Books
Hour of the Rat

by Lisa Brackmann
Soho Crime, June 2013, $25.00

Tart-tongued, Iraq War veteran Ellie McEnroe proves to be a near-perfect tour guide to Beijing, where her business as an art dealer for Chinese political artists is thriving. Ellie loves the city, the country, the food, and all the quirks that come with living here.

But Ellie doesn’t love the smog, which can reach a level that can only be described as “crazy-bad.” And she especially hates the politics that often put her under surveillance because of her clientele. After the Chinese secret police invite her to “tea” to ask about her elusive ex-husband, Ellie decides a change of scenery would be good.

Fellow veteran Doug “Dog” Turner wants Ellie to find his brother, Jason, who was last in Yangshuo, “a major hub on the banana-pancake backpacker circuit.” Finding someone in a country as vast as China isn’t that difficult if the person is a Westerner, Ellie reasons.

But the search quickly becomes complicated. Jason, an activist, is hiding from shady Chinese and American businessmen and doesn’t know whom to trust. It doesn’t help that Ellie has to bring along her visiting mother, who shows no signs of returning to America, and her mom’s newly acquired Asian boyfriend.

In the second of this series, Hour of the Rat showcases an insider’s view of China and works as a character study of a woman who is equally tough and vulnerable. China is a country of contrasts, with crowded metro areas and lush countryside; economic inequality and the world’s largest IKEA store.

Brakemann mixes acerbic humor with a serious look at a veteran’s recovery. (Ellie, who often punctuates her sentences with curse words, is still contending with a leg injury that occurred during combat, as well as with war flashbacks.) Brackmann delves deep into Ellie’s psyche, showing the myriad changes she undergoes in rebuilding herself physically and mentally. Ellie finds being a stranger in a strange land suits her emotional growth.

Oline H. Cogdill

Tart-tongued, Iraq War veteran Ellie McEnroe proves to be a near-perfect tour guide to Beijing, where her business as an art dealer for Chinese political artists is thriving. Ellie loves the city, the country, the food, and all the quirks that come with living here.

But Ellie doesn’t love the smog, which can reach a level that can only be described as “crazy-bad.” And she especially hates the politics that often put her under surveillance because of her clientele. After the Chinese secret police invite her to “tea” to ask about her elusive ex-husband, Ellie decides a change of scenery would be good.

Fellow veteran Doug “Dog” Turner wants Ellie to find his brother, Jason, who was last in Yangshuo, “a major hub on the banana-pancake backpacker circuit.” Finding someone in a country as vast as China isn’t that difficult if the person is a Westerner, Ellie reasons.

But the search quickly becomes complicated. Jason, an activist, is hiding from shady Chinese and American businessmen and doesn’t know whom to trust. It doesn’t help that Ellie has to bring along her visiting mother, who shows no signs of returning to America, and her mom’s newly acquired Asian boyfriend.

In the second of this series, Hour of the Rat showcases an insider’s view of China and works as a character study of a woman who is equally tough and vulnerable. China is a country of contrasts, with crowded metro areas and lush countryside; economic inequality and the world’s largest IKEA store.

Brakemann mixes acerbic humor with a serious look at a veteran’s recovery. (Ellie, who often punctuates her sentences with curse words, is still contending with a leg injury that occurred during combat, as well as with war flashbacks.) Brackmann delves deep into Ellie’s psyche, showing the myriad changes she undergoes in rebuilding herself physically and mentally. Ellie finds being a stranger in a strange land suits her emotional growth.

Teri Duerr
3215

by Lisa Brackmann
Soho Crime, June 2013, $25.00

Brackmann
June 2013
hour-of-the-rat
25.00
Soho Crime