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Gangsters of Shanghai
"From out of nowhere, this is one of the most enjoyable Shanghai novels we've read... Seek this superbly researched and deftly written novel out"
Review By Peter Desmond
'City Weekend' Magazine, Shanghai
10 December 2013
The severed head in the bamboo birdcage swayed above the teeming marketplace. It told Constable Mike Gallagher everything he needed to know about Shanghai.
It’s 1927. The son of a rural Irish cop, Gallagher joins the Shanghai Municipal Police, to escape an Ireland crippled by its recent bitter independence fight, and to trace the aristocratic woman whose memory still haunts him. They would venture together to China, Fiona once promised. Then the IRA torched her family estate. Everybody believes she died there. Everybody but Mike Gallagher.
Shanghai. Pearl of the East or Whore of the Orient? Depends on who you ask. It’s a cesspool of poverty, thronged with refugees, gripped by civil war. But for some it’s still a fever dream: jazz clubs and opium dens, celebrities and spies, easy money and beautiful women. Gallagher encounters the city’s biggest philanthropist, a man called Big Ears Lu – who is also its creepiest racketeer. He falls for the beautiful courtesan Miriam Tsai. But does his collusion with Lu keep her trapped in the House of Multiple Joys? Shanghai in 1927 is a city where after dark anything seems possible. A city where anyone can be crushed, and anyone corrupted. Even an innocent Irish cop.
From the wreckage of guerrilla war in Ireland to the dawn of world war in Asia, the international mystery thriller Gangsters of Shanghai seethes with 20th Century turbulence and temptation. Can Mike Gallagher escape the imploding city with his life, his self-respect – and the answer to Fiona’s fate?
About The Author Of Gangsters Of Shanghai, the international mystery thriller.
Gerry O'Sullivan was born in Limerick, Ireland, where he indulged his taste for historical fiction, intelligent action thrillers and adventure books. A graduate of the University of Limerick, he moved to Australia and worked in the international education sector.
Gerry was inspired to write this action mystery by his granduncle, a Detective Inspector in the Shanghai Municipal Police during the 1920’s. Spellbound by old photographs and family lore, Gerry resolved to write an action adventure thriller with the accuracy of historical fiction. Gerry travelled to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brandeis University, Boston where the top-secret files of the Shanghai Municipal Police Special Branch are kept on microfilm (they were smuggled out of Shanghai by the CIA in 1949).
Gerry then moved to Singapore to immerse himself in the atmosphere of a fast paced English-speaking Asian city, as Shanghai was in the 1920’s and 1930’s. To achieve the pulse-quickening features of an action mystery with the demandingly accurate details of historical fiction, Gerry blended his granduncle’s stories about his Shanghai police work, years of scholarly research, and his own experiences of the city.
Review By Peter Desmond
'City Weekend' Magazine, Shanghai
10 December 2013
The severed head in the bamboo birdcage swayed above the teeming marketplace. It told Constable Mike Gallagher everything he needed to know about Shanghai.
It’s 1927. The son of a rural Irish cop, Gallagher joins the Shanghai Municipal Police, to escape an Ireland crippled by its recent bitter independence fight, and to trace the aristocratic woman whose memory still haunts him. They would venture together to China, Fiona once promised. Then the IRA torched her family estate. Everybody believes she died there. Everybody but Mike Gallagher.
Shanghai. Pearl of the East or Whore of the Orient? Depends on who you ask. It’s a cesspool of poverty, thronged with refugees, gripped by civil war. But for some it’s still a fever dream: jazz clubs and opium dens, celebrities and spies, easy money and beautiful women. Gallagher encounters the city’s biggest philanthropist, a man called Big Ears Lu – who is also its creepiest racketeer. He falls for the beautiful courtesan Miriam Tsai. But does his collusion with Lu keep her trapped in the House of Multiple Joys? Shanghai in 1927 is a city where after dark anything seems possible. A city where anyone can be crushed, and anyone corrupted. Even an innocent Irish cop.
