Product Description

“Lisa See begins to do for Beijing what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did for turn-of-the-century London or Dashiell Hammett did for 1920s San Francisco: She discerns the hidden city lurking beneath the public facade.”
–The Washington Post Book World

In the depths of a Beijing winter, during the waning days of Deng Xiaoping’s reign, the U.S. ambassador’s son is found dead–his body entombed in a frozen lake. Around the same time, aboard a ship adrift off the coast of Southern California, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Stark makes a startling discovery: the corpse of a Red Prince, a scion of China’s political elite.

The Chinese and American governments suspect that the deaths are connected and, in an unprecedented move, they join forces to see justice done. In Beijing, David teams up with the unorthodox police detective Liu Hulan. In an investigation that brings them to every corner of China and sparks an intense attraction between the two, David and Hulan discover a web linking human trafficking to the drug trade to governmental treachery–a web reaching from the Forbidden City to the heart of Los Angeles and, like the wide flower net used by Chinese fishermen, threatening to ensnare all within its reach.

“A graceful rendering of two different and complex cultures, within a highly intricate plot . . . The starkly beautiful landscapes of Beijing and its surrounding countryside are depicted with a lyrical precision.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Murder and intrigue splash across the canvas of modern Chinese life. . . . A vivid portrait of a vast Communist nation in the painful throes of a sea change.”
–People

“Fascinating . . . that rare thriller that enlightens as well as it entertains.”
–San Diego Union-Tribune

A Finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42516 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-31
• Released on: 2007-12-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
"Inspector Liu, do I need to remind you that China has customs and rituals for dealing with guests?" says a top Chinese official to one his police investigators early in Lisa See's tremendously powerful debut thriller. "Remember that all foreigners are potentially dangerous. Don't be tempted to say what you think. Don't show anger or irritation. Be humble and careful and gracious. Draw them in. Let them think they have a connection to you, that they owe you, that they should never cause you any embarrassment. This is how we have treated outsiders for centuries. This is how you will treat this foreigner as long as he is our guest." The fact that the official is her father and the foreigner in question is her former lover, an assistant U.S. attorney named David Stark, makes things much more complicated for Liu Hulan. Hulan is a former Red Princess, one of the privileged children of Chairman Mao's most trusted aides. When two young men (the son of the American ambassador to China and the son of an immensely powerful Chinese businessman with possible criminal connections) are murdered under similar circumstances, Hulan and Stark are cynically manipulated by their respective governments into a joint investigation that exposes the worst of both countries. The situation also gives See a chance to meld her impressive talent for writing fiction with the solid journalism skills that invigorated her family saga On Gold Mountain.

From School Library Journal
YA?The tranquil setting of a Chinese ice-skating pond is shattered when Wing Yun and his granddaughter discover the body of a young white man frozen in the ice. An ocean away, off the coast of Southern California, the body of a young Chinese man is found decomposing in the drinking water for a shipload of illegal immigrants. When it is found that both of the deceased have connections to a Chinese gang, the Rising Phoenix, Chinese Inspector Liu Hulan and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Stark are teamed to locate the killer. Liu and David, who had been linked romantically years before, realize their case is being run like the flower net used by Chinese fishermen who throw the mesh wide to trap everything within its reach. American and Chinese cultures are naturally juxtaposed as Liu and David move from one side of the Pacific to the other, offering a richness in background beyond the usual espionage tale. The writing is crisp and the story moves at a fast clip with flashbacks adding background fibers to the webbing. This top-quality novel will be enjoyed by teens who like romance, adventure, or just a great story.?Pam Spencer, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Following up her well-reviewed family history (On Gold Mountain, LJ 8/95), former Publishers Weekly West Coast correspondent See pens a fast-moving thriller set primarily in Beijing. After the son of the U.S. ambassador is found murdered in Beijing, and the son of a member of China's political elite is also discovered murdered on a boat filled with illegal aliens located off the California coast, Chinese policewoman Liu Hulan and American lawyer David Stark are assigned to work together to solve the crimes. (The two are no strangers, having been lovers when Liu interned at the California law firm where Stark was an associate.) As the investigation heats up, the perpetrator commits more gruesome murders. In unraveling the crimes, Liu and Stark find a deceitful pattern reaching into the highest levels of the Chinese and American governments. See offers readers many interesting insights into Chinese culture and recent history, but the writing is marked by cardboard characters, wooden dialog, and an unfortunate tendency to tell what's happening rather than showing it. Buy where On Gold Mountain was popular.
-?Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Unusual setting and interesting heroine
Those who read mysteries by the dozen can get pretty bored with the same old settings, stereotypical investigators and cookie-cutter crooks. The main virtue of "The Flower Net" is a nice change of pace on all three counts. Despite the opening of China, it's still a pretty rare setting for fiction, mystery fiction in particular. Likewise, the featuring of a female Chinese investigator was refreshing in concept. Even better is that she's a nicely complicated yet empathetic protagonist. Her American counterpart, David, isn't nearly as interesting. While the villians aren't surprising in the long haul, they aren't just the usual Triad types either.

If the book has a weakness, it's the revived romance between Liu and David. It seemed irrelevant to be crime solving and not very interesting.

This review is based on the six-hour abridged tape version. I found that the plot followed pretty well. The narrator, an American-Chinese woman was a mixed blessing. Certainly there were aspects of the story where her underlying speach patterns were perfect but sometimes her tone was a bit awkward.

Bottom-line: A nice change of pace from mysteries set in the US or England. Not great literature but I learned some new things and like Liu enough to want to read a sequel.

Unique Thriller
It took me FOREVER to get into Lisa See's book "Flower Net". It seems like the book just sat on my nightstand for 3 weeks with the bookmark protruding from the creases of Chapter One. And then when I actually made an effort to read the book, it was finished in a day.

Lisa See has succeeded in creating a unique and gripping thriller. When the son of a American Ambassador and the son of one of Beijing's political elite both turn up dead under mysterious circumstances, U.S. Attorney David Stark is reunited with an old flame, Liu Hulan, to solve the case. Following leads, the case unravels a trail of clues from China to the United States, leaving David and Hulan to find the connection.

Lisa See has developed a very intriguing read, especially to people interested in Chinese culture. I did struggle in a few parts, making me wish that I had more solid knowledge of Chinese History. It was a relief for me at the end of "Flower Net" when I discovered that most of my confusion (in reference to historical facts) had been resolved. I found See's inclusion of Chinese Herbal Medicine to be especially interesting. I do agree with some of the reviewers that some of the plot twists seemed very forced or convenient (and yet somehow you could still see them coming a mile away).

My least favorite part about this book are the characters. It seemes to me that the background characters in "Flower Net" were more interesting and appealing than David Stark and Liu Hulan were. In fact, I found both the main characters to be dreadfully dull and pretty one-dimensional.

I would recommend this book as a quick weekend read for fans of thrillers and especially to anyone interested in Chinese history and culture. Aside from that, I think it might make an interesting movie, and I enjoyed "Flower Net" enough to convince myself to check out the sequel.

Hope this helps! :)

Over looked mysteries
A good re start of a decent first novel as this book was first out in 1998 in mass paper edition.
They put a better cover on this and reissued the books as series has gained a following, so if you wonder what it is like to live in China, ok as a member of the privileged class this is a good read.

I had picked up the third novel Dragon Bones and did not know it was the third as I lked what I read, I ordered the first two books to read series in order the series is best tracked as the Red Princess Mysteries.

I read a lot of books and I always like the mystery novel's like Tony Hillerman with a bit of the exotic and different setting. I also want them to be without too much stereotypical cookie-cutter characters and settings, well The "Flower Net" is set in China, with a female Chinese investigator of the Ministry of Public Safety, the main weakness is her foil an American US Attorney who isn't nearly as interesting as she and her family, in fact his part is about the weakest in the book.

Lee also sets up a romance between Liu and David the main characters who have a past and a lame one at that! It is just not very interesting at all, the bad guys are a bit different as the motives are not the normal ones and it is well worth a read.

I think Lee was unsure here and hope her other book show us more about China and MPS and Lui than waste time on a romance story.