The Third Messiah - Softcover

Christopher West

3.09

11 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0749005130 ISBN 13: 9780749005139

Publisher: Allison & Busby, 2002

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Disappointed in her love affair with a wealthy businessman, Julie is left feeling bereft and heartsick, not just with her failed relationship but with her whole way of life. When the New Church of the Heavenly Kingdom offer her the chance to join their spiritual, harmonious life far from the distractions of contemporary Beijing, ushering in a new era of peace and love, it seems like an answer to her prayers. She leaves behind strict instructions that she should not be contacted by her family and goes to join the other young people who are opting out of Chinese society at the turn of the millennium. Concerned, her sister Rosina Lin discusses her fears that Julie is being indoctrinated into a cult with her husband Wang Anzhuang, an inspector in the police force. When Wang learns of reports of the death of the cult's mystical leader, he feels bound to investigate for both professional and personal reasons. The truth he discovers, underneath the persuasive rhetoric, is terrifying and time is rapidly running out. Written with a sympathetic eye for detail and a gripping plot, The Third Messiah offers a rare glimpse into the heart of contemporary Chinese society.

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Review:

China might seem like the Sahara Desert for mystery fans who like a good dose of local color with their murders and detection: literary oases are few and far between. Robert Van Gulik's long-popular and carefully detailed Judge Dee series has illuminated 17th-century Chinese life, but modern China, with its hustle and bustle and barely contained chaos, hasn't been on many authorial radar screens.

The notable exception: Christopher West's Inspector Anzhuang Wang series (Death of a Blue Lantern, Death of a Red Mandarin, Death on Black Dragon River). For Wang, a detective in the Beijing Central Investigations Department, the tumult of contemporary life is all-encompassing: from Kentucky Fried Chicken to hei ke (black guests, or hackers), Beijing at the turn of the 21st century is a source of endless enlightenment and puzzlement. He's not alone in his confusion: dissatisfaction with the apparent superficiality of ya pi life drives Wang's sister-in-law Julie to join the New Church of the Heavenly Kingdom, a cult that promises its followers redemption in the new millennium.

It's bad enough to lose face through a relative's involvement in a religious cult, but when the group's Golden Master is murdered, Wang finds himself drawn reluctantly into an investigation whose resolution is less than eagerly awaited in the upper echelons of the Communist Party. A potentially explosive mix of worry for Julie, respect for authority, and naturally subversive curiosity make Wang's detection anything but straightforward. Moving from the cult's bleak farmland through the incense-laden salons of a con artist faith healer to a factory producing said incense for illegal export, Wang and his wife, Rosina, find themselves ruffling some very important feathers--and facing a millennium celebration more deadly than festive.

Unfortunately, West's approach is disconcertingly heavy-handed: his character interpretations lack the light touch that informed the earlier novels in the series, and the story itself hovers between a less-than-subtle portrayal of bureaucratic caprice and a straightforward locked-room murder mystery. Fans of the series, however, will still enjoy Wang's drolly humorous and always timely asides. --Kelly Flynn

About the Author:

Christopher West has traveled in and studied China for more than twenty years. He is the author of three previous novels in this series including Death of a Blue Lantern, a finalist for the 1998 Anthony Award. He lives in London, England.

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