From the wreckage of guerrilla war in Ireland to the dawn of world war in Asia, the international mystery thriller Gangsters of Shanghai seethes with 20th Century turbulence and temptation. Can Mike Gallagher escape the imploding city with his life, his self-respect – and the answer to Fiona’s fate?
About The Author Of Gangsters Of Shanghai, the international mystery thriller.
Gerry O'Sullivan was born in Limerick, Ireland, where he indulged his taste for historical fiction, intelligent action thrillers and adventure books. A graduate of the University of Limerick, he moved to Australia and worked in the international education sector.
Gerry was inspired to write this action mystery by his granduncle, a Detective Inspector in the Shanghai Municipal Police during the 1920’s. Spellbound by old photographs and family lore, Gerry resolved to write an action adventure thriller with the accuracy of historical fiction. Gerry travelled to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brandeis University, Boston where the top-secret files of the Shanghai Municipal Police Special Branch are kept on microfilm (they were smuggled out of Shanghai by the CIA in 1949).
Gerry then moved to Singapore to immerse himself in the atmosphere of a fast paced English-speaking Asian city, as Shanghai was in the 1920’s and 1930’s. To achieve the pulse-quickening features of an action mystery with the demandingly accurate details of historical fiction, Gerry blended his granduncle’s stories about his Shanghai police work, years of scholarly research, and his own experiences of the city.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2013
190 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
About the author
Gerry O'Sullivan
6 books17 followersGerry O'Sullivan is a speaker, company director and consultant with 30 years’ experience in corporate training and adult education.
He brings an international perspective to his work - he is widely travelled, has lived in Europe, Australia and Asia and has trained clients from 61 countries.
After a career in business, Gerry reinvented himself as an author. His best-selling novel 'Gangsters of Shanghai' is currently optioned for development as a major international TV series.
His latest book on small business start-ups 'RAW: Real Talk for Small Business' - co-written with Scott Tulloch, the co-founder of Farmer Jo, has just been released.
Contact gerry at: gerryosullivansydney@gmail.com
Web: gerryosullivan.com
Mobile/cell: +61 403 342 778
He brings an international perspective to his work - he is widely travelled, has lived in Europe, Australia and Asia and has trained clients from 61 countries.
After a career in business, Gerry reinvented himself as an author. His best-selling novel 'Gangsters of Shanghai' is currently optioned for development as a major international TV series.
His latest book on small business start-ups 'RAW: Real Talk for Small Business' - co-written with Scott Tulloch, the co-founder of Farmer Jo, has just been released.
Contact gerry at: gerryosullivansydney@gmail.com
Web: gerryosullivan.com
Mobile/cell: +61 403 342 778
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 29, 2014
The Real Deal
O'Sullivan had me at page one and then after that the hooks were set and never let go. The authenticity of the setting and the grit of the period - it was easy to imagine myself in Michael Gallagher's shoes, patrolling the streets of Shanghai as a constable in the Shanghai Municipal Police. All Michael Gallagher wanted when he signed on for overseas duty was to make a reputation for himself so that he'd be respected among the gentry in Ireland. What he ended up with was much much more.The haunting of a boyhood love for a girl named Fiona and the sense of loss that accompanied the severing of all ties to the home of his youth in Ireland, Gallagher wrestles with his conscience with each turn of the plot.
O'Sullivan is a masterful story teller with keen insight into the gangster culture of the inter-war years of Shanghai (circa 1929-late'30s). His writing craft is top notch with place descriptions that transcend time and bring the reader close enough to the action to hear, smell and feel the tension. Written in the first person, O'Sullivan's protagonist takes the reader on a noir style adventure. Whether with another encounter with Big Ears Lu and a foray into the House of Joy, Gallagher finds himself in the center of everything. From his early trials after meeting Mariam to his re-acquaintance with Jamie Flyte, as a war unfolds in the region, Katya enters the story and Gallagher finds himself on yet again another winding adventure, culminating in the unraveling of a mystery that leads to a most satisfying conclusion. Michael Gallagher is a character that will stay in your mind after reading the last sentence.
