Several years ago at the Iowa City Book Festival, I heard Ridley Pearson
speak in the Old Capital. Like many a writer, he started off in another
calling, but he couldn’t resist attempting a book. He eventually received
recognition (sales), and he's made a career of it. He related that, among other
things, he participated in a rock bank (“The Rock Bottom Remainders”) with Stephen King,
Amy Tan, and Dave Barry (along with others). But mostly Pearson talked about
writing and his book, The
Risk Agent. The Risk Agent arose out of a teaching stint in creative
writing he did at a college in Shanghai. He reported that you could learn a lot
about life in China from the essays of 20 year-olds.
The Risk Agent centers of two characters,
one is a brash, use-your-fists American with a wary eye and a soft heart. He’s
brought to China to try to resolve a kidnapping, and his employers match him
with a young, American-educated Chinese woman who’s trained as a forensic
accountant. The plot gets thick with the Chinese police (local and state
security), an American corporation doing business—perhaps some shady
business—in China, a rival Chinese corporation, and lots of thugs. The setting
is in and around Shanghai. Pearson weaves in many local landmarks and brings in
as much local and Chinese culture as he can. For instance, we learn that
there’s a Shanghainese language besides the standard Mandarin. (Our American
hero, of course, speaks both.)
Pearson’s book is a romp. The plotting is extensive and takes the two
protagonists to the tops of Shanghai’s mushrooming glass-box high-rises, into
back alleys, and then concludes with a brief trip into the countryside. There’s
lots of movement and action here. The characters are tolerably rounded, and we
can easily tell the good guys (and gals) from the bad guys. Thus, if you’d like
a view contemporary Shanghai and environs with a prototypical American and
classy Chinese woman who can throw a punch and remain inscrutable, you can
enjoy this book. I listened to it via Audible. I thought it went on
too long. The dénouement could have come sooner for me. But if you’re looking
for a romp through contemporary China, join the ride.
