To encourage Shan to come to a rapid resolution, Tan dangles the fate of the monks of the 404th before him, surrounding their barracks with brutal Public Security troops. Tan wants a quick and dirty job that implicates a monk found near the site, but Shan knows the man isn't guilty: more-likely culprits include other high-ranking Chinese and a pair of American mining entrepreneurs. The discovery of the headless body of a local official, wearing American clothes and carrying American cash, changes all that, as Shan is threatened and cajoled by the shrewd colonel in charge of the district into conducting an investigation. Now he struggles to survive his harsh new life, gaining spiritual sustenance from the monks in his brigade. Shan Tao Yun, working as a laborer on a road crew called the People's 404th Construction Brigade high in the Himalayas, was once the inspector general of the Ministry of Economy in Beijing before he was imprisoned for refusing Party membership. The gulags of Tibet, where the Chinese keep the Buddhist monks and other locals they've swept up since occupying the country, also house a few special Chinese prisoners. The Skull Mantra is the winner of the 2000 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.A venerable plot device-the discredited detective given one last chance-is invested with stunning new life in this debut thriller from a veteran journalist who clearly knows his exotic territory. Now time is running out for Shan to find the real killer. Then, a Buddhist priest is arrested, a man Shan knows is innocent. Granted a temporary release, Shan is soon pulled into the Tibetan people's desperate fight for its sacred mountains and the Chinese regime's blood-soaked policies. Methodical, clever Shan is the best man for the job, but he too is a prisoner, deported to Tibet for offending someone high up in Beijing's power structure. So the case is handed to veteran police inspector Shan Tao Yun. Found by a Tibetan prison work gang on a windy cliff, the grisly remains clearly belong to someone too important for Chinese authorities to bury and forget. The corpse is missing its head and is dressed in American clothes. The Skull Mantra is ranked as a novel about a people and a place-the Tibetans of the high Himalayas-as it is a gripping thriller. Winner of the 2001 Edgar Award for Best First Novel, The Skull Mantra was a sensation when first published and received wide acclaim from critics and readers alike.
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