Water Touching Stone [Import] [Paperback]

Eliot Paterson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 484 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books; New Ed edition (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099414864
• ISBN-13: 978-0099414865
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,050,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eliot Pattison has been described as a "writer of faraway mysteries," a label which is particularly apt for someone whose travel and interests span such a broad spectrum. After reaching a million miles of global trekking, visiting every continent but Antarctica, Pattison stopped logging his miles and set his compass for the unknown. Today he avoids well-trodden paths whenever possible, in favor of wilderness, lesser known historical venues, and encounters with indigenous peoples. An international lawyer by training, early in his career Pattison began writing on legal and business topics, producing several books and dozens of articles published on three continents. In the late 1990's he decided to combine his deep concerns for the people of Tibet with his interest in venturing into fiction by writing The Skull Mantra. Winning the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery--and listed as a finalist for best novel for the year in Dublin's prestigious IMPAC awards--The Skull Mantra launched the Inspector Shan series, which now includes Water Touching Stone, Bone Mountain, Beautiful Ghosts, and The Prayer of the Dragon. Both The Skull Mantra and Water Touching Stone were selected by Amazon.com for its annual list of ten best new mysteries. Water Touching Stone was selected by Booksense as the number one mystery of all time for readers' groups. The Inspector Shan series has been translated into over twenty languages around the world.
Pattison entered China for the first time within weeks of normalization of relations with the United States in 1980 and during his many return visits to China and neighboring countries developed the intense interest in the rich history and culture of the region that is reflected in these books. They have been characterized as creating a new "campaign thriller" genre for the way they weave significant social and political themes into their plots. Indeed, as soon as the novels were released they became popular black market items in China for the way they highlight issues long hidden by Beijing.

Pattison's longtime interest in another "faraway" place -the 18th century American wilderness and its woodland Indians-- led to the launch of his Bone Rattler series, which quickly won critical acclaim for its poignant presentation of Scottish outcasts and Indians during the upheaval of the French and Indian War. In Pattison's words, "this was an extraordinary time that bred the extraordinary people who gave birth to America," and the lessons offered by the human drama in that long-ago wilderness remain fresh and compelling today.

A former resident of Boston and Washington, Pattison resides on an 18th century farm in Pennsylvania with his wife, three children, and an ever-expanding menagerie of animals.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait!, June 15, 2001

By 

John Rogers ClarkIV "Seawizard" (Hartland, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Water Touching Stone (Inspector Shan Tao Yun) (Hardcover)

After reading The Skull Mantra, I immediately began looking forward to reading Mr. Pattison's next book. As time passed, I became a bit worried he might not write another. After reading Water Touching Stone, I understand why there was such a long time between the two. This is definitely a thinking person's mystery, so much so that I will re-read it several months from now. Please, if you haven't read the Skull Mantra, read it before reading this book. There are too many connections between them. Shan returns again, the reluctant protagonist, called this time by the people who he has come to revere. The request: go find who is killing the children. There is a mind-boggling cast of characters that sometimes become difficult to keep straight, but none are no wasted. The mix of pain experienced by the different characters makes a striking contrast to both the beauty of the cultures and the author's description of the physical environment. Prosecutor Xu in particular comes across as terribly human in the final pages of this book. I must admit to wondering how the author could wrap this book up with any degree of neatness. He exceeded my expectations and left the perfect amount of ambiguity at the end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a well-crafted mystery that both entertains and challenges the reader.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than The Skull Mantra, July 4, 2001

By 

RuthAlice "ruthalice" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Water Touching Stone (Inspector Shan Tao Yun) (Hardcover)

After reading The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison, I hoped he would write another quickly. Well, it took him a while, but it was worth the wait. In Water Touching Stone he returns to Tibet and Shan, his intrepid detective who is now out of the gulag, though undocumented and at risk of arrest outside the county where he was freed by the grateful Chief Prosecutor in The Skull Mantra.

In Water Touching Stone, Pattison takes Shan not only out of the gulag, but out of Tibet into Xianjiang, the westernmost province of China, a territory filled with ethnic minorities who the government is assiduously working to assimilate. Reflecting the "new market economy" reforms that are much touted in the West as excuses to trade with China, government oppression is replaced by corporate oppression, as the corporate licensed in this province gives khazachs shares in exchange for their herds and reassigns them to work units that effectively disperse clans, completely the eradication of old cultures under the benign cover of corporate privatization. The struggle of the people to retain their ethnic heritage is the background to this fascinating mystery.

A teacher of minority orphans is murdered and her students are being picked off one by one, killed by a "demon" who is eating children. Shan is dispatched by the lamas to save the children and find the murderer. He is accompanied by two lamas from Tibet. All three face immediate arrest and dispatch to the gulag if they are discovered. Along the way, they are assisted by the many people who are resisting assimilation. Khazach, Uighur, Elousi and Tibetan find common ground in resisting assimilation.

The mystery is complex and fair. The characters are multi-dimensional and authentic. Some may criticize the book for having too many characters who are too-fully realized since many people are more comfortable with keeping track of just a few folks. However, I appreciate it when a writer does justice to his characters by letting them achieve their own complexity and ambiguity and am frustrated by authors who develop only a few characters, leaving the rest to lie one-dimensionally flat on the page. I thought Shan was a bit slow to come to the realization of THE SECRET about why the children were being murdered...though THE SECRET is pretty amazing. Still, I began to suspect long before he did...though of course, he had more to distract him than I did, as he raced from one end of the frontier to the other.

I loved this book. In many ways, it was even more fascinating than The Skull Mantra though I anticipate that many will find it difficult. There are so many characters and so many sub-plots that this is not a book for lazy readers. This is also a book that demands re-reading, not only because of the complexity of plot, but for the richness of discovery and of place. Shan roams all over Xianjiang from one remarkable site to another in the ultimate road trip to sites that are indescribably wonderful. Reading this book, I yearned to see these hidden treasures of the world, buried cities, monasteries in mountains, sanctuaries in silos. There is an unearthly beauty in that part of the world and Pattison writes with lyrical tenderness about the geography and the people.

This book is heartbreaking, though how can a book about ethnic minorities in China not break your heart? Though Water Touching Stone has a "happy ending", it's the happy ending of survival in an oppressive society with full remembrance of those who were lost. This is a profoundly compassionate and moving book and I recommend it highly.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story, June 11, 2002

By 

"peterfagerberg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Water Touching Stone (Inspector Shan Tao Yun) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is truly a great book. The interesting setting and the unusual hero would be enough, but Pattison manages to take you on a ride through the current situation i Tibet, the mystique of the mountains and the wonderful people that live there. As the mystery unravels (slowly!), you actually feel the frustration of the hero, Chinese inspector Chan, as he has to battle with his loyalties and emotions.

The plot is satisfyingly complex, and requires both an attentive and reflecting reader if you are to keep on top of things. Pattison avoids the trap of delivering finished solutions and encourages the reader to think for himself - something that is quite uncommon for best-sellers these days.

The ending is both sad and beautiful and I actually felt my eyes become wet as I finished the book on the bus to work. When was the last time a paperback move you to tears? Keep up the good work, Pattison!