Year of the Dog [Hardcover]

Henry Chang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Praise for Chinatown Beat:

“A worthy debut. . . . Chang writes with stark power and authority, covering the territory as only an insider can. He evokes the spirit, sights, smells and language of his setting in compelling fashion.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“Yu is a fellow whose adventures should be worth following.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Should make the locals sit up and gasp.”—The New York Times Book Review

“It doesn’t get much better than this stunning novel.”—The Boston Globe

“A fascinating look at New York’s Chinese-American urban community and its subcultures.”—Publishers Weekly

“A great beginning to what should be a worthy series.”—Library Journal

“Very slick, very smart.”—Globe and Mail

“Classic noir. . . . A real discovery.”—Richard Price

He’s been transferred to a different precinct, but Detective Jack Yu cannot get away from Chinatown’s criminals—his old friends—who have hooked up with the Hong Kong-based triads in an elaborate nationwide credit card fraud. He also cannot escape the Chinese victims whose stories cry out for justice, like the teenage Chinese take-out delivery boy brutally murdered in the projects.

Henry Chang was born and raised in New York City’s Chinatown, where he still lives. His debut novel, Chinatown Beat, was hailed in several best of 2006 lists.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Less a conventional mystery than a study in Chinese-American culture, Chang's second novel (after 2006's Chinatown Beat) offers another tantalizing glimpse of precinct and street life in Manhattan's Chinatown. When a prosperous family of four dies in their apartment, NYPD Det. Jack Yu determines it is murder/suicide, probably an effort to save face. Saving face, a powerful motivator in Chinese culture, drives many characters, including Yu's boyhood friend, now gang boss, Tat Lucky Louie; young turk Koo Jai, who's trying to pull one over on Lucky; and Sai Go, a dying smalltime bookie who wants to keep his dignity. DA Alexandra Lee-Chow, in contrast, embodies the struggles of ordinary Chinese-Americans who are neither crooks nor celebrities. While some may feel there are too many specifics about Chinese takeout meals and the finale is a bit of a copout, Chang deftly keeps the action moving as he brings the Chinatown neighborhood alive in all its guises. (Nov.)
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From Booklist

In mid-1990s, NYPD detective Jack Yu is assigned to a new precinct after being wounded in the line of duty, but he is still the go-to guy for all things Chinese. That’s how he picks up the murder-suicide of an upper-middle-class Chinese family whose father asphyxiated his family via carbon monoxide poisoning. The case winds back through a holiday season credit-card scam operated by one of the Chinese gangs and designed to leave real families saddled with debt for stolen merchandise. Yu also apprehends the murderers of a young Chinese delivery boy who was killed so the perps could buy new sneakers. In the midst of the chaos and heartbreak are parallel story lines of gang power struggles and a terminally ill bookie, who may be in love for the first time. The backdrop for it all is a holiday-season New York ravaged by winter storms but still somehow surprisingly vibrant. This is a dense, moody, and intelligent glimpse at Chinese life in New York as seen through the world-weary eyes of a young man with a foot firmly planted in two cultures. --Wes Lukowsky

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569475156
• ISBN-13: 978-1569475157
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Read, November 16, 2008

By 

C. Wallace (L.A.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Year of the Dog (Hardcover)

Henry Chang's novel is set in New York during the Holiday Season of 1994-95. There's a clever theme involving Chinese attitudes about the period from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. Chang captures the gritty, mean streets of Chinatown and the surrounding area. The central character is Jack Wu, an NYPD detective who used to work the Chinatown beat, but has been shifted to the Nineteenth Precinct, which includes the East Village. Wu still has strong ties to Chinatown.

Chang skillfully weaves elements of Chinese immigrant culture into his tale. Key players are mainly a mix of honest, hard-working Chinese immigrants and hard-core gangsters. The gangsters are involved in a turf war; new Fukienese thugs want some pie. One of the gangsters is Lucky, Jack Wu's childhood friend.

Chang gives the reader some insight into the criminal activities of the triad: stealing and selling genuine and fake designer merchandise, credit-card fraud, and smuggling illegal immigrants into the country.

Bo, an illegal immigrant, was smuggled into the country by "snakeheads." These snakeheads extort heavy payments from her, so she must work a variety of jobs to pay them and save money to rescue her mother and daughter who remain in China. Bo befriends Sai Go, an aging bookie with a good heart who is dying of cancer.

There's also the tragic story of Hong, a high-school student, who makes bicycle deliveries for his parents' "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant.

Sometimes it's hard to keep track of the lesser characters. A good editor would have spotted some writing errors/poor phrasing. But it's a very solid read. I could imagine myself on those wintry streets.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chinatown, February 4, 2009

By 

Ted Feit (Long Beach, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Year of the Dog (Hardcover)

The New York City Chinatown that tourists never see, whether from a bus or in one of the myriad restaurants, is the real subject of this second novel in the Jack Wu series. In his debut, "Chinatown Beat," Wu was a police officer in the 05 precinct in Chinatown where he returned to tend to his dying father. In this follow-up, part of a trilogy, he is now a second-grade detective assigned to the 09 precinct, a little further north, after making a major contribution toward solving crime in Chinatown.

The novels are less of a police procedural or mystery, although crime, gangs and murder all play their part (after all this is New York City and Chinatown), than studies and vignettes of the people, culture and the neighborhood. And well-told and penetratingly they are depicted. Many of the tales are remembrances of similar instances in the author's early years of growing up in the area.

The noir stories are fascinating, and while there are examples of Wu plying his detective trade, insights into the gang mentality, brothels, gambling dens and secret societies predominate, as well as the interplay of the various waves of immigrants, from original Cantonese to more recent Fukienese, and their relationship with mainland China and Hong Kong tongs. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars culture study of the Manhattan Chinese-American lifestyle, November 4, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Year of the Dog (Hardcover)

In Lower Manhattan in a condominium in a luxurious high rise, four Chinese-Americans are dead due to eight times the normal level of CO in the apartment; two of the deceased are young elementary school age children. NYPD Detective Jack Yu is shook though he hides it as a family wiped out. He concludes a triple murder-suicide occurred with the motive being saving face; something he understands as being an extremely powerful driver amidst the Chinese even third generation American.

Jack is concerned with his friends' connections to Hong King mobsters. He understands no good can come of that in the long run, but he vows to be there for them as best he can. His childhood pal Tat "Lucky" Louie now runs the local mob while a rookie Koo Jai tries to foolishly pull a stunt on the gang leader. Bookie Sai Go knows he is dying, but his only request is to die with self-respect and not with someone else changing his diapers. To Jack this is his Chinatown.

Not really a police procedural although there are some elements of that sub-genre in the plot, YEAR OF THE DOG is more a culture study of the Manhattan Chinese-American lifestyle. The story line goes extremely deep into the "DNA: of the NYC Chinese-American especially the "save face" driver that has led to murder and suicide. Although the ending is a let down, fans will enjoy Jack's CHINATOWN BEAT as Henry Chang provides an appealing tale.

Harriet Klausner