Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2018
288 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
In Taipei, Taiwan, the kidnapping of a Mainlander billionaire throws national media into a tizzy - not least because of the famous victim's vitriolic anti-immigration politics.
Jing-nan has known Peggy Lee, a bullying frenemy who runs her family's huge corporation, since high school. Peggy's father has been kidnapped, and the ransom the kidnappers are demanding is not money but IP: a high-tech memory chip that they want to sell in China.
Jing-nan feels sorry for Peggy until she starts blackmailing him into helping out. Peggy is worried the kidnappers' deadline will pass before the police are able to track down the chip. But when the reluctant Jingnan tries to help, he finds himself deeper and deeper in trouble with some very unsavory characters - the most unsavory of whom might be the victim himself.
"Starred Review. Stellar...Lin effortlessly blends humor, plausible plot twists, and the politics and economics of contemporary Taiwan." - Publishers Weekly
"Lin's books are most appealing for the insider's look at Taiwanese culture, the motley crew of supporting cast and the multiple laughs per page." - BookPage
"Lin takes readers on a whimsical ride along with the reluctant Jing-nan, the overbearing Peggy, and some very shady characters, deftly mixing comedy, mystery, and drama in a page-turning story...This will appeal to readers who enjoy dark comedy, drama, and some very unexpected plot twists." - Library Journal
"Top-notch international crime fiction that will have readers dreaming of a visit to the Taipei market." - Booklist
This information about 99 Ways to Die was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ed Lin, a native New Yorker of Taiwanese and Chinese descent, is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards and is an all-around standup kinda guy. His books include Waylaid, and a trilogy set in New York's Chinatown in the 70s: This Is a Bust, Snakes Can't Run and One Red Bastard. Ghost Month, published by Soho Crime in July 2014, is a Taipei-based mystery, and Incensed, published October 2016, continues that series.
Lin lives in Brooklyn with his wife, actress Cindy Cheung, and son.
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