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WORK TITLE: Death Notice
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1977
WEBSITE:
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: Chinese
RESEARCHER NOTES:
Unable to select heading in LOC
PERSONAL
Born 1977, in Yangzhou City, China.
EDUCATION:Tsinghua University, M.E.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author.
WRITINGS
Author’s works have been translated into Japanese, French, Korean, and English.
SIDELIGHTS
Zhou Haohui has become most well known within his home country through his contributions to the suspense fiction genre. He has written numerous novels throughout the course of his career. His writing can also be found in Japanese, French, Korean, and English translations.
Death Notice is one of Zhou’s works. It was translated in cooperation with Bonnie Huie. Death Notice centers on protagonist Pei Tao, who finds himself at the center of a case that has gone cold for close to twenty years. Prior to the story’s main events, a member of Chengdu law enforcement, Zheng Haoming, suddenly and violently lost his life. It was Tao who discovered his remains, and thanks to them having been partners in the past, Haoming is perpetually wrapped up in the case until it can be solved once and for all. Haoming suspects that a long time vigilante by the name of Eumenides is at the root of Haoming’s death. However, his and Haoming’s previous efforts to take Eumenides down proved less than fruitful. It isn’t until Eumenides begins to strike again that Tao gains the chance to dive back into uncovering exactly who Eumenides is and putting them behind bars for good. His main clues are the warnings given to a cluster of acquitted wrongdoers detailing that they soon will be put to death in retaliation for their misconduct. Tao must use these warnings if he is to catch Eumenides and keep them from bringing any more people to their deaths, yet he soon finds there are many more lives at stake than he could have ever anticipated. One Publishers Weekly contributor felt that “Zhou does a credible job keeping the clues and the complicated plot straight.” In an issue of Booklist, Christine Tran remarked: “Zhou’s story is thoughtfully constructed (and skillfully translated).” A writer in Kirkus Reviews said: “The end of this first part certainly invites speculation about the future of several characters, and the dense plotting and exuberant bloodletting would support several novels.” Angie Barry, writing on the Criminal Element website, commented: “It’s abundantly clear why author Zhou Haohui is one of the three most popular suspense authors in China: Death Notice literally has it all.” She later stated: “The hunt for Eumenides will continue, and you’ll want to rush out and pick up the second installment—just as soon as you catch your breath.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2018, Christine Tran, review of Death Notice, p. 24.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2018, review of Death Notice.
Publishers Weekly, April 9, 2018, review of Death Notice, p. 54.
ONLINE
Criminal Element, https://www.criminalelement.com/ (June 8, 2018), Angie Barry, review of Death Notice.
New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/ (June 4, 2018), Steven Lee Myers, “How to Catch a Killer in China: Another Chinese Crime Novel Goes Global.”
PROFILE
How to Catch a Killer in China: Another Chinese Crime Novel Goes Global
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Crime, Zhou Haohui says, is a universal theme, which is why detective stories or police thrillers can more easily transcend cultural divides than, say, historical fiction.CreditGiulia Marchi for The New York Times
By Steven Lee Myers
June 4, 2018
查看简体中文版查看繁體中文版
YANGZHOU, China — Zhou Haohui, the latest author to catch the wave of Chinese crime fiction crashing on international shores, had an unsatisfying job teaching engineering at a university outside of Beijing in 2007 when he began publishing — online — the novels that would earn him a cultlike following in China.
These books — a trilogy about a police hunt for a vengeful killer — went into print two years later, ultimately selling more than 1.2 million copies. They inspired a serial on the streaming site owned by Tencent, the social media giant, that has, to date, been watched a staggering 2.4 billion times, according to his agent, China Educational Publications Import & Export Corporation. A feature film went into production in April.
Now the first book of Mr. Zhou’s trilogy, “Death Notice,” will be released on June 5 in the United States, and in Britain next week. The American publisher, Doubleday, hopes it will vault him into the ranks of other contemporary Chinese novelists — like Qiu Xiaolong, He Jiahong and A Yi — who have reached a global audience with stories from China’s criminal underbelly.
Crime, Mr. Zhou says, is a universal theme, which is why detective stories or police thrillers (even from an authoritarian political system like China’s) can more easily transcend cultural divides than, say, historical fiction.
