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A review by myjourneywithbooks
The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
On a moonless Sunday night in June 1993, a two-hundred-foot tanker ran aground right off the beach in Queens, its occupants leaping into the frigid cold waters. Disoriented and half-starved, these people turn out to be undocumented immigrants from China, seeking a better life in the US with the help of human smugglers. And thus begins the process of determining the fate of the ship's survivors as well as the hunt for those in charge of the smuggling ring.
Though the narrative revolves around the incident of the ship to some extent, returning to it time and again, it branches out to explore many other aspects of the human smuggling operations, with particular focus on certain key individuals, the politics involved and the general situation in China that led to this mass emigration of its people.
Partick Radden Keefe definitely knows how to take historical facts and put it together in such a way that you feel like you're reading a thoroughly gripping thriller. There were certain things that I wished had been explained in more detail, like a more firsthand account from Sister Ping's side, but overall, it was a very informative book and I look forward to reading more by the author.
Though the narrative revolves around the incident of the ship to some extent, returning to it time and again, it branches out to explore many other aspects of the human smuggling operations, with particular focus on certain key individuals, the politics involved and the general situation in China that led to this mass emigration of its people.
Partick Radden Keefe definitely knows how to take historical facts and put it together in such a way that you feel like you're reading a thoroughly gripping thriller. There were certain things that I wished had been explained in more detail, like a more firsthand account from Sister Ping's side, but overall, it was a very informative book and I look forward to reading more by the author.