As an up-and-coming agent of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, Song Mei probes political corruption, not mysterious deaths. But that changes when she arrives on the scene of a grim police investigation and is confronted with a crime—and a victim—impossible to ignore. Despite strict orders and threats from superiors, Mei knows she can not turn away. Breaking protocol, Mei undertakes a covert search for the truth about the mystery woman’s death—and life—by following in her footsteps from a factory plagued by worker suicides to a luxury hotel dealing in high-end escorts to an American home haunted by tragedy. But when Mei crosses paths with an ex–CIA operative on a shadowy mission of his own, her personal quest takes a jarring turn into political and industrial espionage that pits both agents against the highest ranks of communism and capitalism. “Rarely does one read a first novel so self-assured, sharp, and compelling. It takes off like a rocket and doesn’t stop until its explosive conclusion.” “An enlightening and grisly tale . . . tightly plotted and fast-paced.” “An ingenious thriller about the ruthless world of high finance.” “A fast-paced book that should entertain finance aficionados and fans of detective fiction alike.” “A neatly crafted and well-written thriller . . . an audacious, assured debut.” “[Gapper] knows when to put his foot on the narrative accelerator.” “Intriguing . . . suspenseful . . . a web of deceit and betrayal.”