As a content creator for pets.edu.vn, and a specialist in Pet care (Note: While the prompt mentions pets.edu.vn and pet care, the actual task is about rewriting a book-related article. I will proceed with the book-related task as the core instruction, assuming the pets.edu.vn and pet care context is a misdirection or irrelevant to the main task). I am excited to announce the return of Peter May’s gripping China thrillers, now being republished by Quercus’ new imprint, riverrun. These six novels, initially released between 1999 and 2004, vividly depict the dramatic transformations China underwent as it embraced global financial partnerships.
Peter May’s fascination with China is deeply rooted, beginning with a serendipitous trip. While in Hong Kong researching a book set in Southeast Asia, a day excursion to Shenzhen, Southern China, caught his attention. He seized the opportunity, unaware that this spontaneous decision would ignite a long-lasting connection with the country and inspire his acclaimed series.
Stepping off the bus in Shenzhen in 1983 felt like entering another world. Just a few years after the Cultural Revolution’s end, the city remained largely unchanged since the Communist takeover in 1949. Bicycles dominated the streets, and blue Mao suits were the ubiquitous attire. Elderly women with bound feet, a painful relic of Imperial China, were still a visible presence.
The open markets were reminiscent of medieval scenes, with animal carcasses being butchered on wooden tables amidst blood, bone, and fur. Westerners were a rare spectacle, drawing immense curiosity. Television ownership was scarce, and China had been isolated from the outside world for decades. If Peter May found the Chinese intriguing, the sentiment was mutual. His towering six-foot-two frame, blond hair, and ginger beard made him an extraordinary sight. Crowds would openly follow him, their eyes wide with astonishment.
This initial encounter sparked an intense feeling of discovery, a sense of a society frozen in time yet on the cusp of change. Peter May knew instantly that he needed to write about this captivating country.
For the next eight years, Peter May immersed himself in all things China. He devoured books on its history, politics, culture, and cuisine, while the world watched the tragic events of Tiananmen Square unfold in 1989.
In 1991, driven by a desire to find a story, Peter May returned to China. He visited Beijing on a tourist visa, but his focus was on exploring the city, engaging with locals, and absorbing its atmosphere. Despite the emergence of a modern Beijing under Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, the city still felt profoundly foreign. English was rarely spoken, and everything from street signs to menus was in Chinese characters, with even Pinyin romanization uncommon.
Beijing’s six ring roads, then newly constructed, were eerily deserted. Vast bike lanes teemed with cyclists in blue Mao suits, and curious stares still followed Westerners.
Peter May befriended a tour guide eager to discuss the Tiananmen Square protests. One evening, the guide took him to his home, located at the end of a row of concrete bunkers in a dimly lit alleyway. He shared a tiny room with his wife, baby, and a babysitter, crammed with two beds, a table, armchairs, and a large television. The minuscule kitchen and shared outside toilet highlighted the stark living conditions.
The guide showed Peter May illicit video footage from the Tiananmen Square protests and cautioned him about the watchful Street Committee. Their bus ride back after midnight was unsettling, with the few other passengers fixated on them.
Initially, Peter May considered a story centered on the Tiananmen Square events. He arranged to visit CNN’s Beijing office to view their archive footage. However, a power cut, a frequent occurrence in Beijing at the time, prevented him from seeing the videos. He climbed to CNN’s fourth-floor office only to find bureau chief Mike Chinoy and a government-assigned assistant. The power outage seemed more than coincidental, leaving Peter May to wonder if unseen forces were at play.
Peter May left Beijing without the CNN footage but enriched by his experiences and more determined to set his next book in China. He noted that Beijing had yet to be featured in a crime thriller, much like Moscow before Gorky Park. He was resolute in being the first to bring the genre to China.
It took another six years for Peter May to return, but this time, he had a story and a vital introduction to the Chinese police, courtesy of a highly respected figure in Chinese law enforcement.
Dr. Richard Ward, an American criminologist and former NYPD detective, became Peter May’s crucial connection. Disillusioned by police corruption, Ward pursued criminology, eventually becoming Vice-Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago and establishing the Office of International Criminal Justice (OICJ). In the 1990s, he spent years in Shanghai training top Chinese police officers in Western policing techniques, earning legendary status within the force.
Dr. Ward was Peter May’s entry point into researching The Firemaker. Peter May envisioned a story with a Beijing police officer and an American pathologist as central characters. He had already secured technical advisors for pathology and genetics, the story’s focus. However, gaining credible insight into the Chinese police seemed impossible. Information about their structure and methods was nonexistent in libraries, bookstores, or the nascent internet.
A contact connected Peter May with Dr. Ward, and Peter May reached out for assistance. They met in Paris during an international terrorism conference. During their dinner, Peter May seemingly passed an “invisible litmus test.” Following their meeting, Dr. Ward’s Chicago office initiated a flurry of communications with Beijing. When Peter May arrived in China in June 1997 for his research trip, doors typically closed to foreigners were opened wide by the Chinese police.
