What a book! I am so very happy to have gotten to this book, which has been on my half for too long.

Set in Hong Kong, this is a brilliantly executed set of vignettes that focus on one character's career. Kwan Chun-dok's work life is told backwards, from his last case to his first. I was entranced by this style which I admire even more in retrospect after finishing the book. We see him at the beginning as the wisest and most respected cop, being leveraged in a unique case to his very first introduction to the police force as a civilian who helps the police stop a complex plot. All along the way, we see this fascinating time in Hong Kong as points of reference to his cases. From the time of English and Portuguese influence to China's takeover of control.

The cases were all smart but the structure of this book made it exceptional.

Thanks to the publisher for access to an advanced reader copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hong Kong’s Inspector Kwan is a legend. He always solves the crime and his powers of deduction are inimitable. For 50 years he’s been discovering the culprits and in this unusual and cleverly constructed novel we get to see him at work on 6 complicated cases, moving backwards in time from 2013 when he’s on his death bed to the beginnings of his career in 1967. It’s all a bit far-fetched at times and at others I had trouble following the ins and outs of the crimes, but what kept me reading was that alongside the mystery elements there’s an interesting social and political aspect to the book and a portrait of Hong Kong over the decades, from the days of British rule right through to the handing back to China. The writing is a bit pedestrian at times, and the characters only cursorily developed, but overall I enjoyed reading about local life and about local concerns, and in a way it didn’t matter if I didn’t always enjoy the crime stories themselves.

I read a lot of crime fiction where I feel like I've read it before, the situations, the techniques, and even the characters all feel cobbled together from elsewhere. In some ways, The Borrowed was no different but it was so well done I loved it. The novel structure really drove the book, keeping me almost entranced. What really sets this book apart from others of its genre is how Ho-kei refuses to resolve the various narratives in a way that would make easy lines to make between good and bad. This is a novel of complex characters who are neither good nor bad in a city that is neither as well. Well done to Ho-kei for balancing complexity and narrative in such a masterful way!

This takes a little effort but is ultimately a worthy read. The use of interlocking mystery novellas (short stories) with the same protagonists set in reverse time is a unique technique which can be trying at times but stick with it. You will learn at least a little about Hong Kong (I do think it helps if you've been there). The translation of this is not as smooth as some but it's a treat to get it here. THanks to Netgalley for the ARC- Chan Ho-Kei is one to watch for in the future.

One of the best books I've ever read! I couldn't put it down and reviewed it for the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Meet senior inspector Kwan Chun-dok, the Hercule Poirot of Hong Kong. You will get to know him by immersing yourself in a reversed journey through more than 50 years of his successful career as a police officer in Hong Kong. His deductive skills are like no other's, being nicknamed the Eye of Heaven. Another trait that makes him such a successful investigator is that he is inclined to think outside the box and bend the law a little bit in order to deceive and catch criminals.

The book is structured in 6 novellas which start from the 2013, with Kwan Chun-dok's last case solved while he lays in a coma. Each novella goes back a few years in time in time until we reach the '60 when we meet the inspector at the beginning of his career. Each case is unique and has its twists and turns. Moreover, there are connections between the cases, locations and characters that after finishing the book I felt like the last part completed the circle started by the first one. I compared Chan Ho-Kei's character with Hercule Poirot because he is pictured always a step ahead of the others and the novellas end with a big reveal, Christie's style.

Although the mysteries are fun to read on their own the author is also trying to sketch a social picture of Hong Kong, its history, its struggles and of the people that live there thorough the decades. I learned more about the clashes between the Brits and the Communist China, the triads and the war on drugs, the life of the poor Hongkongers.

For me it was especially interesting to read Chan Ho'Kei's novel since Hong Kong is one of the cities that I like and I would love to return to. Some of the locations in this book sounded familiar and reminded me about places that I saw.

I did not give the book 5 stars because I thought that, at times, the inspector was irritatingly smart and there were some cliche Hollywood style scenes (e.g. A motorcycle chase through a busy market). I also had to focus real hard to differentiate between the names of the characters as they were all long and sounded the same.

Many thanks to Chan Ho-Kei , Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.