O'Sullivan knows his stuff and clearly has a grasp of this genre that is refreshing to read. I especially enjoyed gaining a sense of history the easy way. Through Gallagher's eyes, I got a sense of what it would be to experience Shanghai during a pivotal period. I sure hope he has another one coming out soon!
O'Sullivan had me at page one and then after that the hooks were set and never let go. The authenticity of the setting and the grit of the period - it was easy to imagine myself in Michael Gallagher's shoes, patrolling the streets of Shanghai as a constable in the Shanghai Municipal Police. All Michael Gallagher wanted when he signed on for overseas duty was to make a reputation for himself so that he'd be respected among the gentry in Ireland. What he ended up with was much much more.The haunting of a boyhood love for a girl named Fiona and the sense of loss that accompanied the severing of all ties to the home of his youth in Ireland, Gallagher wrestles with his conscience with each turn of the plot.
O'Sullivan is a masterful story teller with keen insight into the gangster culture of the inter-war years of Shanghai (circa 1929-late'30s). His writing craft is top notch with place descriptions that transcend time and bring the reader close enough to the action to hear, smell and feel the tension. Written in the first person, O'Sullivan's protagonist takes the reader on a noir style adventure. Whether with another encounter with Big Ears Lu and a foray into the House of Joy, Gallagher finds himself in the center of everything. From his early trials after meeting Mariam to his re-acquaintance with Jamie Flyte, as a war unfolds in the region, Katya enters the story and Gallagher finds himself on yet again another winding adventure, culminating in the unraveling of a mystery that leads to a most satisfying conclusion. Michael Gallagher is a character that will stay in your mind after reading the last sentence.
O'Sullivan knows his stuff and clearly has a grasp of this genre that is refreshing to read. I especially enjoyed gaining a sense of history the easy way. Through Gallagher's eyes, I got a sense of what it would be to experience Shanghai during a pivotal period. I sure hope he has another one coming out soon!
February 10, 2014
Gangsters of Shanghai - An International Mystery Thriller was an interesting book. I liked how well the author described the setting of the novel. I felt as if I could see, hear, feel, and smell Shanghai although I wish the author would have accomplished the same with his Irish settings in the novel (e.g. Dublin).
The main character was likeable but not a character that you will fall in love with and remember forever.
I enjoyed several of the secondary characters much more than the main character, especially Freddy Wang. In fact, I wish he and Jack would have been utilized much more in the storytelling.
The mystery part of the book is a bit confusing because is it supposed to be concerning the death of his father, his long-lost love Fiona (supposed to be dead), the corruption in the police force, the corruption in the city, and/or the political tensions in China concerning the Communists and the European communities not to mention the fighting with Japan. It was never clear to me and many of these strings were left hanging. Still, I enjoyed the book - even reading it all in one weekend.
I would recommend this book to friends who like historical fiction.
The main character was likeable but not a character that you will fall in love with and remember forever.
I enjoyed several of the secondary characters much more than the main character, especially Freddy Wang. In fact, I wish he and Jack would have been utilized much more in the storytelling.
The mystery part of the book is a bit confusing because is it supposed to be concerning the death of his father, his long-lost love Fiona (supposed to be dead), the corruption in the police force, the corruption in the city, and/or the political tensions in China concerning the Communists and the European communities not to mention the fighting with Japan. It was never clear to me and many of these strings were left hanging. Still, I enjoyed the book - even reading it all in one weekend.
I would recommend this book to friends who like historical fiction.
May 14, 2023
This is one of those surprise reads. It brings to life and disaster of actual events of Shanghai between WWI and WWII. I never knew anything about the devastation that ripped through the Shanghainese lives. Although the actual story of Irish Michael Gallagher is fictional the events are accurate and pose a shocking realisation of what war can do. The pace, the intensity and sheer catastrophe will keep you on the edge of your seat.