“When you are talking about crime — criminal cases, the police in large cities, this suspenseful feeling of mystery — I feel that readers all over the world like this kind of thing,” he said in an interview here in his hometown, Yangzhou, a historical imperial city of two million people on the Yangtze River a couple hours upstream from Shanghai.
He noted that Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film “The Departed,” which won four Oscars, including Best Picture, was a remake of the highly regarded 2002 Hong Kong film “Infernal Affairs,” about a police mole infiltrating the mob. The drama simply shifted to South Boston.
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The first book of Zhou Haohui’s trilogy, “Death Notice,” will be released on June 5 in the United States, and in Britain next week.CreditGiulia Marchi for The New York Times
Mr. Zhou, who is 40, seems unfazed by his celebrity here. He is as likely as not to pass unnoticed, even here in his hometown, where his novels are prominently on display in bookstores. He is cerebral and soft-spoken, and his interests are broad.
In addition to a dozen crime novels, he has written two books on food, including one on the cuisine of his native region, known as Huaiyang and considered one of the “four great traditions” of Chinese cooking (along with Cantonese, Sichuan and Shandong, from the northeast).
His mild manner seems at odds with the lurid violence of crime novels. In “Death Notice,” the killer of two police academy cadets in a gruesome bombing resurfaces after 18 years, this time orchestrating the murder of a revered police sergeant whose failure to solve the original case haunted his career.
Then, as now, the killer fashions himself as an avenger, bringing justice to those whose crimes have gone unpunished. The killer calls himself Eumenides after the third of the Oresteia ancient Greek tragedies by Aeschylus and warns each of his victims in notes drawn with exquisite Chinese calligraphy, luring the police into a diabolical game. The new killing spree revives a special police task force that had been shelved for reasons that, to explain fully here, would amount to a spoiler.
Of course, censorship shapes crime writing here, which to some can make the genre seem relatively wan. A Yi, who was a police officer in Jiangxi Province before writing thrillers, said in an interview that the crime novel might have exhausted its potential in China. “Crime novels still do very well,” he said, “but for the writers, creating these stories is getting harder and harder.”
Mr. Zhou acknowledged that the censors had posed problems, forcing him to make changes in his books, but he said that novels tend to get more leeway than movies or content online, which the government polices with greater zeal because that is where more Chinese are spending their time. The investigation at the heart of “Death Notice” does hinge on questions of police corruption and the privileges the wealthy in China enjoy — all of which are experiences Chinese readers can relate to.
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Zhou Haohui’s office in Yangzhou, China.CreditGiulia Marchi for The New York Times ORG XMIT: NPX
“When you write crime novels you know you shouldn’t write anything too negative,” Mr. Zhou said, “but you have no way of knowing where the line is.” The solution, he said, was to have a good editor with a better sense of what can pass muster.
The producers of the film version of “Death Notice” dealt with potential political sensitivity by shifting the action to Hong Kong, which is considered by Communist propaganda to be thoroughly dissolute after decades of colonial rule.
For commercial rather than political reasons, Mr. Zhou’s literary agent here also made changes in the English-language version of the book, translated by Zac Haluza. The action now takes place in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, not Yangzhou or nearby Nanjing, the cities Mr. Zhou said he had in the back of his mind when crafting the story. The assumption was that Chengdu, which is best known for pandas and spicy food, would be recognizable to foreign readers and give the drama a more visceral feel, Rob Bloom, Mr. Zhou’s editor at Doubleday, said in an email.
When asked about the change, Mr. Zhou laughed and said he, too, had wondered why they did that.
Doubleday has options for the second and third parts of the trilogy, called in Chinese “Fate” and “Farewell Song,” but has not yet committed to them — perhaps because Mr. Zhou’s first foray into English, a novel called “Valley of Terror,” published by Amazon Crossing last year, did not take off.
Yangzhou, where Mr. Zhou grew up, is renowned for its literary history, especially a 9th-century poet, Du Mu. One poem lamenting the whereabouts of a friend is so well known that Mr. Zhou’s colleagues recited it in unison during an excursion to Slender West Lake, a World Heritage Site in the city. (Mao Zedong’s handwritten transcription of Du Mu’s poem is carved into a stone monument beside the lake.)
Mr. Zhou remembers playing in the park as a child — when there was no entrance fee — but literary inspiration came to him much later.
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A board in Zhou Haohui’s office contains notes for movies he plans to produce and direct.CreditGiulia Marchi for The New York Times
“In the Chinese education system, there was no one to guide you to consider ‘what do you want to do?’” he said. “They just told you, study, study, study and get into a good university.”
