5.0 out of 5 stars `When a call comes in concerning a body falling out of a helicopter, especially a live body, it has the ring of Triads.' July 27, 2014
By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE VOICE
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
San Diego, California author Vic Warren was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and relies heavily on his passion for travel as the base plate for his successful novels. After majoring in graphic design and art direction at the San Francisco Academy of Art he began a long career as an advertising executive in the travel industry, winning graphic awards for creating the Alaska Airlines Eskimo logo and traveling throughout Asia, Europe and the South Pacific before forming his own company, Turning Heads, where he gained expertise as a book packager, editor, designer and writer in collaboration with several illustrators, and successfully publishing more than 100 children's books. His novels now take full advantage of this passion for travel as each book is set in a different foreign locations STAIRWAY OF THE GODS in Japan and the Philippines, SAFFRON off the California Coast, and now HONG KONG BLUES in, of course, Hong Kong.
Vic Warren has the ability in a few short pages to define characters that will later mutate into different types; he opens with a Las Vegas wedding in cowboy boots and cheap champagne between Megan and her loser but sexually satisfying drug addicted drummer Cal - a doomed marriage of two musicians that in the matter of a couple of paragraphs introduces popular jazz singer Megan Deschamps marrying the wealthy Microsoft millionaire Chris Girolami with all the trappings of wealth aboard a yacht in the harbor of Hong Kong. Their back history of success and courting are then expressed up to the moment of the grand marriage. But this perfect marriage ceremony is interrupted by the sudden out of the sky bouquet of a man falling out of helicopter to his death aboard the yacht. But as the need for a tension in a mystery to start the man utters something to the just married couple - words though obscure to Megan and Chris carry an important meaning for the leaders of Hong Kong's powerful Triads (secret societies whose pattern of existence is akin to the Italian Mafia) - the deceased man, Chen Zongze, a leader of the Four Prosperities society, one of those powerful Triads. Hong Kong Police Chief Inspector Lawrence Kwong arrives to investigate and recognizes the deceased Chen Zongze and attempts of obtain the meaning of the message Zongze uttered before dying - a message the other two portions of the Triad desperately want and this begins a tense and death threatening flight thorough the streets of Hong Kong as Megan and Chris are the only source of the uttered message from Zongze.
In a relatively short novel Warren manages to set a spitfire pace that pushes the story forward with quality that would make Alfred Hitchcock applaud. Vic Warren has talent and uses it with terse clarity, leaving little time to breathe once the story takes off. A terrific evening's read. Grady Harp, July 14 But as the need for a tension in a mystery to start the man utters something to the just married couple - words though obscure to Megan and Chris carry an important meaning for the leaders of Hong Kong's powerful Triads (secret societies whose pattern of existence is akin to the Italian Mafia) - the deceased man, Chen Zongze, a leader of the Four Prosperities society, one of those powerful Triads. Hong Kong Police Chief Inspector Lawrence Kwong arrives to investigate and recognizes the deceased Chen Zongze and attempts of obtain the meaning of the message Zongze uttered before dying - a message the other two portions of the Triad desperately want and this begins a tense and death threatening flight thorough the streets of Hong Kong as Megan and Chris are the only source of the uttered message from Zongze.
In a relatively short novel Warren manages to set a spitfire pace that pushes the story forward with quality that would make Alfred Hitchcock applaud. Vic Warren has talent and uses it with terse clarity, leaving little time to breathe once the story takes off. A terrific evening's read. Grady Harp, July 14
Four Stars! Reviewed by Tina Stanciu for Readers' Favorite
“Vic Warren’s third book, Hong Kong Blues, is a noir-style thriller which tells us the story of Megan Deschamps and Chris Girolami and their unique adventure in the City of Nights. We are first introduced to the characters at their wedding ceremony, taking place on a yacht in Hong Kong. The author tells us a little about the bride and groom; Megan is a jazz singer and Chris a Microsoft millionaire, and about how the couple met and fell in love. What started out as a beautiful story that celebrates love and commitment soon takes a noir film turn for the strange when a dying man falls out of a helicopter, and while he takes his final breath he whispers something to the couple. Those last words that they don’t understand carry an important meaning for the leaders of Hong Kong’s powerful Triads, as it turns out that the man was an important part of one of the organizations. At this point, you start to understand a little more about how the story will play out - everybody wants to know what the man said, from the police to the Triads, which puts the couple in a not so pleasant situation.
Although it uses some clichés throughout the story, Vic Warren did an excellent job with the descriptions of characters and places. Hong Kong Blues offered me an engaging reading experience and it made me feel like I was watching a noir film instead of reading a book. The ending was a bit expected, but that does not ruin the experience for you, especially because the plot and development are well organized, and the author knew how to keep the reader interested. I particularly loved the chapter titles; they are beautiful and I think that every one of them can make for an excellent book title.”
