Review: IndieReader Review
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 1, 2013
Michael Gallagher lost both his father, an RIC police officer, and Fiona, his childhood sweetheart, in the Irish Troubles. He joined the Shanghai Municipal Police in an attempt to make a name for himself. 1930s China is a dangerous and uncertain place, with different political factions both internal and external fighting for power, but Gallagher manages to make a place for himself, both among an elite force trained to counter gangster violence and, less ethically, among the "rambling boys", who take bribes to protect brothels and opium dens from police raids. But when one of Shanghai's most dangerous and prosperous men decides to hire him for a detective job, and when he finds his first love alive and married to another man, the upheaval in his own life begins to mirror the political upheaval around him.GANGSTERS OF SHANGHAI is a vivid, intense book, with a dramatic and well-researched historical background and an emotionally gripping plot. Gallagher is a complicated, three-dimensional character with enough flaws to make him interesting but enough courage and good-hearted compassion to make him loveable. The book gives a clear, powerful view of politically and emotionally complicated situations, declining to sugarcoat the horrors of revolution or to whitewash the actions of any one group. The story reads like a roller-coaster ride, full of action, twists and turns, and it is almost impossible to put the book down until it is done. The author also deftly shifts between past and present, giving the reader a clear idea of the forces that shaped Gallagher and his world without tedium or confusion.  The book's only real flaw lies in the occasional typos and misuse of punctuation (particularly quotation marks).GANGSTERS OF SHANGHAI offers appealing elements of history and action-adventure for fans of these genres.Reviewed by Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader