Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “One Red Bastard (Detective Robert Chow #3)” as Want to Read:
One Red Bastard
(Detective Robert Chow #3)
by
In this thrilling sequel to the highly acclaimed Snakes Can’t Run, detective Robert Chow must wrestle with his own morality to solve a murder, set against the backdrop of gritty Chinatown following the Vietnam War.
It’s the fall of 1976, and New York’s Chinatown is in turmoil over news that Mao’s daughter is seeking asylum in America. Vietnam vet Robert Chow is now a detect ...more
It’s the fall of 1976, and New York’s Chinatown is in turmoil over news that Mao’s daughter is seeking asylum in America. Vietnam vet Robert Chow is now a detect ...more
ebook, 304 pages
Published
November 21st 2017
by Witness Impulse
(first published April 24th 2012)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
One Red Bastard,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about One Red Bastard
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of One Red Bastard (Detective Robert Chow #3)
One Red Bastard is the third Robert Chow police mystery set in the midst of NYC’s Chinatown in the 1970’s as factions supporting Communist China and Nationalist China face off. This series is a taste of the insularity and tight knit community of Chinatown if that era and how it took someone with connections and trust of the locals to solve the murder. This one is a bit slower in pace than the previous 📚 in the series.
This series has a combination that serves as my "jam." First, there's the mystery crafted in way that I'd never suspect who the culprit or the motive was until it's finally revealed. Second, the 1970's throwback is a hoot. Smoking, pulling the tabs off soda cans, Ford vs Carter election, using manual typewriters, gas at 65 cents a gallon, the music by the Ramones, and more. Third, the humor especially between Robert and Vandyne, his cop partner, and Robert and his friend who owns a toy store is
...more
This story takes place in Chinatown in New York City in the 1976, which I know nothing about. Mao’s daughter is seeking asylum in New York. Chow’s girlfriend Lonnie is journalist and has the opportunity to interview the daughter’s representative. But when he turns up dead Lonnie becomes a suspect since she was the last person seen with him. Chow has been ordered to stay away from this case but he can’t idly stand by with his girlfriend as a suspect.
I really enjoyed this book. This is the first ...more
I really enjoyed this book. This is the first ...more
I find Ed Lin's murder mystery series (this is the third) greatly diverting. The stories are set in NYC's Chinatown in the 1970s, and include interesting history of how that community was divided among immigrants loyal to the Communists and those loyal to the Nationalists, as well as sense of the great diversity of immigrant Chinese within Chinatown. And then there is NYPD detective Robert Chow, who dis-identifies with most of these groups. Chow is sardonic and funny; in this third book he's rec
...more
I learned a lot about the political landscape with China and Taiwan from this book. It inspired me to learn more, which is always a good thing.
The mystery was so-so. The dialogue was reminiscent of Raymond Chandler.
The mystery was so-so. The dialogue was reminiscent of Raymond Chandler.
This is the first book I've read in this series and it took me a while to get interested in the story. The setting is a time and culture very different from my own. Chow's style of detecting was quite different from what I am used to.
By the time I had finished the book, however, I was really glad I had read it. I was introduced to the Chinatown culture of New York City, including the languages and the regions from which people had immigrated. I also learned much about the history of the tension ...more
By the time I had finished the book, however, I was really glad I had read it. I was introduced to the Chinatown culture of New York City, including the languages and the regions from which people had immigrated. I also learned much about the history of the tension ...more
This book takes place in Chinatown, and therefore, offers some unique situations and settings. This is a novel I did not want to put down. Not only because of the action, but also because of the historical and cultural insight into the world of Robert and Lonnie. I always enjoy learning something new when I read.
Robert has quite a struggle trying to investigate a murder which his girlfriend is suspected of committing. It's especially difficult since he's been ordered to stay away from the case. ...more
Robert has quite a struggle trying to investigate a murder which his girlfriend is suspected of committing. It's especially difficult since he's been ordered to stay away from the case. ...more
This is, oddly, a historical mystery because it's set in the 1970s. For those who are unfamiliar with all the upheaval in China during the time frame this will be highly educational because it is a procedural where the victim was representing Mao's daughter, who was seeking to defect to the US. US - China relations are only part of the problems faced by Robert Chow whose girlfriend Lonnie is a prime suspect. Robert is a unique detective and one worth meeting in this or any other of Lin's novels.
...more
Ed Lin is an amazing writer. His background on Chinatown and its history, a place I called home for about 30 years is an added treat. Highly recommended.
Robert Chow is a more effective policeman and a happier person since he stopped drinking. He has a girlfriend, a journalis. He is mentoring her younger brother - encouraging him to get into a precollege research project at Columbia.
It's 1976 and the turmoil of post Mao and post cultural Revolution China has echoes in Manhattan's Chinatown. Rival gangs of pro Mao and Pro Kuomintang men are jockeying for power. Mao's daughter is coming to New York to seek asylum, and Lonnie, Chow's girlfriend gets ...more
It's 1976 and the turmoil of post Mao and post cultural Revolution China has echoes in Manhattan's Chinatown. Rival gangs of pro Mao and Pro Kuomintang men are jockeying for power. Mao's daughter is coming to New York to seek asylum, and Lonnie, Chow's girlfriend gets ...more
I love the Robert Chow novels!
From Wikipedia:
"His (Ed Lin's) trilogy of crime novels featuring Chinese-American Police Detective Robert Chow set in 1970s Chinatown has also won awards and garnered praise. The series so far comprises This Is A Bust (2007) (Members Choice Award, 2008 Asian American Literary Awards, Booklist Starred Review, and Listed in Best American Last Sentences of Books of 2007 in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008, Edited by Dave Eggers), Snakes Can't Run (2010) (Publ ...more
From Wikipedia:
"His (Ed Lin's) trilogy of crime novels featuring Chinese-American Police Detective Robert Chow set in 1970s Chinatown has also won awards and garnered praise. The series so far comprises This Is A Bust (2007) (Members Choice Award, 2008 Asian American Literary Awards, Booklist Starred Review, and Listed in Best American Last Sentences of Books of 2007 in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008, Edited by Dave Eggers), Snakes Can't Run (2010) (Publ ...more
For some reason setting is a huge part of whether I'll like a mystery/crime book or not. The 1970s NYC Chinatown setting of Ed Lin's Robert Chow series is one of my favorites. There's lots of other great stuff about this series too, but the atmosphere really sticks with me.
...more
Interesting cultural elements woven in, thus the extra star. Not much of mystery fan.
Good, but I think it dragged a bit.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers also enjoyed
Ed Lin is a journalist by training and an all-around stand-up kinda guy. He's the author of several books: Waylaid, his literary debut, and his Robert Chow crime series, set in 1970s Manhattan Chinatown: This Is a Bust, Snakes Can't Run, and One Red Bastard. Lin, who is of Taiwanese and Chinese descent, is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards. Lin lives in New York with his
...more
Other books in the series
Detective Robert Chow
(3 books)
Related Articles
If you ask us, it's always the perfect time to lose yourself in a page-turning mystery. To help you sleuth out a new read, we asked the...
78 likes · 70 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
