Paper Fan: The Hunt for Triad Gangster Steven Wong

by Terry Gould

Triad official Steven Wong is the "paper fan," a thirty-nine-year-old Hong Kong-born mobster. Raised in New York's Chinatown, he matured into crime in Vancouver, where he founded and headed the murderous Gum Wah Gang in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. In 1992, Wong "died" in a traffic accident in a remote area of the Philippines before he could be sent to jail for heroin trafficking, just after he'd taken out a million-dollar life insurance policy. His urn may be interred in a Vancouver cemetery; but today, Interpol has a "Red Alert" arrest warrant out for Wong. His updated file reads like a Hollywood action film—an organized criminal adventure that circles the Pacific Rim, from Macau to Japan, from Cambodia to the Philippines. For eleven years, award-winning writer Terry Gould tracked Wong through the organized crime circles of six countries, where politicians, police, businessmen and criminals run in one big pack, sometimes nipping each other's heels, licking each other's faces, and inviting one another home for all-night mah-jongg parties. Four times, Gould has traced Wong and pinned him down, but the law has let him slip away. Paper Fan includes telling photographs in this unforgettable hunt for one man.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crime, True Crime

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[MacNab]

What a waste of money this was. A pity that Terry Gould listened to and appears to have actually believed the likes of Mary Ong over Ping Lacson.

And not only him, but also those from overseas law enforcement agencies who worked with Lacson for many years. Especially the agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration and perhaps even more importantly; the officers of the Narcotics Bureau and Intelligence Bureau of the Hong Kong Police.

But alas, that appears to have been too difficult for author Terry Gould who has subsequently written a story that is just full of hogwash and which maligns a man who was and still is very highly respected by overseas law enforcers. People who knew him and very much valued his professionalism and who also knew the truth about Mary Ong and her many splendored tales.

[Mikey Tablet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good. Friend know. Steven Wong Best Friend King Nam I met King Nam I was gone. So fast

[Mack Flavelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard about this book on the radio years ago and got excited about it.

Finally found it and tried to read it.

Didn't succeed.

It's about a gangster in East Vancouver which is very interesting to me but then the book becomes about the author chasing the gangster across south east asia and it just isn't that interesting.

I have a lot of trouble walking away from a book I have started but in this case there was no point in throwing good money after bad.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye-opener--I never realized there were so many Chinese/Asian gang wars in North America. They really play a large role in crime. When you think of the mafia, you think of fat Italian guys, not scrawny Asian men. They do exist! Terry Gould is a pretty amazing guy.