THE BORROWED

the first epic crime novel of Hong Kong by a true Hong Kong writer.

Originally titled 13.67, THE BORROWED is the story of Kwan Chun-dok, a Hong Kong police officer who rises from constable to senior inspector over the span of 46 years (1967-2013) and becomes a legend in the force. The book is divided into six chapters, each a stand-alone novella dealing with an important case in Kwan's career and taking place at a pivotal time in Hong Kong history: the Leftist Riot in 1967, the conflict between the HK Police and ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) in 1977, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, the Handover in 1997, the SARS epidemic in 2003, and the present day of 2013 when Hong Kong is turning into a police state - which, in hindsight, is a chilling accurate portrait of reality. What makes THE BORROWED unique is not just the structure, but the way the story is told - in reverse-chronological order. The novel begins in 2013, with Kwan on deathbed solving his final case, and goes back to 1967, when he accidentally defused a bombing plot and saved the life of a British inspector. The six chapters are linked in brilliantly placed details, and it is surprisingly refreshing to read about the effect of a certain case or event in a chapter and then to discover the cause later. And the biggest shocker comes at the last line of the novel - I mean literally the last line. Only then will you realize how brilliantly everything is connected in the story, how history always repeats itself, and how we have come full circle to the same political upheaval and society unrest. THE BORROWED is not only the portrait of a brilliant, Holmes-like detective, but also a portrait of Hong Kong the city in the past fifty years. Although each chapter is a self-sustained, carefully constructed mystery, the book is greater than the sum of its parts, and it is on this level that it truly shines - a sweeping, ambitious crime drama that offers startling insight into one of the greatest city of the Far East. Chan Ho-kei ??? (1975) is born and raised in Hong Kong. He has worked as software engineer, script writer, game designer and editor of comic magazines. His writing career started in 2008 with the short story “The Murder Case of Jack and the Beanstalk”, which was shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of Taiwan Award. He won the award the next year with “The Locked Room of Bluebeard”. In 2011, Chan's first novel, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD won the Soji Shimada Mystery Award, the biggest mystery award in the Chinese world. The book has been published in Taiwan (Crown), China (New Star), Japan (Bungeishunsha), Thailand (Nanmee) and Italy (Metropoli d'Asia). THE BORROWED is published in Taiwan this June and Korean rights have sold to HansMedia. We just sold film rights to the internationally renown Hong Kong director Wang Kar-wai (The Grandmaster, In the Mood for Love, Happy Together) in a major deal. Wang plans to develop this into an epic movie trilogy.