|
Dragon Bones, | 
| Author: Lisa See
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
Buy Used: $9.60
Used (2) from $9.60
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 1964018
Format: Import
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.3 x 1
ISBN: 0099415038
EAN: 9780099415039
ASIN: 0099415038
Publication Date: 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
When the body of an American archaeologist is found floating in the Yangzi River, Ministry of Public Security agent Liu Hulan and her husband, American attorney David Stark, are dispatched to Site 518 to investigate. As Hulan scrutinizes this death—or is it a murder?—David, on behalf of the National Relics Bureau, tries to discover who has stolen from the site an artifact that may prove to the world China’s claim that it is the oldest uninterrupted civilization on earth. This artifact is not only an object of great monetary value but one that is emblematic of the very soul of China. Everyone—from the Chinese government, to a religious cult, to an unscrupulous American art collector—wants this relic, and some, it seems, may be willing to kill to get it. At stake in this investigation is control of China’s history and national pride, and even stability between China and the United States.
The troubled Hulan must overcome her own fears of failure, while David tries desperately to break through the shell that has built up around his wife. As Hulan and David are enmeshed in international schemes for power and the turbulence of their own relationship, these hunters after the truth become the hunted—in a fast-driving narrative set against the backdrop of the building of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest and most expensive project China has undertaken since the Great Wall and the subject of great international debate. It is here, in the heart of the Three Gorges, that David and Hulan will battle their enemies and their own natures to see who will win China’s dragon bones.
Dragon Bones combines ancient myth with contemporary anxieties concerning religious fanaticism and terrorism to tell a story of love, betrayal, history, ecology, greed—and gory murder.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Great Details July 18, 2008
After finishing the Secret Fan, I figured I would give other books of hers a try. While the Dragon Bones mysteries are very different in nature from the Secret Fan, it was still a terrific read. Lisa See has a talent for pulling her reader into the environment of the story. Her words create vivid pictures of the scenes and I can see them easily creating a movie out of this one.
 Another great story June 25, 2008
This 3rd novel in the Red Princess Mystery series was not disappointing. Lisa See continues with her main characters and allows them to grow and reveal themselves further as their lives' circumstances change. The background of modern China brings great insight into what life is really like among is varied billion citizens. The background of the language, the history, and the current events bring everything into the mix for a truly suspenseful, beautifully written mystery. I can't wait for the next installment to see how Hulan and David progress in their lives together. Will they stay in China or move the States? What new international intrigue will be introduced into their lives?
Dragon Bones by Lisa See July 27, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
What a writer ! Lisa See educates without being pedantic. In Dragon Bones, she has created a complex mystery while including enormous amounts of information on Chinese culture and environmental effects of the Three Gorges Dam. I learned much and was entertained as well.
Another great contemporary mystery by Lisa See July 19, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Dragon Bones is Lisa See's third contemporary Chinese mystery featuring Inspector Liu Hulan. I read the first one, Flower Net, and somehow the second passed me by. Like Flower Net, Dragon Bones is both a great detective story and a window into modern Chinese culture. Lisa See manages to show us a lot about a rapidly modernizing China without bogging down the story. Liu Hulan is the kind of character I'd like to have a meal with: smart, interesting, with pain in her past but not consumed by it. Lisa See has a gift at making the character seem completely Chinese to the Western reader yet sympathetic at the same time.
Having recently read, and loved, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel, , I understand more about Lisa See's strengths as a writer. Depiction of foreign culture: fantastic. Male characters: not so much. This wasn't as apparent in Snow Flower because the men lived in a different world from the women characters that were the focus of the story. In Dragon Bones, Hulan is married to an American man, David Stark. David's character never comes to life like Hulan's. Although he and I (and the writer) have more in common than Liu Hulan and I do, never the less, Hulan is fully three-dimensional and believable where David falls flat.
If you like mysteries that are different without being gimmicky, you will enjoy this book. There's no need to read them in order although I'm sure there are some benefits from doing so. There are some graphic crime scenes, as a warning to the squeamish.
mystery at the three gorges July 16, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ms. See does it again! This is a story in which you can find out about the effects of long-time water immersion on a human body, the largest mushrooms in the world, the result of the three gorges dam project, and the corruption of public officials. A page-turner for sure!!
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
