Andy Oakes writes with style and verve, the plot crackles with intrigue and double-bluffs, the setting is a convincing amalgam of grubby realism and authentic detail, and the climax is suitably apocalyptic. Sun Piao is a superb creation - a flawed but heroic man dedicated beyond the call of duty to the rule of law in a society run by corrupt and amoral bureaucrats. The stifling control exercised by a totalitarian system pervades the book, adding emphasis to the tiny, fleeting areas of personal freedom that mavericks such as Sun manage to carve out. Citizen One combines cracking entertainment with a pinsharp analysis of the pressures building at the faultlines of Chinese society as the old guard of the communist system are challenged by a new generation eager for change and greedy for power." Peter Whittaker in Tribune 'There is no better way to examine a culture or a country than through the eyes of an honest homicide detective investigating a murder that no one but he wants solved. Andy Oakes has created a remarkable character in Chief Investigator Sun Piao, who would be just at home and competent in New York, London, Paris, or Moscow as he is in Shanghai. " Nelson De Mille ''Oakes' first novel, Dragon Eye, introduced the quick-thinking detective Sun Piao and was such a success it was translated into several other languages. This sequel continues at the same cracking pace, beginning with the gruesome murder, rape and encasing in concrete of a young girl. Oakes ably evokes the sights and sounds of a corrupt, claustrophobic Shanghai against the euphoric backdrop of the 2008 Olympic Games. Sun Piao returns from his incarceration in a high-security hospital for Chinese dissidents, "Ankang", a place that "punishes through the use of injections... injections that swell your tongue so that it bulges out of your mouth". He is demoted at work, joins the vice squad, and finds himself tackling not just the murder of local prostitutes but also the gradual butchering of his own colleagues. '' Vanessa Curtis in Scotland on Sunday