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The Ghost Shift    by John Gapper Amazon.com order for
Ghost Shift
by John Gapper
Order:  USA  Can
Ballantine, 2015 (2015)
Hardcover, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Bob Walch

A business columnist and associate editor of the Financial Times, John Gapper is quite familiar with the world of international business. In this thriller set in China, the London resident looks at not only the country's vaunted industrial complex but also the way it has abused its workers and off shore clients.

Song Mei is a young agent of the Commission for Discipline Inspection which is tasked with rooting out political corruption. The young woman's life takes an unexpected turn when she learns in the most unexpected way unimaginable that she has a twin sister.

Against orders, Mei becomes embroiled in her own investigation to discover what has happened to this woman. The more she digs, the more outlandish and dangerous the situation becomes. In fact, in no time at all Mei's own life is placed in jeopardy.

A link to a former American C.I.A. agent, coupled with a case of industrial espionage involving murder and some very powerful Chinese politicians and business people, as well as a vast American computer company, prove to hold the key to Mei's troubled family past.

A fast paced adventure which moves from China to the U.S. and back again makes this suspense story all but impossible to set aside. Gapper works so many twists into the plot that he not only keeps his reader on edge but also makes it all but impossible to second guess where he is taking this exotic tale.

Those who read suspense stories set in China have probably noticed that many of the protagonists are women. Well, here's another one and she can certainly hold her own with the competition. Hopefully we'll see more of Song Mei in the future because she is worthy of her own series.

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