He did, attending Tsinghua University in Beijing — one of the country’s most prestigious — and pursuing a degree in environmental engineering. Soon, though, he realized he did not really like engineering. He wrote as a hobby, posting stories on the message board of the university on the edge of Beijing where he taught for a decade.
He began to write in earnest in 2003 during the SARS crisis, when millions of people were effectively quarantined by the viral outbreak; hundreds died. “We had nowhere to go hang out and have fun,” he said, “so I would spend the whole day shut in my room.”
With the success of the “Death Notice” trilogy, he was able to quit his job as a professor in 2012 and return to Yangzhou. He has given up writing exclusively and now devotes his creative efforts to producing his own films online, through the production company, Frog Brothers, which he founded. He has also begun studying film direction, having been disappointed that the popular serial version of his trilogy turned into a dark comedy.
Producing and directing allow him to control more aspects of the stories he wants to tell, he said. His first online film project was a psychological thriller, roughly translated as “Shuttered Room,” about two strangers mysteriously confined in a sealed apartment together.
Mr. Zhou’s taste for the cinematic is clear. The germ of the idea for the “Death Notice” trilogy came from a 2006 music video by Jay Chou, the popular singer and actor from Taiwan, and the narrative is lean and fast paced, with little by way of description or excessive ruminations.
He seems part of a generation for whom the boundaries between the written and the visual, the printed word and the image on screen, have blurred, allowing him to glide dexterously from one medium to the next, one genre to the next. The format, Mr. Zhou said, was not so important. “I just ask myself, ‘What is the best way to tell the story.’”
Olivia Mitchell Ryan contributed research.
Follow Steven Lee Myers on Twitter: @stevenleemyers.
Follow New York Times Books on Facebook and Twitter (@nytimesbooks), sign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar. And listen to us on the Book Review podcast.
A version of this article appears in print on June 10, 2018, on Page C6 of the New York edition with the headline: Chinese Crime Novel Goes Global. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
About the Author
A leading contemporary master of suspense in China, Zhou Haohui is the author of more than ten novels exploring the intersection of human nature, criminal motive, and the art of detection. His books include Killing Notice, The Evil Hypnotist, The Horrific Picture, and The Ghost Mountain. His works have been translated into French, English, Korean, and Japanese, and many have been adapted for film and television. Born in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, Zhou received his master’s degree in engineering from Tsinghua University.
Bonnie Huie has translated several novels from the Chinese, including women’s fiction by bestselling Hong Kong author Amy Cheung and Taiwanese countercultural icon Qiu Miaojin. She also translated the work of Okinawan political novelist Tatsuhiro Ōshiro. She is a recipient of a PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her rendition of the short story “Under the Cherry Blossoms” by Japanese modernist Motojirō Kajii.
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Print Marked Items
Death Notice
Publishers Weekly.
265.15 (Apr. 9, 2018): p54.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Death Notice
Zhou Haohui, trans. from the Chinese by Zac
Haluza. Doubleday, $26.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0385-54332-3
Set in Chengdu in 2002, this uneven opening volume in a bestselling trilogy in China--the first of Zhou's
books to be translated into English--offers little that American suspense fans haven't seen before. Shortly
after Sgt. Zheng Haoming begins looking into new evidence concerning a case he investigated in 1984, he
is found stabbed to death in his apartment. Meanwhile, someone using the pseudonym Eumenides, for the
Greek goddesses of retribution, posts a call for justice on a message board, asking the public for the names
of wrongdoers who deserve punishment. Since this person seems to be the killer in the 18-year-old case, the
police re-form the original task force. Eumenides begins to post a series of execution notices, but, despite
the forewarning, the police are unable to prevent the killings. Zhou does a credible job keeping the clues
and the complicated plot straight, but cliched prose ("You cut right to the center, like a hot knife through
butter. A woman after my own heart!") may be a problem for some readers. Few will eagerly await the
second volume. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Death Notice." Publishers Weekly, 9 Apr. 2018, p. 54. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A535099943/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0cfb7fe6.
Accessed 23 June 2018.
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Death Notice
Christine Tran
Booklist.
114.17 (May 1, 2018): p24.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
* Death Notice.
By Zhou Haohui. Tr. by Zac Haluza.
