First published 2000
Moses Wine needs a break from personal injury cases and murder investigations in California. His Aunt Sonya offers him the perfect escape: U.S.-China Friendship Study Tour Number Five, organized through the China Friendship Society where she volunteers. Wine figures the trip will cure his growing sense of boredom and alienation as middle age settles in. China delivers more adventure than he bargained for. Wine finds himself pursuing the stolen Han Dynasty Peking Duck, a priceless artifact that has gone missing. He becomes entangled with an attractive woman dressed in a Mao suit, complicating his mission. The chase takes him across unfamiliar Chinese territory where he must fight to survive. Wine discovers that even a simple friendship tour can turn deadly when ancient treasures and dangerous people collide in a country he barely understands.
Genres: adventure, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, reluctant-hero
Setting: California, China
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