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bird_babe's review
3.0
Read this for one of my book clubs and enjoyed it. Not something I would have picked -- one of the reasons I love book clubs! An LA noir story set in the San Gabriel Valley in the 1990s - describing the "parachute kids" phenomenon (wealthy Asian teens living unsupervised in San Marino mansions while their parents manage businesses on the other side of the Pacific) and the "jasmine trade" (smuggling girls out of Chinese provinces and forcing them into prostitution).
cotton1714's review
1.0
1st in series with Eve Diamond - just did not enjoy the character so probably would not try another
thestarman's review
3.0
About average for the genre. It was nice to read a murder/crime book from the viewpoint of a non-law enforcement officer. The plot focuses revolves around the alleged murder of a young woman in the Los Angeles Asian American community.
The story was a decent debut for Eve Diamond, intrepid and often TSTL* newspaper reporter. The writing style was fine, but some of the plot developments and character actions were unrealistic.
VERDICT: 2.7 stars, rounded to 3.0 for Goodreads.
*TSTL = Too Stupid To Live, as in this character has a deathwish, or is an idiot who keeps unnecessarily putting themselves in mortal danger, and never seems to wise up.
The story was a decent debut for Eve Diamond, intrepid and often TSTL* newspaper reporter. The writing style was fine, but some of the plot developments and character actions were unrealistic.
VERDICT: 2.7 stars, rounded to 3.0 for Goodreads.
*TSTL = Too Stupid To Live, as in this character has a deathwish, or is an idiot who keeps unnecessarily putting themselves in mortal danger, and never seems to wise up.
ncrabb's review
3.0
Marina Lu is 17, has substantial money, a solid academic record, and she’s about to marry a 24-year-old bank executive. What more could a girl want? I suspect she wants to live; that would be nice. She had ordered and paid for the bridesmaid dresses, but no one will be using them. Marina is quite dead in her car all alone in the parking lot of a shopping mall. The cops write it off as a carjacking gone sour, but something about it doesn’t feel right to Eve Diamond, the Los Angeles Times reporter who drew the assignment to write about Lu’s death. As she digs into the case, she is introduced into the world of parachute kids—wealthy Asian kids whose parents live and work in Hong Kong and who put the kids in the care of an ineffectual aging housekeeper so they can live in the U.S. and get into its best colleges and universities. These kids have all the material things they need. Far-off Daddy is nothing more than a talking ATM to them. Their lives are confusing, insecure, and often rudderless. Marina was such a teenager.
As Eve sets out to figure out who killed Marina Lu, she stumbles onto another group of Asian youth, this group not so lucky. You’ll read the graphic horror story of young May-Li, a teenage girl taken from her rural mainland China home and smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. Her lot is to serve as a whore. She will labor until AIDS claims her life, and Eve’s best efforts to save her are among the book’s most poignant moments.
There are some explicit sexual descriptions here, and the profanity index moves the needle into the moderate range, so if playing doctor with a red-haired green-eyed reporter isn’t something you want to read about, you can skip this. The thing is, that haunting story graphically told about May-Li is worth whatever else you perceive as white noise or static. Indeed, the whole concept of parachute kids will rock your world if it is as naïve as mine.
As Eve sets out to figure out who killed Marina Lu, she stumbles onto another group of Asian youth, this group not so lucky. You’ll read the graphic horror story of young May-Li, a teenage girl taken from her rural mainland China home and smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. Her lot is to serve as a whore. She will labor until AIDS claims her life, and Eve’s best efforts to save her are among the book’s most poignant moments.
There are some explicit sexual descriptions here, and the profanity index moves the needle into the moderate range, so if playing doctor with a red-haired green-eyed reporter isn’t something you want to read about, you can skip this. The thing is, that haunting story graphically told about May-Li is worth whatever else you perceive as white noise or static. Indeed, the whole concept of parachute kids will rock your world if it is as naïve as mine.
breecreative's review
4.0
I liked it...overall it was a good book. I thought I had it figured out and didn't...lots of twists. I didn't like the ending, it wrapped up a little bit too neatly with a whole "where are they now" type thing. But, I want to continue reading more of the series...
prgchrqltma's review
3.0
Well written, but very dark. Human trafficking and prostitution, plight of children left without parents in the US. I'll try one more, and I hope the protagonist develops some.
mohogan2063's review
3.0
I like Denise Hamilton's books. She takes her reader into places in life most of us will never visit or never want to visit outside of a fictional book.
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