A bewitching, unpredictable spy thriller. A harrowing but noble love story. A mirror onto half a century of Chinese history – I have no doubt that this will become a classic.
James Kynge, Author, ‘China Shakes The World’
Listen to Adam Williams reading from The Dragon’s Tail
[audio:http://ia700409.us.archive.org/31/items/TheDragonsTail/Adam-Williams-Dragons-Tail.mp3]When Harry Airton returns to Mao’s China at the height of the Cold War, it is to exact his revenge on a regime that has exiled him and destroyed the country he knew as a child. The plan, conceived by a British Intelligence agent during the Korean War and patiently nurtured for 12 years, is fool proof, because Harry is the spy whose cover cannot be broken. He has the secrets China needs. Even the honey trap has been foreseen…
But not the bait. Innocent Ziwei, blackmailed by an unscrupulous Communist spymaster, has been told to seduce Harry by whatever means it takes, or her mother will be shot.
As the cynical machinations of two opposing spy services spin their deadly webs, two lovers find themselves faced with a terrible choice. Either way it’s a betrayal and sacrifice – of their countries or their humanity.
As China becomes engulfed in the horrors of the Cultural Revolution, and the world goes mad around them, Harry and Ziwei must contemplate the unthinkable to survive.
This is a magnificent climax to Adam Williams’ epic trilogy covering the history of modern China… An extremely well plotted spy novel…it is a great read with strong and sympathetic characters struggling to maintain their humanity in the midst of the terrible events which engulfed China after 1949. The sections relating to the Chinese labour camps and the bitter betrayals of the survivors… raise the novel into the realm of high literature. Many people will read this for many years to come to understand China better.
Jasper Becker, Author, ‘The Chinese’
The Dragon’s Tail is […] the best fictional representation ever of the June Fourth 1989 massacre by any author of any nationality. Williams achieves what no Chinese author has been capable of so far.
Michel Hockx, Professor of Chinese, SOAS, University of London