March 2, 2023
Fascinating read
I was not aware of the troubles in Singapore at this time. How ignorant of me.
Very insightful and the intrigue,mystery of the story made it such a turn pager.
I was not aware of the troubles in Singapore at this time. How ignorant of me.
Very insightful and the intrigue,mystery of the story made it such a turn pager.
April 14, 2023
Excellent historical novel
The book is set in Ireland in the early 20s and in Shanghai during the later 20s and the 30s. The protagonist is from Ireland and moves to Shanghai, where he joins the Shanghai Municipal Police. He is sucked into the corrupt and glittering city, fascinated by it and yet repelled at the same time. I don't know much about the history of Shanghai, but if it was anything like the author portrays it to be it must have been one hell of a place. The book held my interest and was believable from beginning to end.
The book is set in Ireland in the early 20s and in Shanghai during the later 20s and the 30s. The protagonist is from Ireland and moves to Shanghai, where he joins the Shanghai Municipal Police. He is sucked into the corrupt and glittering city, fascinated by it and yet repelled at the same time. I don't know much about the history of Shanghai, but if it was anything like the author portrays it to be it must have been one hell of a place. The book held my interest and was believable from beginning to end.
February 15, 2023
very interesting historical novel
The book was good, kept me interested throughout, which is not easy for me. I love history, and I realize that Shanghai was a total mess back then.
The book was good, kept me interested throughout, which is not easy for me. I love history, and I realize that Shanghai was a total mess back then.
January 8, 2026
O'Sullivan has done his research and the Gangsters of Shanghai follows actual events from 1927 to 1937, all through the eyes of a young Irishman who joins the Shanghai Municipal Police force. The novel is a a roman d clef in that the events are largely real and several characters are actual people, including the top gangster. The author has thoughtfully included a list of books and other materials for further reading. Empire Made Me by Bickers and Old Shanghai Gangsters in Paradise by Lynn Pan are two of my favorites. The novel tails off a bit in the final third, but it is an enjoyable read, one that will educate the reader on the times and culture of 1920s-1930s Shanghai as well as entertain.
June 27, 2024
I enjoyed the book immensely and found it to be a page-turning quick read. I am a lover of historical fiction so I enjoyed a step back in time to the Jazz Age in Shanghai. I lived in Shanghai from 2013-18, and the author did a terrific job of creating the mystique of Shanghai during that era. There are several interesting plot twists, but I will not spoil them here. The author laid out well how the city existed with its many foreign concessions amongst the Chinese governed areas.
August 1, 2023
Shanghai Still Stands
Very interesting and readable. In the past 20 years I have wandered through the streets of Shanghai and visited the Bund and the Peace Hotel. I would like to have read this book before my visits. Shanghai is still a city with many different levels of activity.
Very interesting and readable. In the past 20 years I have wandered through the streets of Shanghai and visited the Bund and the Peace Hotel. I would like to have read this book before my visits. Shanghai is still a city with many different levels of activity.
August 29, 2023
Interesting
A good read with an interesting and exotic setting. Good plot twists. T
he characters seem realistic blends of good and bad. However some of the important motivation/r
eactions defy human nature especially by the protagonist.
That and a somewhat uneven flow of the tale kept me from a higher rating.
A good read with an interesting and exotic setting. Good plot twists. T
he characters seem realistic blends of good and bad. However some of the important motivation/r
eactions defy human nature especially by the protagonist.
That and a somewhat uneven flow of the tale kept me from a higher rating.
November 14, 2023
Great book
I quite enjoyed Gangsters of Shanghai. It was well researched and O'Sullivan really made me feel like I was there. It was historically accurate and fun to try to figure out who was really who. I also like how he doled out the story in flashbacks rather than all at one. I hope to read more from Gerry O'Sullivan.
I quite enjoyed Gangsters of Shanghai. It was well researched and O'Sullivan really made me feel like I was there. It was historically accurate and fun to try to figure out who was really who. I also like how he doled out the story in flashbacks rather than all at one. I hope to read more from Gerry O'Sullivan.
May 4, 2023
Faithless
Between the wars, rarely told historical events in Shanghai, almost incredible to imagine today. Police, crime lords, insurgents, with little discernible difference in murderous behaviour; not to mention occupying armies and complicated relationships on every level.
Between the wars, rarely told historical events in Shanghai, almost incredible to imagine today. Police, crime lords, insurgents, with little discernible difference in murderous behaviour; not to mention occupying armies and complicated relationships on every level.
October 14, 2023
Great historical fiction
I was glued to my seat as soon as I started Reading this. The main character was believable, and also caring to a great degree. Nice to see 1 of those acts of kindness Help save him and a companion in the end.
I was glued to my seat as soon as I started Reading this. The main character was believable, and also caring to a great degree. Nice to see 1 of those acts of kindness Help save him and a companion in the end.
October 29, 2023
worthwhile
It’s got a slow start and takes a long t8me to develop more then one character. It does have paints a wonderful picture of Shanghai in the 1930’s and becomes an interesting story with good characters.
It’s got a slow start and takes a long t8me to develop more then one character. It does have paints a wonderful picture of Shanghai in the 1930’s and becomes an interesting story with good characters.
December 15, 2023
Historical fiction at its finest
Well researched; good character development; fascinating, well researched setting. Keeps the reader fully engagef with surprises until the last page. Look forward to more from this author.
Well researched; good character development; fascinating, well researched setting. Keeps the reader fully engagef with surprises until the last page. Look forward to more from this author.
February 20, 2024
A thrilling, keep you up reading all night adventure book that also happens to be chock full of historical information. If you are interested in China, WWII and or police training and techniques this is the book for you. It’s also just a damned good story.
November 20, 2023
Crazy city
What a great story. I felt I was going through it with Michael. Brilliant descriptions . Action packed. A cannot put down book.
What a great story. I felt I was going through it with Michael. Brilliant descriptions . Action packed. A cannot put down book.
December 28, 2023
I m fascinated about Shanghai in the 1920's and 30's. This book is an entertaining read about that time.
September 1, 2025
Read for book club. Could barely finish it. The first part had so much promise but it didn't last long.
March 13, 2014
At a time of heightened IRA activity in troubled 1920’s Ireland Michael Gallagher, son of an upright sergeant in the RIC, takes a lowly post in the Shanghai police force and finds himself in an even more turbulent location. Simmering pre-war Shanghai is a seething hotbed of corruption, violence, vice and intrigue fomented by local gangsters and mischievous and exploitative foreigners. From the explosive opening sentence Gangsters of Shanghai casts the reader into this distant, colourful, but squalid and chaotic world with enviable authenticity. The work is impeccably researched, reasonably paced, always interesting and, despite the subject matter, highly likeable. Just about everything is right in this impressive first novel. Yes, there are a number of typos and a few anachronisms but nothing too jarring. The characterisation is not very deep but that is not always a fault (cf Dickens, Naipaul) when the storytelling is as compelling as this. One observation, but not to detract from the quality of the work, is a tendency so common in modern novels to see things through the eyes of Hollywood, here noticeable in later chapters and most evidently in the dialogue – ‘I can do you like I did your old man,’ he said. ‘You can try but you won’t get out of here alive…’ – and the rather hurried denouement. Sometimes it is as if the author (not especially this one) has one eye on a future screenplay.
In summary though, a fine and enjoyable read which I would recommend to anyone over the age of 13 (there is nothing too lurid or explicit within) who enjoys unchallenging modern historical fiction.
In summary though, a fine and enjoyable read which I would recommend to anyone over the age of 13 (there is nothing too lurid or explicit within) who enjoys unchallenging modern historical fiction.
January 2, 2014
Gangsters of Shanghai is an exciting adventure story written by Gerry O'Sullivan.
