Gary Poster, with essential assists from Galyn Norwood, Phiroon Phihakendr, Jose Quijada, Pavandeep Kalra. Beijing's vice mayor Wang Baosen shot himself to death two years ago after coming under investigation in a multi-million dollar corruption and bribery scandal. Chen Xitong then resigned, ostensibly to take responsibility for the bureaucratic turpitude of his dead deputy. A hard-liner who ran Beijing for 12 years, first as mayor and then as party secretary, Chen was put under house arrest and became the first person to be sacked from China's Politburo for corruption. From the start, there is no doubt that the novel is about the Wang-Chen case.
Readers get the point.
Author Fang Wen spices up the novel with juicy anecdotes and rumors, including tales about officials' mistresses and their debauched lives. The characters based on Wang, Chen and his son, for example, are said to have shared the same mistress, a television anchorwoman. In real life, official documents have accused Chen of keeping a mistress for six years and of diverting public funds to shower her with gifts, cash and houses. His son Chen Xiaotong, former manager of Beijing's New Century Hotel, is under detention, accused of using his father's influence to promote his business deals. In the novel, the Wang Baosen character is portrayed as the fall guy.