Stevie‘s review of Death Notice: A Novel by Zhou HaoHui, translated by Zac Haluza
International Crime Fiction published by Doubleday 05 Jun 18
I’m always intrigued by the forms storytelling takes in other nations, languages, and cultures, so I jumped at the chance to read a highly popular detective story from China, newly translated into English for the first time. The original copy I received was a sampler, with excerpts from each chapter, and while I was taken by the style, there wasn’t enough of the story to follow what was going on. I was suitably intrigued, however, to demand that a full version be tracked down so I could properly enjoy and review the whole of what is the first instalment of what promises to be a gripping saga.
Our story opens in the autumn of 2002, as a police officer attempts to locate and apprehend a suspect in a crowded internet cafe, with an IP address providing his sole clue. We soon learn that this visit is only one of many for our apparent hero, as he photographs the man at the computer, adding the photos to a large collection stored on his digital camera. Having followed the officer as he pays a visit to a heavily scarred man, we are transported forward two days, and learn of the officer’s murder – apparently at the hands of a vigilante killer who last struck some 18 years earlier, and who was the chief quarry in the officer’s hunt.
A task force is hastily assembled to include local and more distantly based detectives, including an officer whose college roommate and girlfriend were amongst the killer’s previous victims – the latter apparently an innocent victim of the bomb intended to kill the former, but which also inflicted the injuries on the heavily scarred man we met before. Back then the killer sent ‘Death Notices’ to at least two victims killed by different methods, and now more people are receiving the same letters, apparently after being nominated and voted for on an internet forum run by someone calling themself Eumenides – the name used by the killer before.
The task force is a mixed bunch, all determined to bring the killer to justice through their individual talents, but also suspicious that the killer’s ever more ingenious methods indicate a member of their team is somehow involved in leaking information. As we follow each of the detectives and other police staff, we learn that several of them have secrets the killer might turn to their advantage, but not all are corruptible, leading to a dramatic showdown as all rush to prevent the body count rising further and to keep their reputations intact.
I enjoyed this book a lot. A few details suffered in the translation with either too much exposition or not enough description of unfamiliar settings and situations. The ending was very clearly a lead-in to the next book in the series, but that wasn’t altogether a bad thing. Sometimes I like a good cliffhanger, and I definitely plan to read the rest of this series as and when the translations are released.
Grade: B
Summary:
An elite police squad hunts a manipulative mastermind out to publically execute criminals the law cannot reach. A wild thriller and deadly game of cat-and-mouse from one of China’s most popular authors. For fans of Jo Nesbo, Se7en, and Hong Kong police cinema.
The brutal murder of respected police officer Sergeant Zheng Haoming sends shock waves through Chengdu, a modern metropolis in the heart of China’s stunning Sichuan province. He had been obsessed by an unsolved, eighteen-year-old murder case until an entity calling itself Eumenides (after the Greek goddess of vengeance and retribution) releases a terrifying manifesto. Is the manifesto a sick joke, or something more sinister? Soon, the public starts nominating worthy targets for Eumenides to kill, and, two days later, Sergeant Zheng is dead.
Eumenides’ cunning game is only getting started. The police receive a “death notice,” a chilling note announcing the killer’s next target, the crimes they have committed, and the date of their execution. The note is both a challenge and a taunt to the police. When the first victim dies in public, under their complete protection, the police are left stunned. More death notices are coming. The chase is on.
Death Notice is an explosive, page-turning thriller filtered through a vibrant cultural lens. Zhou Haohui expertly adds an exhilarating new perspective to the twists and tropes of the genre all fans love, making for a uniquely propulsive and entertaining read.
Read an excerpt.
