Product Description

The Chinaman understood death.

Jungle-skilled, silent and lethal, he had killed for the Viet Cong and then for the Americans. He had watched helpless when his two eldest daughters had been raped and killed by Thai pirates.
Now all that was behind him. Quiet, hard-working and unassuming, he was building up his South London take-away business.
Until the day his wife and youngest daughter were destroyed by an IRA bomb in a Knightsbridge department store.
Then, simply but persistently, he began to ask the authorities who were the men responsible, what was being done. And was turned away, fobbed off, treated as a nuisance.

Which was when the Chinaman, denied justice, decided on revenge. And went back to war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48172 in Books
• Published on: 1992-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

Glasgow Herald
'One cannot bear to put it down because one has to know what happens next'

Review
'One cannot bear to put it down because one has to know what happens next' (Glasgow Herald )

'As real and hard and tough as today’s headlines. I couldn’t put it down' (Jack Higgins )

'Will leave you breathless'

'Plenty of visceral excitements'

'Leather, a former journalist, can dispense high-adrenaline plotting but never at the expense of remembering that his characters are humans rather than Action Dolls.'

'A gripping story sped along by admirable, uncluttered prose'

Jack Higgins
'As real and hard and tough as today's headlines. I couldn't put it down'

Customer Reviews

This is an absolutely suberb read
When a chinese takeaway owner looses his wife and daughter to an IRA bomb, he wants to make sure the people responsible are punished by the law. Unfortunately he is passed from pillar to post and cannot understand why the police cannot just arrest them. When all else fails he sets out on his own mission to avenge his loved ones. Using the skills he learn't whilst fighting in the jungles of Vietnam he turns his attention to the terrorists and takes on the IRA. Totally gripping and extremely well written.

Extremely gripping
I have read around 6 or 7 of Stephen Leather's books, after starting with 'The Long Shot'. This, however, is the best of the bunch. The storyline, about a ex- soldier taking vengence for the death of his family, is excellent. The only downside is the length - no sooner have you got into the book and its finished!

Live by the Sword Die by the Sword
This is the first book by Stephen Leather that I have read.It is a fast moving story and an easy read. It is the story of a Chinaman - who is actually from Vietnam. The Chinaman owns a fast food take away in London and the story takes place at the height of the IRA terror campaign. The story starts with his wife and daughter being killed when an IRA bomb explodes in the centre of London. The Chinaman sells the shop and starts to find out who within the IRA planted the bomb. Due to the fact his english is not very good nobody takes him to seriously.In due course he is given the name of a Sinn Fien politician in Northern Ireland.Again when speaking to Sinn Fien in Belfast he is looked on as more of a pest than anything else. Unknown to anyone in London or Northern Ireland this man fought for the Viet Cong against the Americans,he then changed sides and fought for the Americans. He and his family were left behind when the Americans withdrew from Vietnam and had to escape from Vietmnam by boat.During the boat trip his ship was attacked by Thai pirates who raped and killed his two eldest daughters. The IRA are now about to find out just how dangerous one man trained in jungle war fare and expert in killing can be. A good fast moving story.