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Summary and Reviews of The Lord of Death by Eliot Pattison

The Lord of Death by Eliot Pattison

The Lord of Death

by Eliot Pattison
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • First Published:
  • Jun 1, 2009, 384 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jun 2010, 384 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

A government bus filled with imprisoned illegal monks has overturned. Two women in an approaching sedan have been killed. Now Shan, an exiled Chinese national and a former Beijing investigator, must find the murderer.

Shan Tao Yun is an exiled Chinese national, a former Beijing investigator, on parole from the Tibetan gulag to which he had been consigned as punishment. He is ferrying a corpse on muleback over the slopes of Chomolungma - Everest - at the request of a local wisewoman who says the gods have appointed this task to him, when he encounters what looks like a traffic accident. A government bus filled with imprisoned illegal monks has overturned. Should the escaping monks be caught, the brutal Chinese knobs will punish them. Then Shan hears gunfire. Two women in an approaching sedan have been killed. One is the Chinese Minister of Tourism; the other, a blond Westerner, organizes climbing expeditions. Though she dies in his arms, Shan is later met with denials that this blond foreigner is dead.

Shan must find the murderer, for his recompense will be the life and sanity of his son, Ko, imprisoned in a Chinese "yeti factory" where men are routinely driven mad.

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Reviews

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BookBrowse

An intricate yet logical plot, deep character construction and a wonderful sense of atmosphere combine to form a truly top-notch mystery novel...continued

Full Review Members Only (616 words)

(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).

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Beyond the Book



A Short History of Tibet

Tibet, a remote region along the southwestern border of China, sits at 15,000 feet above sea level between the Himalaya and Kunlun mountain ranges. The first recorded king of the region was Srong-btsan sgam-po, who is credited with introducing Buddhism to Tibet around 640 AD. He and his descendants ruled over a unified Tibet through the 8th century, but the empire eventually collapsed into a collection of small independent kingdoms.

Map of Tibet Map of Tibet
click for larger image including key

When Genghis Khan's forces marched through much of Asia around the turn of the 13th century, Tibetans managed to retain a good deal of autonomy and acquire some political influence by agreeing to pay tribute to the Mongols. ...

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Read-Alikes

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