Chinatown Beat [Hardcover]

Henry Chang (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Soho Crime (1980)
• ASIN: B000N767C0
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

More About the Author

HENRY CHANG is a native son of Chinatown and a lifetime New Yorker. He writes from the world of the urban Chinese immigrant demimonde, and his work has appeared in Murdaland2, Gangs in New York's Chinatown, The NuyorAsian Anthology, and Bridge Magazine.
His acclaimed 'Chinatown Trilogy' of CHINATOWN BEAT, YEAR OF THE DOG, and RED JADE, is the hard-boiled reflection of lifelong experiences in the Chinese community, and the books have received high praise from the New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, and the Boston Globe, among others.
Henry Chang's website is Chinatowntrilogy.com .
Henry has appeared on 'Asian America' WNYC TV,on Asia Pacific Forum radio WBAI,and has been featured in 'The Voice' NY Times, the 'Book Mark' NYPL, the Downtown Express news, and in the World Journal, Sing Tao, and Ming Pao Chinese news press.
The Author is a graduate of CCNY and the Chinatown School 'of hard knocks'. He has been a Security Director for major hotels and commercial properties in New York City and he continues to reside in Chinatown and post-911 Lower Manhattan.


FROM THE AUTHOR:

"I've been asked about the subjects I write about: Chinatown and Crime.
I'd always wanted to tell these Chinatown stories, true stories of ordinary immigrants struggling to succeed, against the backdrop of organized Chinese crime,-the Triads, the Tongs, and the vicious streetgangs. I also wanted to position the stories within the greater context of what affects Chinese-Americans nationally and internationally.
My protagonist, Chinese-American NYPD Detective Jack Yu, takes the reader on a tour of the Chinatown underbelly while following a police investigation. To me, the stories should not only revolve around the conventional mystery of the 'whodunit' but should also interpret the mystery of why and how things occur in all these Chinatowns across America, and show how crime impacts the survivors and the families involved.
In my books, there will always be tidbits of Chinatown history and sociology dancing in the shadows of the storyline, giving voice back to the voiceless, shedding light on things people don't like to talk about, like exploitation, discrimination, violence and racism in America.
The stories are not simply about cops and criminals, but about how organized crime shadows the immigrant demimonde and controls the underbelly of Chinatown through violence and brutality.
So sit back, and keep your hands in plain sight.
Welcome to Chinatown.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Police procedural of Chinese-American NYPD Detective, May 23, 2007

By 

Ed Lynskey, "author of ASK THE DICE and THE Z... (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chinatown Beat (Detective Jack Yu) (Hardcover)

I finished Henry Chang's CHINATOWN BEAT (Soho Press, 2006). The foreign-flavored mysteries Soho Press specializes in publishing appeal to me. Mr. Chang's debut novel is a top-notch entry.
It features NYPD Detective Jack Yu. The locale is in New York's Chinatown area. Written in a gritty, vivid, and detailed prose, Jack runs two concurrent investigations: one for a serial rapist singling out young Chinese girl victims, and the second one for solving the murder of a Chinese elder and community leader named Uncle Four. Jack's personal life is in a bit of shambles as deals with his father's death. The old Chinese ways clash with the 1990 New York City. Jack is a relentless, likeable detective who's not above turning to a Chinese fortune teller for a clue. The chase sequence of the killers leading to the climax (away from NYC) is deftly paced. This crime novel is worth reading if just for the page-after-page of details on Chinese-American culture. The violence is restrained, and the story multi-layered. Recommended.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A solid B, January 5, 2007

By 

Miran Ali "I don't like anonymous reviewers" (Dhaka, Bangladesh) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chinatown Beat (Detective Jack Yu) (Hardcover)

I'll give this a B+ for atmosphere and a B- for plot. The atmosphere is great and you really get a better perspective on the triads and the overseas chinese associations. The storyline I found a little weak and meandering. I'll still buy the next installment though, just to give Henry the benefit of the doubt.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Edgy debut for Chinese-American cop, December 2, 2006

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chinatown Beat (Detective Jack Yu) (Hardcover)

New York Chinatown native Chang introduces NYPD Detective Jack Yu. Also born and raised in Chinatown, Jack has just buried his immigrant father. Their differences - among them Jack's career - were unresolved, and Jack's grief is tangled up with the conflict between his Chinatown roots and his chosen Americanization.

The plot is a bit confused - involving a serial rapist of schoolgirls and growing turf tension between the established Tongs and the rising street gangs. But the plot takes a backseat to Chang's fascinating evocation of Chinatown culture, dynamics, and tension. Prejudice and racism run rampant through the community and the mostly white officers who police it.

Chang delves deep and fast, requiring a bit of effort from the reader to follow him into hidden byways and unaccustomed thought patterns. This is a promising debut from a knowledgeable, unflinching writer.