AustLit

'For the first time in 3,000 years no emperor sits on the Dragon Throne. China is a seething cauldron of vice and corruption. Soon the Japanese will invade, and China will bleed like never before. In the eye of the storm sits the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, jewel of the South China Sea.Like Hong Kong itself, Inspector Richard Brewster, an idealistic young Englishman, struggles to survive in the maelstrom of war and political upheaval that is China in the 1920s and 30s.Pirates and triad societies risk the wrath of the Kuo Min Tang army in a murderous hunt for a fabled treasure. Within the very ranks of the Hong Kong Police Force itself, desperate young men form a triad for their mutual protection. The illegal secret society becomes a malevolent dragon, spreading its wings to cast a shadow of evil across half the world.From the pirate enclaves of the South China Sea to the opulent mansions of Victoria Peak; from the Japanese invasion of Shanghai to the vicious aerial combat of the Battle of Britain; Richard Brewster's life spins out of control in a world of passion, corruption and intrigue.Between the World Wars was a time of great social change… it was a time of violence and political upheaval… it was… The Time of the Dragons.' (Publication summary)

'There can only be one winner in a battle. A truce, the Chinese say, merely delays the inevitable. In Korea, two brothers fight on opposing sides in a war where black-market profiteering is rife, and patriotism and honour have lost their meanings. When they depart the battlefield, one is a hero, the other a traitor. One brother, General Lee Kwan Man-hop, returns to the volatile political climate of Beijing and an uncertain future in the communist Peoples Republic of China. The other, Wing Commander James Merchant RAF, goes home to Hong Kong to restore a family business. Through China's turbulent years of the 1950s and '60s, Lee Kwan fights to protect his family from brutal oppression, while in Hong Kong, James Merchant's family empire is in danger of disintegrating. Strong women, the lovers of powerful men, join in the fight for its preservation, and indeed their own, as the Noble House of Merchant becomes a house divided. A house plagued with treachery and haunted by tales of a long-lost fortune in gold, supposedly the bequest of an illegal, secret, triad society. From the Korean War to the Cultural Revolution, Two Tigers, One Mountain is the long-awaited sequel to The Time of the Dragons and a dramatic story of a family dynasty on a violent course to destruction. From Hong Kong to London; from the foreign embassies of war-torn Seoul to the far-east elegance of Singapore; from the narrow lanes of Beijing slums, to the famous banking houses of Geneva, Two Tigers, One Mountain, like an opiate dream, is a fabulous tale of the Orient.'

Source : publication summary

'From Hong Kong's glittering mansions to its shady opium divans, from its wealthy elite to its brutal triad societies, from warrior monks to merciless politicians, Scattered Monkeys is a heart-stopping, exhilarating thriller.

'Hong Kong, 1976. A family at war, an empire the prize . . .

'Brendan Murray arrives in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong in 1976 to serve in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. Despite five years' experience as a cop in Australia, he discovers he has much to learn, especially when faced with three formidable women linked by both business and blood . . .

'Jenny Woo, once a street urchin and now the owner of an infamous nightclub, seeks Brendan's friendship – something that does not go unnoticed by his scheming superiors in search of a high-level informant...

'Kwan Su-lin, a dedicated doctor who suffered horrifically at the hands of MaoTse-tung's infamous Red Guard, has allowed her remarkable martial arts skills to lie dormant. Until

now . . .

'Georgina Merchant, CEO of the most powerful company in Asia, a striking beauty, a ruthless adversary, a woman not to be crossed...

'When the mighty Merchant Corporation comes under threat, Brendan and his colleagues in the RHKP are drawn into a web of intrigue, with the stakes climbing higher at every turn.' (Publication summary)