originally i thought it was a mafia x CIA FBI-esque crime/mystery novel... then it morphed into a treasure hunt x archaeology x genealogy x mythology novel... & when i thought i had nailed the genre, again it evolved to a Russian mafia family power struggle novel... AM I CONFUSED? Yes! this novel is so many things all at once, but i loved it enough to continue reading it all the way.
there's also a side story (kind of like an AU fic) written by the author herself, called 华丽的目标. where the main characters are in Atlantis now & there's demons and stuff. talk about a 180 degree change in tropes! but it was a great & fun read.