn't know English, learns that Wei Wei dropped out months before and her academic reports to him were lies. Eventually, he manages to ally himself with Ding Ming, an English-speaking illegal immigrant, whose wife was taken away by the human traffickers who got both of them to the U.K. A plot twist toward the end undermines the power of the book's earlier portions, but the corrupt and brutal Jian is an intriguing character many readers will want to see again. (Dec.)
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From Booklist

Chinese Police Inspector Jian is used to running rampant over his own domain and knows how to exploit a corrupt system to his own advantage, which comes in handy when his wayward daughter phones from England, begging for help. Attaching himself to a trade delegation, Jian arrives in England only hours after his daughter calls, speaking zero English and having no compunction about following the rules. Jian’s exploits lead him from one Chinese restaurant to another as he searches for translators and clues to help him find his daughter’s abductor, Chinese gangster Black Fort. Lots of action, a couple of interesting twists, and short cliff-hanger chapters make this a fast-paced read. Jian’s unwilling sidekick, illegal immigrant Ding Ming, provides a comic touch (with his opinions of Westerners and his frequent bouts of histrionics), which lends a lighter tone to what would otherwise be a fairly dark tale. A good choice for crime collections. --Jessica Moyer

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1 edition (December 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416593535
• ISBN-13: 978-1416593539
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #101,586 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Hope to See Much More of Inspector Ma Jian, March 9, 2009

By	Tiffany Ann (Black Diamond Bay) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

(What's this?)

Inspector Ma Jian is an influential Chinese policeman who is also a bit corrupt. One night when he's about to bed his current young mistress he gets a call from his daughter, who he believes is going to college in England. "Help me!" she says, then the line goes dead. Jian doesn't think twice, he gets on a plan and heads to England, even though he doesn't speak a word of English.

Ding Ming is Chinese as well. He wanted to be an English teacher, but somebody who wasn't qualified but was much better connected got the job, So Ding and his wife sell themselves as indentured servants and suffer through a long, arduous journey to England.

When Jian gets to London he's like a fish out of water, but he does manage to get up to Leeds where he finds his daughter had been lying to him, she hadn't been attending school, instead she was working as a waitress and hanging out with a Chinese gangster called Black Fort.

Ding Ming and his wife arrive in England to find it's not the golden mountain they'd been led to believe. They are separated by a snakehead called Black Fort (yes the same Black Fort) and Ding isn't happy. He wants to please his captors, but he want to see his wife, too.

Jian's investigation leads him to Ding and he forces the young man to help him, because he needs his English skills. Ding doesn't want to go along and often tries to thwart Jian, because he thinks if he gives him up to the gangsters, they'll look favorably on him and let him see his wife. Little does he know what's in store for his wife and without Jian he has no hope of ever seeing her again.

Jian and his reluctant sidekick make a great pair as they race through this novel at breakneck speed to an explosive conclusion you won't want to miss. Somehow I got the impression from the story and especially the ending that this is the first of many Inspector Jian novels to come. I hope that's true.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tense As All Get Out, March 9, 2009

By	Vesta Irene (the Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

(What's this?)

One day a couple weeks ago my husband Ken started reading this book and it seemed like every fifteen minutes or so he'd say something like, "You won't believe how good this book is." Then he'd read me a few passages. Then he'd go back into the book, read a bit, then do it all over again. So, as you can see, he really liked the book. But sadly, he told me most of the story before I started it. So I put off reading it, hoping I'd forget what I knew.

Of course it didn't work, but even knowing the plot, even knowing how it would end, none of that took away from my enjoyment of BAD TRAFFIC. Simon Lewis has written a terrific thriller about a Chinese detective trying to find his daughter in a country where he doesn't speak a word of the language and that really adds to the tension, plus it leaves room for a little humor.

If you ask me, Simon Lewis is destined to be a major star in the thriller/mystery genre. His pacing is about as tight as you can get. His people are real and interesting as all get out. His plotting is superb and his description puts you right in place, whether it's a fish and chips shop or a blazing gunfight in the middle of the night. I can't recommend this book highly enough and I'll most certainly be on the lookout for the next Simon Lewis thriller.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Suspense than You Can Shake a Stick At, February 17, 2009

By	Stephanie Sane (from the Asylum) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

Seeing the West, England specifically as foreign and alien was quite an experience for me. I've been there so many times it almost seems like home, but it's not home for the two protagonists in Simon Lewis's terrific thriller. It's a forbidding and dangerous place with pitfalls everywhere.

Inspector Jian is a corrupt, arrogant Chinese policeman, who keeps mistresses and lives high on the hog in the People's Republic. He has it made. Then one night he gets a phone call from his daughter Wei Wei, who is studying in England. She cries for help, then he loses the connection and he can't get her back. He gets on the next flight out and as soon as he lands he manages to get a cab to Leeds, where his daughter supposedly was attending university. But she's not there, she'd been lying to him. What had she been up to? He has a hard time finding out, because he doesn't speak a word of English.

Ding Ming is an illegal immigrant. He was smuggled in with his wife and a load of other Chinese, by what we would call coyotes in the American Southwest. These coyotes are Chinese gang members who send the men to work in the fields and the woman to work as prostitutes. However, they've told Ding Ming that his wife and the other women are going to pick flowers. And he believes this. He speaks English, so he is of some value to the gang members and he's going to be very valuable to Inspector Jian.

Although he isn't with his wife, Ding Ming is seems pretty happy to be working for a pittance to pay off his debt to the people who have smuggled him in and it's not till he meets up with Jian that he begins to really doubt what he's gotten himself into, moreover what he's gotten his wife into. Jians need Ding Ming as he speaks English after a fashion and Ding Ming needs Jian, because the man is tough, brutal and will stop at nothing to find his daughter and where she is Ding Ming's wife may also be.

What really makes this a fun read is the interplay between Jian and Ding Ming. Ding Ming is willing to turn Jian into the authorities or the bad guys or whoever if it'll help him in his quest to find his wife. The trust between them at times is zero and other times they really need each other. There are thrills galore here and some comedy too. Now add that with more suspense than you can shake a stick at and an explosive finish and you really have a story.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane