China Run : A Novel [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

David Ball (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2002

"Allison realized she'd been awake for twenty-four hours. She hadn't done that since college. It had been the most remarkable twenty-four hours of her life -- hours in which, for better or worse, a choice had been made, a line crossed. There was no going back. Each time she thought about it, she felt the same strange shock: She was a straitlaced civil engineer from Denver, huddled in the bowels of a broken-down cargo boat on the Wan Li Chang Jiang, the Yangtze River. Hunted by police, with her stepson and a baby that wasn't legally hers. "With all that, she was not even heading toward Shanghai, toward home. "Instead, she was heading upriver, deeper into the heart of China...." AS FRESH AS TODAY'S HEADLINES -- THE CHILLING, SUSPENSEFUL STORY OF A MOTHER, A NEWLY ADOPTED CHILD, AND A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT TRYING TO SEPARATE THEM... For Allison Turk, the journey to China to claim the daughter she is adopting had been a trying experience, a series of false starts and long waits. Forced to travel without her husband, she makes the trip with her nine-year-old stepson. She hopes it will be a bonding experience, but so far this hasn't happened. When she finally holds the little girl in her arms, however, she knows that the trip has been worth all the effort and ag gravation. In only two days, she will board a plane for home, taking with her the greatest pride and joy she has ever known. Then suddenly everything unravels. Summoned to an emergency meeting of the adoptive parents, Allison is told a mistake has been made -- a "clerical error." The Americans have been given healthy infants rather than children with special needs, for which they are technically qualified, and they are told they must exchange their babies for different children. Allison is faced with a terrible decision: Should she capitulate and surrender the child she has come to love intensely, or risk an attempt to reach the American consulate in Shanghai, where she might at least have a chance to negotiate and keep her baby? Joining with several other American couples caught in the same dilemma, Allison chooses to run. There is a more sinister reason underlying the nightmare than they know about, and their flight spawns a massive manhunt led by a ruthless police colonel wielding all the terrifying apparatus of a police state. What ensues is tense, dramatic, and totally believable -- a race in which Allison not only struggles with her infant daughter and recalcitrant stepson, but is caught in a political tug-of-war that forces her to display a depth of courage and a strength of will she had never known she possessed. Inspired by a true-life incident, "China Run" takes the reader on a breathtaking chase across China that is gripping, compulsively readable, and frighteningly real.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When the Chinese government, citing "clerical error," demands that six American families waiting for the adoption papers they need to take their promised babies back to America surrender their precious charges, Allison Turk refuses. With her young stepson, three other adults and three infants, she defies the powerful forces arrayed against them--including her own husband--to flee halfway across China and make a run for the American consulate in Shanghai. This courageous but foolhardy attempt seems doomed to fail; escape seems impossible, especially in a country whose language, law, and customs they can't begin to comprehend. One by one, all the fugitives except Allison and her little family are picked off, captured, or killed, including their unlikely allies--a tour guide, a fisherman, a gangster, a country doctor--all of whom are as vividly rendered as China itself. Driving this riveting, compelling adventure story to its heart-stopping conclusion, Ball turns in one of the most exciting thrillers of the season! --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Ball (Empires of Sand) explores the dark side of Americans adopting Chinese babies in his compulsively readable thriller. When Allison Turk, who has traveled to Jiangsu province with her stepson, Tyler, to adopt the infant Wen Li, is told that she has been given the wrong baby, she decides to make a run for it rather than give up her beautiful daughter. Single mother Ruth Pollard along with Claire Cameron and Claire's husband, Nash, also choose to flee with their babies. Hoping to reach an American consulate, they become increasingly tangled in the Chinese heartland, as they trek across the country pursued by the forces of a bureaucratic government. The case attracts international attention, and Ruth's cousin, an American senator, begins to questions China's most favored nation status. A score of unforgettable characters provide portraits of both bravery and treachery: the selfless guide, Yu Ling, and her peasant family; the military men, led by implacable Colonel Quan and his subordinate Ma Lin, who finally ignores direct commands; and greedy peasants, petty thieves and murderers. Much of the novel's strength derives from the author's remarkable evocation of Chinese language and Chinese landscape, whether it's in mud and monsoon or a beautiful monastery with beatific monks. Before the last breathless page, readers will encounter panic, killings, a ship collision and a devastating revelation of the truth behind the government's action. Though the subject matter is delicate, this sweeping odyssey of action and sentiment set in exotic and gritty locales cries out for filming.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743227433
• ASIN: B00009NDAQ
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #861,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I did not want to like it -- but it is a great read, August 20, 2002

By 

BONNIE "Bonnie Ward" (Exeter, New Hampshire USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: China Run: A Novel (Hardcover)

When I first received the book, I opened it and read the prologue and wept. The story of a woman's suffering through pregnancies and abortions and difficult choices presented by a one-child policy and family pressures has more than a ring of truth to it.

