White Ginger / Thatcher Robinson / 289 pages

     I am always looking for a thriller series that doesn't follow the formula. I love kickin' female main characters. The Michael Munroe series (by Taylor Stevens) started that need and wanted another one. I do believe I have found it. Bai Jiang (by chang) lives and works in San Francisco. She is a people finder, a souxun  (so-SOON) who works mostly out of Chinatown. Her life is rather complicated as her grandfather is head of the Chinese triad but Bai isn't part of that world. At least she is trying real hard to stay out of it.

     A young girl is taken from her family and Bai is contacted. After following the tangled trail given by the young lady's family, Bai is taken down some very dark and very dangerous paths. We see part of the slave and drug trades plus what power the Chinese have in certain cities. Bai tries very hard to maintain her calm and professionalism but as the twists and turns deepen she knows she must call upon her family ties to help find the girl and protect her family no matter what.

     This isn't a novel for the cozy set. We have violence, graphic scenes, language and yes, sex. In my opinion it fits. Bai inhabits a world that isn't commonplace middle America. It is exciting and very dangerous and very addicting. We are immersed in a world most of the public chooses not to see. Bai is the person who straddles both, struggling to maintain her Buddhist beliefs and to give her daughter a normal life. I highly recommend this for adrenaline junkies and lovers of "quick moving work it out later" novels. I can't wait for the next one. Bai Jiang is a character to watch. In case you were wondering white ginger is the translation of Bai Jiang in certain Chinese dialects. 

Six Degrees of Reading: The Informationist: A Vanessa Michael Munroe novel by Taylor Stevens, Vanishing Act: A Jane Whitefield novel by Thomas Perry, Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith.