The Last Six Million Seconds

Hong Kong, about to be absorbed into the People’s Republic of China, is the setting for this fact-and-action-packed thriller, as a tough and moral policeman tries to solve a triple murder before time runs out. Hong Kong Chief Inspector Chan Siukai’s investigation brings him up against all the usual suspects–corrupt British diplomats and businessmen, American gangsters, Chinese warlords–and a few unusual ones. John Burdett, who once practiced law in Hong Kong, knows where the bodies are buried–and his fast-moving scenes of violence add quite a few more.