The central character is Michael Gallagher who has fled from the troubled Ireland of the nineteen twenties after the death of his father and has joined the Municipal Police in Shanghai. We follow him to the eve of the Second World War as the city, and he, sink ever deeper into the depths of corruption.
The author uses time and location switch very cleverly as episodes in Ireland help us to understand Michael's behaviour and reactions to people and circumstances he faces as a policeman on Shanghai's crime-ridden streets.
Gangsters of Shanghai is full of fascinating and surprising characters, including some very nasty villains, all of whom are superbly well-drawn and these share top billing with the city itself which is brilliantly described. Set against the backdrop of the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, Shanghai appears as a city with wide divisions between wealth and poverty and as a centre of international degradation. My previous limited knowledge of the city comes from movies such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ang Lee's Lust Caution and Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. These showed Shanghai as an international city but not as the sink of crime and corruption it really was.
Superbly researched, it beggars belief that Gangsters of Shanghai isn't filling the shelves in bookshops. It deserves to be a best-seller.
David Lowther Author of The Blue Pencil (thebluepencil.co.uk)
davidlowtherblog.wordpress.com
The central character is Michael Gallagher who has fled from the troubled Ireland of the nineteen twenties after the death of his father and has joined the Municipal Police in Shanghai. We follow him to the eve of the Second World War as the city, and he, sink ever deeper into the depths of corruption.
The author uses time and location switch very cleverly as episodes in Ireland help us to understand Michael's behaviour and reactions to people and circumstances he faces as a policeman on Shanghai's crime-ridden streets.
Gangsters of Shanghai is full of fascinating and surprising characters, including some very nasty villains, all of whom are superbly well-drawn and these share top billing with the city itself which is brilliantly described. Set against the backdrop of the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, Shanghai appears as a city with wide divisions between wealth and poverty and as a centre of international degradation. My previous limited knowledge of the city comes from movies such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ang Lee's Lust Caution and Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. These showed Shanghai as an international city but not as the sink of crime and corruption it really was.
Superbly researched, it beggars belief that Gangsters of Shanghai isn't filling the shelves in bookshops. It deserves to be a best-seller.
David Lowther Author of The Blue Pencil (thebluepencil.co.uk)
davidlowtherblog.wordpress.com
August 9, 2014
I really felt like this book was part The Untouchables, with a little bit of The Great Gatsby, set in an original and exciting world. I love 1920's/1930's fiction, and I've read a lot of it - but I've never read anything in that time period set in China. O'Sullivan paints an amazing picture of Shanghai - the stark contrast between the poverty and tenements and the bright lights and wealth. It was truly a new adventure to see the roaring twenties spread into an international arena. The cabarets and canteens… the singsong girls and taxi dancers… extravagance - all in the middle of communist riots and ongoing war, refugees with only the possessions they can carry...
O'Sullivan's story covers decades by the time it's finished, but the way it is told keeps it from ever dragging. The story starts with Michael Gallagher serving as a Shanghai Municipal Police Officer, and chapters flash back from time to time to tell how he came out of Ireland. Then as the story carries forward over the years, there are gaps of weeks to months between chapters sometimes. There's a really good pace to the story, and the characters are well-developed.
The love story is the Great Gatsby part… an innocent love wasted on a woman tied up with the wrong rich and powerful guy, losing love, finding love…
All in all a fantastic story. A great glimpse at a pivotal time in cultural and social history.
O'Sullivan's story covers decades by the time it's finished, but the way it is told keeps it from ever dragging. The story starts with Michael Gallagher serving as a Shanghai Municipal Police Officer, and chapters flash back from time to time to tell how he came out of Ireland. Then as the story carries forward over the years, there are gaps of weeks to months between chapters sometimes. There's a really good pace to the story, and the characters are well-developed.
The love story is the Great Gatsby part… an innocent love wasted on a woman tied up with the wrong rich and powerful guy, losing love, finding love…
All in all a fantastic story. A great glimpse at a pivotal time in cultural and social history.
