Snakes Can't Run
by Ed Lin
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GENRE: FICTION/Mystery & Thriller
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BLURB:
Set in New York City in 1976, Snakes Can't Run finds NYPD detective Robert Chow still haunted by the horrors of his past and relegated to tedious undercover work. When the bodies of two undocumented Chinese men are found under the Brooklyn Bridge underpass, Chow is drawn into the case. Most of the officers in his precinct are concerned with a terrorist group targeting the police, but Chow's investigation puts him on the trail of a ring of ruthless human smugglers who call themselves the snakeheads. As Chow gets closer to solving the murder, dangerous truths about his own family's past begin to emerge. Steeped in retro urban attitude, and ripe with commentary on minorities' roles in American society, this gritty procedural will appeal to fans of George Pelecanos and S.J. Rozan.
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Excerpt Two:
By the time I got to Henry Street under the Manhattan Bridge overpass, one black-and-white and one unmarked police car were already there.
Peepshow was standing at the edge of the crime scene, twirling his baton, the one thing he could do without fucking up. "Keep moving, keep moving!" he yelled to the murmuring Chinese people. He touched his cap when he saw me. I nodded back.
Two bodies, Asian men in their twenties, lay on their sides. Both had their hands tied behind them with wire. They didn't look fresh, and one man's tattoo behind his ears stood out in sharp contrast to the white bloodless flesh of his neck.
I walked up to English, but before I could say anything he put a hand on my shoulde.r
"These fucking bag monkeys won't let me past the tape," he said, pointing out the forensic team collecting samples around the bodies.
"They're just trying to do their job right."
"I'll do their job for them right now. These guys died from gunshot wounds and the bodies were dumped here. You can analyze for blood type all you want, but you can't find the criminals looking down a microscope."
"I hear you."
"You know what solves crimes?"
"What?"
"Shoe leather. Walking around and asking questions."
"All right."
"Chow," he said, coming in closer. "You see the guy in the crowd in the red knit shirt smoking a cigarette?"
"Yeah," I said, knowing better than to look immediately.
"I don't like his face. Too smug."
"I'll follow him."
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
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 This Is a Bust, both published by Kaya Press in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Snakes Can't Run and One Red Bastard, which both continue the story of Robert Chow set in This Is a Bust, were published by Minotaur Books. His latest book, Ghost Month, a Taipei-based mystery, was published by Soho Crime in July 2014. Lin lives in Brooklyn with his wife, actress Cindy Cheung, and son.
Facebook: None
Website: None
Interview with Ed Lin
Where do you get inspiration for your stories?
I’m trying to take conversations that we have in public now (such as immigration and documentation) and drop them into a fictional universe (New York’s Chinatown in 1976) where readers can have a meta-experience while reading now.
How did you do research for your book?
I only watched films and tv shows from 1976 and before as well as reading books/magazines/newspapers from that year. Things were nuts back then!
Do you have another profession besides writing?
I edit business news for my day job and it’s something I enjoy very much.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
I would go back to the middle of the 2007-2009 recession and clean up (assuming I was able to retain the knowledge of what stocks bottomed-out then that subsequently rose).
What is your next project?
I write a Taipei-based mystery series for Soho Crime. I’m currently working on the third book to follow Ghost Month and Incensed.
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:
Ed Lin will be awarding a limited edition print copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Follow the tour here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2017/09/vbt-snakes-cant-run-by-ed-lin.html
Thanks for hosting!
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