Fortunately, that is where the truth ends.

Yes, this book is 'fiction' but the wording on the fly leaf indicating it is based upon a 'true' incident will mislead people into thinking there is more truth here than fiction and that is NOT the case.

The 'true' part of the story is that international adoption from China used to be run by more than one governmental agency, and in the late mid-1990's this process was changed in order to tighten controls and eliminate irregularities in processing of applications. There had never been even any hint of baby selling or organ-farming, and the implication that there may have been, while titillating, is a creation of the author's imagination.

During the transition period of the re-org, there were families who had been 'matched' and notified of their referrals, only to have their referrals changed later on - most prior to leaving for China. At the end of the re-organization, CCAA became the sole governmental arbiter of all things related to adoption in China. The China program of international adoption is a well-run program, resulting in the placement of approximately 6000 children into loving homes around the world each year.

So the 'true incident' mentioned on the book cover in no way resembles the story as written. In fact, the incident in the book never took place. The author's story is an extrapolation of the re-org into a HUGE 'what if' scenario.

And, as far as that goes, that is fine - because this is, afterall, a fiction novel.

However, the book does make interesting reading, and it is unfortunate that the fly leaf does not provide more details about the 'true incident' because the statement that it is 'based upon a true incident' misleads readers into thinking that the story is more true than it is. And, as we know that many people only think as far as the end of their nose about these things, it presents a very wrong, and therefore potentially VERY harmful, impression about China, Chinese government officials, the adoption process and adopting parents.

What makes the situation even more maddening for those of us who have gone through the process or are in the midst of the process, is that the author is also the Dad of a daughter adopted from China. This not only makes some of us feel betrayed, but also angry, as it lends a level of veracity to the fictional story that is neither warranted nor wanted.

All that being said, you will easily get caught up in the action and emotional turmoil of the adopting parents, especially the protagonist - an adopting mom who has been told she must give back her daughter, and runs, with her 9 year old stepson in tow, for their lives.

Mr. Ball's writing about the Chinese countryside and daily life is on the mark, and very well done. Having been there/done that twice now (I am Mom to 2 daughters from China), I was easily transported back through the images described in his writing. I could 'see' things, 'feel' things, even 'smell' the markets and cooking scents. The book is rich with images that evoke a strong sense of place, and add much to the story.

As a work of fiction, I have found myself recommending the book highly -- much to my surprise.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good yarn, August 28, 2003

By 

W. McMichael "pointpetre" (Herndon-Oak Hill, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: China Run : A Novel (Hardcover)

I just read this book. Ten years ago, I traveled in the area of China that is covered in the book. However, I have no experience with adopting a Chinese child.

I did not read the slip cover material, and I read this story as being mainly fiction, but a fiction built upon the rich and varied texture of a great, complex people and nation. As noted by others, even the smells of China make it into the story in a way that is real to those of us who've been there.

There is no question that there are some flaws in the reach and premise of the story, but it grabbed me, and it surprised me, and I enjoyed it immensely as a superior work of fiction.

30 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Offensive to this adoptive parent, August 13, 2002

By 

James F. O'Rear (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: China Run: A Novel (Hardcover)

While I respectfully acknowledge the creative process, I must say that as an adoptive parent of a child from China, this book offended me. We (adoptive parents) appear to be desperate people who will do anything beyond reason to get that child, legally or not. Chinese government officials are misrepresented (at best) and demonized (at worst). Neither group has any resemblance to their real life counterparts.

Aside from the poor character portrayals, the bureaucracy portrayed in the work is nothing like the stable, fairly predictable nature of the China adoption organization. While mistakes happen from time to time, actions such as those encountered by Allison are sensationalistic beyond belief.

Personally, I find the "dark side of Chinese adoptions" to be continually explaining what the process is really like and rebuking stereotypes that should have disappeared a long time ago. The only thing "frighteningly real" about this book is that a prospective adoptive parent may read it and turn away from a wonderfully run, well organized adoption program such as China currently has.

Just my two jiao.