In this first book of the Rising Dragon series, “explore a side of Hong Kong tourists rarely experience” (<i>Kirkus Reviews</i>) as an expat journalist tries to crack a murder case in the “darkly beautiful, heart-wrenching” (<i>Booklist,</i>starred review) thriller set in China from the internationally bestselling author of<i>The Art of Hearing Heartbeats</i>.<br><br>Once an ambitious American expat and a dedicated family man, Paul Leibovitz is living as a recluse on an outlying island of Hong Kong. When he makes a fleeting connection with Elizabeth, a distressed American woman on the verge of collapse, his life is thrown into turmoil. Less than twenty-four hours later, Elizabeth’s son is found dead in Shenzhen, and Paul, invigorated by a newfound purpose, sets out to investigate the murder on his own.<br><br>As Paul, Elizabeth, and a detective friend descend deeper into a politically corrupt China and the Shenzhen underworld—against the wishes of a woman with whom Paul has a growing flirtation—they discover dark secrets and vestiges of the Cultural Revolution that people will go to any lengths to keep hidden. Part love story, part crime thriller,<i>Whispering Shadows </i>is the captivating tale of one man’s desperate search for redemption within the grip of a world superpower, a place where secrets from the past threaten to upend the future.