Book Review: The Ghost Ninja of Hong Kong Island by Lukas Krueger
Johnathan Zhang isn’t content with being a crimelord. True, he has substantial power in the underworld of Hong Kong, and has never been arrested for his many murders due to his habit of leaving no witnesses. But he wants more, and a certain set of counterfeit plates is the key to the plan. Problem! Zhang’s latest murder was in fact witness by recent arrival Brandon Willis, who has come under the dubious protection of Inspector Kaiden Chan, who may be an alcoholic wreck, but is also the only police officer who is on to Zhang’s true nature. Can the inspector, his young but martially skilled witness, and his estranged daughter foil Zhang’s master plan?
The genre of this book is, well, Hong Kong action movie. Guns, martial arts, motorcycle stunts, unlikely teammates, I could easily see this on film in the late Eighties-early Nineties. Several scenes are described as “if this were a movie.”
Brandon Willis is a mixed-race teenager from Australia; his father instructed him in the martial arts before his recent death, and in his absence the racism and general bullying of his fellow students and certain teachers has sent Brandon into a self-pitying spiral. He’s turned to heroin to ease the pain, but after he beats a particularly obnoxious teacher into the hospital, his mother decides to take him to her hometown of Hong Kong early.
They’ve been in town less than four hours when Brandon gets mixed up with Zhang’s plans, and his mother is severely wounded. Inspector Chan means well, but has his own deep man-pain, and soon becomes there’s a mole in the police department. The two are on their own against Zhang and his goon squad, and the police detective is forced to turn for help to the White Crane Wing Chun school he abandoned along with his daughter.
The “Ghost Ninja” of the title comes in about halfway through, as the Japanese assassin Shibasaki is lured out of retirement by Zhang to face Inspector Chan. (Chan doesn’t realize it yet, but the two men have history.) Shibasaki has seemingly mystical abilities, and is a formidable opponent.
Good: Lots of cinematic-type action, mixing it up so that no two scenes feel the same. The protagonists’ desperation feels real.
Less good: Given the genre of the book, it feels odd that none of the movies referenced by the characters are Hong Kong movies. And since Zhang’s ultimate goal is political, the lack of exploration of what Hong Kong’s political status was at the time of the story (I don’t think it’s supposed to be set in 2021) makes it feel a little disconnected.
Interesting: The author is Australian, and this book has not been edited for the United States audience, so there is some vocabulary and some turns of phrase that come across as exotic.
Content note: Lots of violence, some lethal. Torture and mutilation. Racism and bullying. Brandon uses heroin. While Brandon’s a teenager, this really doesn’t feel written for the young adult market. Senior high readers on up should be able to handle it.
Overall: An exciting book for fans of Hong Kong action movies. Do your own fan casting! There’s already a sequel out if you like this one.
Disclaimer: I received a free download of this book via the author for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or received.
