Customer Reviews

The Chinaman

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THE CHINAMAN postulates an intriguing confrontation between jungle guerilla and urban terrorism.

Nguyen Ngoc Minh was born in North Vietnam and trained as a bombmaker by the North Vietnamese Army. After his aged father was butchered by Vietcong soldiers for "being a bad Communist", Nguyen defected with his wife and two daughters to the South, where his skills as a jungle killer were perfected in service with U.S. special forces. Unable to flee when the North finally overran Saigon in 1975, Nguyen spent nearly three years in a brutal "re-education" camp. Finally released, he immediately escaped with his family, now including a new 3-year old daughter. During the perilous boat trip to Hong Kong, Nguyen's two oldest daughters were killed by marauding Thai fishermen. Now, years later in London, Nguyen is owner of the Double Happiness Take-Away. One day, his wife and remaining daughter are shredded by an IRA bomb in Knightsbridge. Vowing personal revenge against the killers after the police are unable to nab the perps, Nguyen identifies Liam Hennessy as a top advisor to the IRA's political wing, the Sinn Fein. Traveling to Belfast, Nguyen demands of Hennessy the killers' names. Liam refuses "The Chinaman" because he simply doesn't know. Not to be put off, Nguyen relentlessly hounds Hennessy with a deliberate application of escalating violence designed to coerce revelation of the desired information.

Much of THE CHINAMAN revolves around the techniques of bombmaking and, in Nguyen's case, making detonators and explosives, including nitroglycerine, from scratch. This is probably not a casual hobby you'd want to take up at home.

The action moves back and forth between Nguyen's harassment of Liam in Northern Ireland and the continuing sequence of murderous blasts in and around London detonated by the IRA bombers. The British authorities are stymied. And, as it's revealed early on, so are Hennessy and the top IRA controllers in Dublin, who see the vicious attacks as counterproductive. The London IRA cell is unauthorized and anonymous, but drawing from existing ordinance caches in the UK and obviously helped by someone high in the organization. Liam is between a rock and a hard place.

THE CHINAMAN is an engaging and tautly written tale. My chief complaint is that, one-third of the way into the book, I knew with virtual certainty who was masterminding the rogue terrorism, and I wasn't proved wrong. I don't think author Stephen Leather intended it to be that obvious. On a pickier level, I thought the character of Kerry Geraghty superflous. Kerry is the daughter of an ex-IRA assassin retired to Scotland where he runs a survival school for the rich. Liam wants the elder Geraghty, an expert stalker, to come to Northern Ireland to help corner Nguyen, who's hidden himself in the countryside surrounding Hennessy's farm. But Geraghty has a broken leg, so he instead sends Kerry, who's as proficient as her Old Man at following large game animals. Kerry's contribution to the plot is contrived at best, though it provides some interesting insight into the expertise of tracking.

Finally, Nguyen remains a sympathetic character throughout, so the ending resembles those of Gerald Seymour's excellent novels in that victory, on a personal level, often proves Pyrrhic.

If you like edge of your seat suspense, this will do it. Most of LEATHER's books reek of authenticity and this is no exception.
The plot powers ahead at breakneck speed and you will spent your time in the company of a very believable character doing unbelievable things to people who deserve it. On of the fastes reads ever for me and it lead to the rest of LEATHER's books which gave me hours of unadulterated pleasure.

One man Vietnamese army beats the IRA.
Stephen Leather's The Chinaman is an outstanding action novel. A unique plot pits a retired Vietnamese special operations soldier against the vaunted and ruthless IRA. Nguyen Ngoc Minh fought for both the Vietcong AND South Vietnamese/American special operations forces. He was a skilled jungle fighter and specially trained assassin. He was expert in all facets of close hand-to-hand fighting. He was a "Rough Man" who endured much. Escaping from communist Vietnam, Nguyen watched as his twin daughters were raped and killed by Filipino pirates. Still he persisted toward freedom eventually settling in London, England, with his wife and remaining daughter. Then disaster struck as an IRA bomb killed both the wife and daughter. Nguyen vows revenge and returns to his old ways to hunt down the IRA assassins. This is his story of determination, sleuth, stealth, and the hunt. The ruthless IRA never realized until it was too late that they were now the prey and not the hunter. Nguyen had declared his own unconditional war where no quarter was given and none expected.
Character development was superb. Mr. Leather took great pains to develop most of the many characters he portrayed. There were several sub-plots that gave the main thesis of the book greater depth. Simply a terrific story well developed.
No gratuitous sex, language or violence. Although there was plenty of violent action it was handled well and germane to the storyline.
This is an excellent novel. This is my first Stephen Leather book and it will not be the last. Excellent crisp writing with lots of wonderfully done action: NOT over the top but perfectly done. Several interesting twists will keep the reader guessing and engaged. The well thought out story concluded with a terrific climax. No spoilers here so read and enjoy.
Strong recommend, especially for the misery of today's air travel. A perfect relaxing day on the beach read. This novel is first rate in all respects. Well done Stephen Leather-kudos.

I enjoyed this book but was surprised to read 'Heads You Die Tails They Kill YOu' written by James Tatham and find that the opening chapter is nearly word for word the same.

I love Stephen Leather's style and this book did not dissapoint. It could so easily be turned into an Oscar winning movie. It was fast paced, exciting, sad, and I felt a bit like i'd lost a friend when the book ended.

This book is quite a refreshing thriller experience (originally published in 1992), especially compared with so much of the same old same old story lines of today.

A very original page turning plot...a humble and unassuming 'chinaman' living/working in London, tries to find out why his wife and daughter's killer's have not been found and punished, victims of an IRA bombing. He patiently dogs the police, politicians and press, searching for answers, but to no avail. Finally he travels to Ireland, to take matters into his own hands.

I really admired Nguyen (the 'chinaman'...who in another life was a Vietnamese assassin), and was pulling for him all the way. The author's British words and phrases lend to the ebb and flow...you feel like you are in London/Northern Ireland, and he gives us a decent ending. This 300 page book moves really fast, so don't be looking for in depth characters, other than the 'chinaman'...they are not necessary.

Amazing that Stephen Leather, is not very well known in the America. He has written many books, all with limited, but solid reviews. I intend to read most of them.