June 2018. 320p. Doubleday, $26.95 (9780385543323); e-book, $13.99 (9780385543330).
When Captain Pei Tao of the suburban Longzhou police is found crouched over the bloodied body of
Sergeant Zheng Haoming, Chengdu's most revered detective, he insists that the murder is connected to
Zheng's investigation of a notorious cold case. Eighteen years ago, Pei's girlfriend, Meng Yun; his policeacademy
roommate, Yuan Zibang; and a Chengdu police detective were killed by a vigilante using the
moniker Eumenides. Now Pei, after receiving a letter from Eumenides announcing that his "final act" will
take place soon, has come to Chengdu hoping to join forces with Zheng. Although reluctant to eliminate Pei
as a suspect, Zheng's commander, Captain Han Hao, allows Pei to join the new Eumenides task force. As
the task force scrambles to protect those targeted in Eumenides' proclamations, Pei and the team's criminal
psychologist, Mu, revisit the killer's first crime, revealing the dangerous competition between Pei and Meng
that spawned Eumenides. Zhou's story is thoughtfully constructed (and skillfully translated), balancing an
exploration of loyalty, jealousy, and the moral tension between law and justice with Pei's sharp observations
and gifted logic. This procedural, the first novel in China's most popular suspense trilogy, boasts the rich
cultural immersion, the bird's-eye view of procedural technique in an international police force, and the
complex mysteries that have long driven the popularity of Scandinavian crime fiction.--Christine Tran
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Tran, Christine. "Death Notice." Booklist, 1 May 2018, p. 24. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A539647207/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=db13d00e.
Accessed 23 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A539647207
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Haohui, Zhou: DEATH NOTICE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Haohui, Zhou DEATH NOTICE Doubleday (Adult Fiction) $26.95 6, 5 ISBN: 978-0-385-54332-3
An elaborately plotted thriller that explores the limitations of justice.
The murder of the legendary Sgt. Zheng Haoming of the Chengdu Criminal Police reopens an 18-year-old
investigation and resurrects a number of ghosts. First on the scene of Zheng's murder is Capt. Pei Tao of the
provincial Longzhou Police Department, who had an appointment with Zheng. Pei and Zheng have a
history that goes back to the police academy and a crime committed long ago by "Eumenides," a self-styled
avenger, and together they had been investigating the possibility that Eumenides has resurfaced. In Greek
mythology, Eumenides were the Furies, three goddesses of revenge; in their earlier appearance Eumenides
executed three victims. And Eumenides is back, as several victims receive a "death notice" listing the nature
of their crimes and the day of their execution. All are guilty of crimes that either were not, or could not be,
punished by conventional justice, and Pei and the Chengdu police attempt to both avert the fatal
punishments and unmask and apprehend Eumenides. The connections between today's police and the
original Eumenides' crimes are dark and twisted, and Pei has a role in both Eumenides' creation and the
present pursuit. Much blood flows, and many careers destroyed, before the Furies are dealt with. This is,
according to the publisher, the first of a three-part series; the end of this first part certainly invites
speculation about the future of several characters, and the dense plotting and exuberant bloodletting would
support several novels. But though individual histories and physical details clearly distinguish the
characters, the dialogue does not reinforce their variety. The story, set in present-day China, does not offer
much local flavor, and the generally homogeneous speech patterns contribute to a general flatness.
A complex exploration of crime and punishment that's not totally engaging.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Haohui, Zhou: DEATH NOTICE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532700571/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c24b4bd5.
Accessed 23 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A532700571
Review: Death Notice by Zhou Haohui
BY ANGIE BARRY
June 8, 2018
Death Notice
Zhou Haohui
Death Notice Trilogy
June 5, 2018
Death Notice by Zhou Haohui is a wild thriller and deadly game of cat-and-mouse, where an elite police squad hunts a manipulative mastermind out to publically execute criminals the law cannot reach.
Don’t you remember me, Student 8102?
Once the overture finishes, the first act must commence.
It has been far too long since the overture faded … But the day has finally come.
I can barely restrain my excitement when I think of the beautiful dance about to begin. Won’t you join me, my old friend? I know you’ve been looking forward to this for far too long.
I can see you reading this letter. You’re trembling with excitement, aren’t you? Your blood burns, and an unstoppable pressure is building inside you. I feel it, too.
I smell your eagerness. Your anger. Even your fear.
Hurry. I’m waiting.
