The Two Chinatowns
A complex plot is no deterrent to enjoyment of Mahoney's  ambitious thriller, in which a Cuban-American NYPD detective  takes on a powerful 300-year-old Chinese crime association, or  triad, whose tentacles reach all over the world. On a visit to  Toronto, Det. Cisco Sanchez takes his new fianc?e, Sue Hsu, to  her uncle's restaurant, where she stumbles into a gang  kidnapping of a kitchen worker and is killed. Executing swift  justice, Sanchez holds off the local cops. Bailed out by his  partner, well-connected series regular Brian McKenna (Black and  White) and their boss, Sanchez and his fellow NYPDers join  forces with a Chinese investigator in Toronto. They soon  discover that the Chinese gang responsible for the killing has  been hired by the triad to "collect" big money payments from  illegal Chinese aliens smuggled into New York and Toronto.  Launching an attack in both cities, their investigation sends  out shock waves far and wide as bodies pile up and the husband  and wife triad enforcement team known as Boris and Natasha are  captured in Toronto. The couple turn informer to protect their  family, but the cops don't count on meeting up with Murray Don't  Worry a real-life New York City lawyer who almost steals the  book. Murray plays the cops like a Stradivarius while  matchmaking between his secretary/niece and Sanchez. When the  team finally targets Johnny Eng, the dragon head of the triad  (and another Murray client) the action really picks up. McKenna  takes a back seat in this outing as Sanchez runs the show, with  a little help from his friends. Mahoney's characters are always  solid, and this tale is almost a primer on Chinese community  dynamics. He pulls no punches and speeds to a perfect ending.  (July 27) FYI: The author is a 25-year veteran of the NYPD.Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.