February 14, 2026
A good read that interestingly juxtaposes Shanghai on the brink of the Japanese invasion of the 1930's with The Troubles in Ireland of two decades earlier. The protagonist is an Irishman who takes a job as a municipal policeman in the International Settlement in Old Shanghai at the height of its primacy. It is considered one of the most dangerous beats in the world, as Shanghai is a polyglot of foreigners, glamorous nightlife, prostitution, violence, gangsters and pervasive corruption. Gallagher struggles with his moral sensibilities, instilled by his father in Ireland, versus the cesspool surrounding him and his sense of right and wrong does not always win out. The book seems effective is capturing the corrupt energy of the city, along with serving up a decent mystery and thriller to boot.
April 11, 2017
O’Sullivan’s first novel is a treasure trove of historical information and a fully realized portrait of a complex, exquisite, and cruel place. I was not as concerned with the plot, though it was a fast-paced and well-constructed tale.
Sometimes the characters in the novel felt a bit too stereotypical and one-dimensional. More—and better—dialog would have served it well. But these are small things to get past in order to enjoy the vivid descriptions in Gangsters of Shanghai. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading well-researched action stories in order to understand history.
Read more at UndergroundBookReviews dot org
Sometimes the characters in the novel felt a bit too stereotypical and one-dimensional. More—and better—dialog would have served it well. But these are small things to get past in order to enjoy the vivid descriptions in Gangsters of Shanghai. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading well-researched action stories in order to understand history.
Read more at UndergroundBookReviews dot org
April 2, 2016
I enjoyed this noir mystery/thriller quite a bit, especially the talent this gifted author had for setting scenes and depicting what I believe to be an accurate vision on Shanghai in the 1920s and 30s. Some of the coincidental meetings with former acquaintances seemed to challenge ones suspension of disbelief, and our protagonist was unusually unlucky in love, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book, nor did the (mercifully rare) grammatical errors. It was a fun read with, as a previous reviewer described it, a bit of 'history the easy way'.
March 4, 2014
The book catches your attention right from the start. I like that it had facts about the war and the area where the story takes place. I felt it was written well, and with enough description that you were able to get a good feeling for the people and places. I liked the character of Michael, he had of just the right mixture of good guy with a little devil May care. You weren't always sure what he'd do next.
June 21, 2015
Shanghai history best part of the book.
The turbulent and decadent atmosphere of pre world war II Shanghai made me stick with this novel. The main character, a policeman, had continuing poor judgment that made him rather unbelievable. Except for the descriptions of the city and the lifestyles of the era, the writing was not the best. Too many damsels in distress and fights for a really great plotline.
The turbulent and decadent atmosphere of pre world war II Shanghai made me stick with this novel. The main character, a policeman, had continuing poor judgment that made him rather unbelievable. Except for the descriptions of the city and the lifestyles of the era, the writing was not the best. Too many damsels in distress and fights for a really great plotline.
August 4, 2015
'Gangsters of Shanghai' is an incredibly well researched, action-packed book, pulsing with intrigue, suspense and adventure. Mr O'Sullivan's story unfolds as a classic three act drama in which Mike Gallagher struggles to reconcile his past against the chaotic background of Shanghai throughout the decade leading up to World War Two. 'Gangsters of Shanghai' is a genuine page-turner of a read, and I can well imagine a big budget Hollywood adaptation!
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January 20, 2014An interesting yet predictable story
I found the story somewhat predictable but I've read enough police stories and mysteries so I might be a bit cynical. I would characterize this as semi-light reading.
I found the story somewhat predictable but I've read enough police stories and mysteries so I might be a bit cynical. I would characterize this as semi-light reading.
September 9, 2015
Good story!!!
This was a really enjoyable book. Well drawn characters and honestly the descriptions of Shanghai in the times and multi cultural players was fascinating. Gerry did a great job.
This was a really enjoyable book. Well drawn characters and honestly the descriptions of Shanghai in the times and multi cultural players was fascinating. Gerry did a great job.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews