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4.0 out of 5 stars
This is one of those rare books you are likely to read again, Dec 8 2002
The Gold Swan is the nickname of a fabulous building being constructed, fictionally, in present-day Hong Kong --- more precisely, on a man-made island in Hong Kong harbor. The nickname comes from the unique, curving shape its architect has given to the structure, which is best described in the author's own words: "It was the tallest structure ever created by man and made of steel and bronze, those metals that are the very embodiment of solidity and it was a massive thing. Yet it was also slender, with delicate edges and was one long, elegant curve that some architecture critics were calling feminine. It was solid and inert, planted out there in the middle of the harbor, yet it was also soaring, more than seven hundred feet higher than the Peak, reaching skyward in a fluid, rounded motion, touching the clouds. And it was a chameleon, its bronze casing throwing back the gold of the sun and also reflecting images of passing clouds and the restless water of the harbor, endlessly changing as the day unfolded."Clay Williams is a former FBI man approximately in his 40's. He has been working for ten years in Hong Kong as a security agent for international projects and has been one of three security men on the Gold Swan project from the beginning. Clay's visiting father is killed in a fall from the 20th story balcony of Clay's apartment at the same time that an eleven year-old boy disappears from his next-door neighbor's apartment --- and the plot is set in motion. The Hong Kong police say the father's death is suicide and they plant a couple of ridiculous clues as proof, but Clay knows better. It doesn't take the boy's grandfather long to find Clay and to discern a connection between death and disappearance and, thus, an unlikely but colorful and productive alliance is formed. Clay is well connected. He has a best friend who is a police officer and he has other friends in the CIA and State Department. He's quiet, capable, thoughtful and
unassuming --- an appealing character whose heroic qualities are present in a muted key. After ten years in Hong Kong, Clay still sees the city with the eyes of a stranger who just happens to know his way around and he shares that vision constantly with us. He also educates us about the changes that have occurred since the British returned Hong Kong to China a few years ago. Ah yes. The plot thickens with those changes. John Llewellyn, architect of the Gold Swan, went to college with the (fictional) leader of China, who of course is based in Beijing; the fabulous building is
a way for Beijing to put its stamp on Hong Kong, to reclaim that city and its international prestige and wealth for the whole of China. Beijing-Hong Kong tension looms large. Eventually it develops that Clay's father was killed and the little boy was kidnapped as part of a conspiracy surrounding the Gold Swan. It is a conspiracy so huge that, like the building itself, it's hard for the mind to grasp. Clay begins, secretly, to work with the CIA. At the same time, he's working with the boy's grandfather who is in an amazing line of business. He also has his own job to do, as the Gold Swan nears completion. It's a sort of triple-agent scenario that Clay juggles quietly and smoothly, even as he manages to nurture a friendship with a difficult woman. Thayer handles his large story well, particularly in the way he brings Hong Kong alive on his pages. This is one of those books you can fall into and, when you come out of it, feel as if you've truly spent many hours in another place. It's about as close to a vacation in Hong Kong as most of us will ever get. The characters, especially the little boy, his friends and his family, are vividly drawn. There are few clichés here -- with the notable exception of a certain henchman of enormous size, who seemed to have come from a Bond movie and whose guardian angel qualities were improbable all around. The plot unfolds somewhat unevenly, but realistically -- life itself never unfolds at an even pace, particularly around big events; there are always hitches and glitches. This is a thoughtful book best read for the whole scope of what it has to say, not as if it were a print version of a summer blockbuster movie. Tension builds here slowly but inexorably, both in the ever-widening conspiracy surrounding the Gold Swan and in Clay's own personal life. The denouement, when it arrives, is huge, catastrophic and
totally believable. THE GOLD SWAN is a poignant, sensual read that is likely to stay with you long after you close the pages of the book. It is, in fact, a keeper -- one of those rare books you are likely to want to read again. --- Reviewed by Ava Dianne Day
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