An ominous letter, a horrifically scarred man, and a respected police officer brutally murdered—Death Notice pulls no punches straight out of the gates.
When Sergeant Zheng Haoming is found dead in his apartment, Captain Han Hao is determined to catch the culprit. The sergeant was a living legend and beloved mentor to scores of police officers—this crime hits especially hard.
The man who reported the murder is, naturally, the first suspect. But Pei Tao is himself a police officer, a captain stationed in Longzhou who was drawn to Chengdu by a taunting letter.
The why behind Sergeant Zheng’s death is connected to a cold case nearly two decades old. A monstrous set of crimes perpetrated by the same killer—one who has reemerged after so many years.
Without pausing, Han asked, “What happened eighteen years ago?”
“It’s classified,” Pei said, his expression grave.
“And you can’t tell me a single thing about it?”
“There was an investigation here in Chengdu eighteen years ago. The nature of this case was so disturbing that, in order to prevent a panic, it was classified at the highest levels. All investigative work on the case was carried out secretly, by a special group organized for that very purpose. However, their investigation was never concluded.” Pei regarded Han with a grudging look. “I’m sorry, but that’s all I can say at the moment.”
“The case is classified, and yet you seem to know all about it.”
“Don’t you see? I was … involved. This case was what made my career fall apart!”
When Han finally looked at Pei, his expression was mixed. He tried to keep his composure relaxed. “If you can’t tell me any details, then why are you here?”
Pei stared unflinchingly at the captain, and he enunciated each of his words carefully. “To beg you to submit a request to your superiors right away. I’m here so you will declassify the case, and re-form the 4/18 Task Force!”
The 4/18 Task Force has a formidable foe in their crosshairs: Eumenides, a shadowy figure who stylizes himself as judge, jury, and executioner. His return is heralded by a viral online post calling for “justice.” The public is free to post the names of people worthy of punishment—for thievery, rape, murder, or any other despicable behavior—onto an online forum. From the growing list, Eumenides will choose his next victim.
As Pei, Han, and the rest of the team discovers, their target is fully aware of their existence and eager to match wits. Each clue they follow leads to the next piece of the puzzle. Every move they make, the killer is a step ahead. To Eumenides, this is all a game.
But in Death Notice, the clever serial killer isn’t the only danger. The 4/18 Task Force itself is broiling with secrets personal, professional, and dark. Captains Han, Pei, and Xiong; Officers Yin and Liu; tech specialist Zeng; and psychologist Mu—all of them are hiding something from the others.
Will those secrets prove as deadly as the killer himself?
“No.” Pei turned to Han, and his expression hardened. “This is no misunderstanding. You told Mu to investigate me, too, didn’t you? How can I still be a suspect? There’s a murderer out there killing at will, and you’re sending two of our team members off on a wild goose chase. We need to stop Eumenides, not carry out internal investigations. A meeting like this one is exactly the time to bring it up.”
“Captain Pei, you’re right about one thing. I did order Officer Zeng and Mu to investigate you,” Han said diplomatically. “Sergeant Zheng is murdered, and we find you kneeling right next to his body. Then we learn that you were inextricably linked to the tragedies that occurred eighteen years ago. I’d be a fool if I didn’t investigate you.”
“I’m supposed to believe that’s the whole story?” Pei was now seething with anger. “Or was it that I questioned your authority and humiliated the man you sent to tail me? Tell me, Captain Han; what exactly has your investigation into me turned up so far?”
It’s abundantly clear why author Zhou Haohui is one of the three most popular suspense authors in China: Death Notice literally has it all. Dirty cops and noble cops. Tragic love and thwarted desires. A complex, clever villain playing a deliciously long game, whose victims are horrible people who almost deserve what they get. Government corruption, personal vendettas, moral quagmires, and tricky questions about justice. Grisly carnage as the crimes vary from explosions to stabbings, shootings to psychological, sacrificial traps.
This is no cut-and-dried police procedural. The third act is a maze of twists and turns, a jam-packed and adrenaline-charged race to the finish line that rewards the careful reader and surprises the most jaded of genre fans. Death Notice is the first in a trilogy that has already been adapted into a wildly successful online series, and while the final page provides some closure, it’s clear there are still questions left unanswered and a chase unfinished.
The hunt for Eumenides will continue, and you’ll want to rush out and pick up the second installment—just as soon as you catch your breath.