Black Karma: A White Ginger Novel

Bai Jiang’s life is complicated.  A member of a powerful triad family that rules San Francisco Chinatown, she is unmarried with a young daughter and spends her days tracking those down who need to be found.  Her life might have continued along this jumbled trajectory forever, until the SFPD comes calling.  They want her to find a suspect involved in a robbery.  Something doesn’t seem right but Bai and her partner Lee jump in, following a tangled web of shadowy characters, clues that don’t add up, and a trail of dead bodies at every turn.  Bai’s ex, Jason, further complicates matters when he keeps interfering.   She’s also received a marriage proposal which would help her secure her family’s future.  But Bai can’t let go, and when Lee is shot, she has to continue.  

“Black Karma” is an underbelly tale of life in the Chinatown underworld.  Bai is a riveting character, tough and tender, knowing what she wants and how to get it.  Her on/off relationship with Jason is a nice foil to the tale, as well as her reaction to Howard Kwan’s marriage proposal, and his family’s real motive for pursuing her.  The descriptions of life in the underground world of the Chinese Tong gangs will keep readers on the edge of their seats.  Even with several threads being told, the author ties everything up very neatly, and readers will be spellbound as they try to solve the many mysteries of Bai’s life.

Victoria Z. Burg