Peter May became the first Western writer granted this level of access. He was mentored by the Beijing police, gaining entry into their world, a blend of ancient Chinese methods and modern forensic and computing technologies. Over seven years of frequent visits, Peter May received privileged access to police operations in Beijing and Shanghai, forensic and pathology facilities, police stations, holding cells, and interrogation rooms. He rode in police cars and dined in police canteens. The Chinese police’s influence extended to arranging access to anything Peter May needed for his research.
Interestingly, Peter May’s host within the Beijing Ministry of Public Security was the propaganda department. He soon learned that the Chinese definition of “propaganda” differed from Western interpretations. This department, led by Wu He Peng, a high-ranking officer, was responsible for producing police movies, TV shows, and crime fiction. They created Chinese equivalents of shows like Taggart and published translated works of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie.
Their aim was to portray the police and their investigations positively – always the heroes catching the criminals. This positive depiction constituted their “propaganda.”
Wu He Peng’s appointment was a reward for capturing museum robbers smuggling artifacts. His first act was to create an eight-hour drama about this case, which he wrote, produced, and starred in as himself, achieving nationwide fame with China’s massive television audience.
Peter May discovered that Chinese police officers were not only avid readers of crime fiction but also writers themselves. The Beijing University of Public Security even offered a course on the history of Western crime fiction, and the propaganda department published monthly magazines featuring crime stories penned by serving officers.
On his first research day, Peter May visited the University of Public Security, meeting the dean and Lin Tong, a young officer nicknamed “Clinton” due to his resemblance to the then-US President Bill Clinton. Peter May was impressed by Lin Tong’s quiet demeanor and thoughtful nature. Lin Tong became the inspiration for Li Yan, Peter May’s central Chinese police detective.
This initial trip also introduced Peter May to Dai Yisheng, who became a close friend and mentor. Dai Yisheng, a friend of Dr. Richard Ward, guided Peter May on all subsequent China visits. A retired policeman and highly educated man, Dai Yisheng had studied at the American University in Beijing and earned a place at Cambridge University. However, the 1949 Communist Revolution changed his path. Choosing to stay in China, he was assigned to the police force in Tibet, deemed potentially dangerous due to his intellect.
Dai Yisheng and his wife endured a perilous three-month journey on foot from Sichuan Province to Tibet. His life was marked by upheaval, including imprisonment during the Cultural Revolution, before he returned to Beijing and attained a high-ranking position. In retirement, Dai Yisheng dedicated his time to assisting Peter May’s research, granting him access to places in Beijing inaccessible to other foreigners. He provided invaluable insights into Chinese history, culture, and the Chinese mindset, both in daily life and police work. Peter May met a diverse range of people through Dai Yisheng, including a memorable late-night taxi ride to the secret headquarters of Beijing’s serious crime squad after a police questioning in a backstreet restaurant.
Peter May often met Dai Yisheng at his hotel lobby, and they would cycle to their destinations. He also visited Dai Yisheng’s modest apartment in a 1950s Soviet-style building, a seemingly understated setting for such a distinguished man. Dai Yisheng inspired the character of Uncle Yifu in Peter May’s novels.
By Peter May’s 1997 return, English proficiency had increased in Beijing. Many restaurants offered menus in English or Pinyin. The ring roads were becoming busier, signaling the shift from bicycles to private cars.
Throughout his subsequent visits until 2004, Peter May witnessed China’s transformation from a closed, almost medieval society under Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping’s vision of a modern nation. These changes are reflected in The China Thrillers, capturing a period of unprecedented change in Chinese history.
Looking back, Peter May views the books as a record of this transformation. The empty ring roads evolved into nine congested highways. Rivers of bicycles dwindled to a trickle. Traditional siheyuan courtyards gave way to modern high-rise apartments.
This dramatic evolution is woven into each book of the series.
The “bread cars,” ubiquitous yellow vans used as taxis and featured in The Firemaker, were banned by 1999 to combat pollution.
The 50th anniversary of the People’s Republic in 1999 marked the replacement of the old green police uniforms with smart black uniforms, aligning with international standards.
In the lead-up to the 2004 Beijing Olympics, vast areas of the city were demolished and rebuilt in a rapid modernization effort, transforming Beijing into a bustling metropolis, erasing much of the historical hutongs Peter May initially encountered.
Mao suits vanished, replaced by Western fashions. Mobile phones became ubiquitous. Mercedes and BMW showrooms proliferated. Foreign culture permeated daily life, with McDonalds and even a Starbucks in the Forbidden City. English was becoming the lingua franca.
Peter May feels privileged to have experienced China during its period of profound change. The China Thrillers are set against this backdrop of immense transformation, making them, in Peter May’s view, almost historical documents. They chronicle not only the relationship between Deputy Section Chief Li Yan and American pathologist Margaret Campbell but also one of the most remarkable cultural shifts in recent history.
The approximate timeline of the series is:
- The Firemaker – Summer 1999
- The Fourth Sacrifice – Summer to Autumn 1999
- The Killing Room – Winter 2000
- Snakehead – Summer 2001
- The Runner – Winter 2003
- Chinese Whispers – Autumn to Winter 2004
The new edition of The Firemaker, the first book in Peter May’s China Thriller series, is now available in paperback. The remaining books will follow shortly.
