THRILLER
The eleven orphans of Mrs. Li
Pascal Vatinel
FORMAT: 145 x 225
PAGES: 320
ILLUSTRATIONS: /
BINDING: Softcover
WORDS: 89 000 approx.
PRICE: 18 €
RIGHT SOLD: GERMAN
PUBLICATION DATE: March 2018
PUBLISHER: le Temps éditeur
The Work
In charge of protecting a 5-year-old orphan girl wanted by the police, inspector Wen meets Ms. Li, the director of an uncommon orphanage. A place that houses children whose parents have been sentenced to death: disgraced children casted aside by the society.
She agrees to hide little Wang Hua and in return, makes the police officer promise to investigate the recent and worrying disappearances of eleven of her protégés. Gradually found dead across the streets of Beijing, many of them are showing traces of Crystal in their blood.
This “happiness drug” causes devastating side effects that turn those who consume it into human bombs. Little present in China, it seems to be slowly spreading around the country via a network in whichmany children seem to find themselves drawn in.
During his investigation, Inspector Wen will discover that a strange link unites the orphanage with this criminal organization. But it is when little Wang Hua also disappears that the investigation takes on a whole new dimension for the police officer.
What dark secret hides behind the disappearances of the eleven children? And most of all behind the little 5-year-old’s disappearance?
The Author(s)
Pascal Vatinel is a renowned China specialist and 2013 winner of the Institut Français’, Prix Stendhal. As well as having published many children’s books for Actes Sud ed., he has written several detective novels, published by Rouergue. Repeatedly recognized for the quality of his work, he was the chosen author of the prominent radio station France Inter in 2012 and was selected by the Fnac bookshop in 2013 for his novel Parce que le sang n’oublie pas. He also won the 2012 Dérives de l’Orient prize for L’Affaire du cuisinier chinois. On several occasions, he has been a finalist for the Intramuros Prize as well as the Cognac festival of detective fiction.
Key Sales Points
– Short-listed for the prestigious Cognac Award for French thrillers.
– An exotic thriller that give readers a glimpse of the shadowy side of a still mysterious China.
– A breathless, skilfully managed plot from beginning to end.
– A multiple-award-winning author, recognized by publishers and critics for the quality of his work.