This was a great mystery with an intriguing plot. The characters are well developed and vivid and I loved the atmospheric setting.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I always feel weird reading books about journalists, like I hyperanalyze the voice as if it's making some kind of statement. I think that's honestly not an inaccurate way to think about it lol. This was well-written but tedious, which is exactly what you want to try not to be as a journalist. I don't know, maybe I'll revisit this later and enjoy it more, but for now, I DNF.

"On Java Road," by Lawrence Osborne, transports readers to an atmospheric world full of exotic characters. The story reminded me of some of F. Scott Fitzgerald's works, with its themes of idealism and disillusionment and Osborne's poetic and often melancholic writing style, but it's spiked with a twist of noir that added to its intrigue. The book's atmosphere is palpable from the very beginning, as the story opens in contemporary Hong Kong (replete with protests against the Chinese government and the old-line families' complicity in "not rocking the boat"), and the author does an excellent job of creating a sense of time and place. The descriptions of the city, its buildings, and its inhabitants are vivid, and readers are immediately transported into the world of the story, walking its streets in the company of expat Englishman Adrian Gayle, a journalist/flaneur who finds himself caught up in a web of lies and deceit that he knew he was participating in but found it most comfortable to ignore. The writing is often poetic and evocative, adding to the book's overall atmosphere, and the secondary characters are equally as intriguing as Gayle, as they are all playing a role in the transition of Hong Kong into a province of China rather than an outpost of Great Britain. They are all seeking (or avoiding) something--whether it's power, love, or simply a sense of belonging. Like the best noir books, "On Java Road" is full of secrets, betrayal, and danger; I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written, atmospheric novel full of mystery and intrigue.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hogarth for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

I was so profoundly moved by the message and plotline in this article and am seriously so thankful to Random House/Hogarth, NetGalley, and Lawrence Osborne for granting me access to this magnificent read before it was set to publish to the public. I always appreciate well-done literary fiction, and I definitely count On Java Road as a well-done publication.

This slow burn novel takes you to the streets of Hong Kong as students protest China's takeover of the city. Amid the tension between vocal proponents of the handover, protestors, and the vast majority of established Hong Kong residents who are afraid to express any opinion at all, sit the journalists and old time Hong Kong hands. Adrian Gyle, protected by his British passport, sees the end of his long stay in Hong Kong coming to an end, but he can't imagine life back in England. His friend, Jimmy Tang, ostensibly supports the regime change, but he is dating a young student protestor, and clearly moving his money out of Hong Kong. When the protestor disappears, Adrian becomes involved in investigating the mystery.

The mystery story takes a decided second place to the setting. Atmospheric and slow moving, this is clearly geared to fans of Graham Greene.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am sorry to say I was unable to force myself to finish this book. The premise was so intriguing, I was excited to dive in and follow the conflict from the ground with an added element of mystery and murder! That is not what this book contains. This book is dry, full of the sad musings of a middle aged journalist who leads a life he takes no joy in, and who really doesn’t expect anything better for himself. He is wandering aimlessly through his life, pretty much ignoring his job with the belief that the city will implode and it wont matter anymore? I can’t really tell. I read 57% of this book and was only getting a hint of the promised intrigue and drama.

I would loosely recommend this for fans of The Shadow of the Wind, another book I had to put down but for similar reasons!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group, for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review!! Because I did not read the entire book, I will not be rating or sharing this review on Goodreads, as is my general philosophy, but am happy to share this on NG, even though I fear it is too late for the needed revision for this book to be an actual mystery novel instead of whatever they heck it is.

This was pitched as a mystery, but the mystery is not the driving force of the plot. In fact, Rebecca doesn't even go missing in the first half of the book despite the reader being told that she will go missing in the summary.

This is much more a contemplative look on change and the political disruption in Hong Kong. Our protagonist, Adrian Gyle is an Englishman who has been working as a freelance journalist in Hong Kong for 20 years and due to the political situation is considering leaving. While I appreciated the look at the political climate and the variety of positions the characters (ex-pat and otherwise) took related to the politics of Hong Kong, I found it hard to pinpoint where in time we actually were. And from a quick skim of some of the other reviews I was not alone in that as some reviews claim the story takes place immediately post-Handover and some say Umbrella Revolution and some say the 2019-2020 extradition protests and a few say the 25th anniversary of the Handover, which was celebrated in early July 2022, which seemed the least likely to me as there were no mentions of Covid, which seemed to be a big reason why the extradition protests list steam. While some might have appreciated the timelessness of the setting (and in a way I did as well because it really highlighted all the complexities of the Hong Kong situation), for me the constant questioning of when we were really took me out of the story.

Overall, I thought this was incredibly well-written and it was an interesting look at how major changes can impact a person and a society. The depth and social commentary were the most interesting aspects of this story for me. I liked that we got to see how perceptions of Chinese actions towards Hong Kong changed depending on the individuals background and I liked that we got to see the public face and personal views of Hong Kong's elite. That being said, I don't think I could fully appreciate it because I was not expecting such a literary take on the situation.

I haven’t read Osborne until now and this was a fine introduction to the author.
On Java Road is a story of a British journalist whose career seems to be on a steady downward trajectory. It’s a story of a decades-long friendship hitting its largest snag ever, morally, ethically, legally. And most of all, it’s a story of a place on a brink of a radical change.
Adrian Gyle is an Englishman in a small faraway colony he’s come to love and call home for the past couple of decades, making a living by writing. It isn’t much of a living but then again, he doesn’t need much, and Java Road is cheap enough for him. Plus, he has his best friend, a local millionaire playboy who makes it possible for Adrian to experience all the finer things in life just by providing company, wingmanship, etc.
It’s a comfortable life about to be turned upside down through political and personal upheavals. And it’s told marvelously.
Osborne has that unique quality of a natural storyteller. There is a lovely rhythm to his narrative, a terrific elegance to his sentences – why, there are as elegant as a perfectly tailored suit and the analogy is apt for there is a strong (almost peculiarly strong) focus on sartorial matters in this novel.
And so, the characters come to life as you read this book…plus, you’ll always know what they are wearing and how good them look in it.
But more importantly so, the place comes alive. This novel is a stunning example of place as character and the author obviously sent some time there because he writes about it so vividly, with such attention to detail and colors, flavors, textures…it’s transporting. In a way only the finest literature can be.
This novel is, very much, a work of proper, fine literature. It’s a pleasure to read. And it has such a reasonable page count, demonstrating that the author likely knows he’s good at what he does but chooses graciously not to overstay his welcome. Will his protagonist overstay his in a place that may no longer be welcoming to his foreignness, ethics, morals, etc.? Read and find out.
Recommended. Thanks Nertgalley.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Random House Publishing Group- Random House and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Definitely worth the read.

Review was posted on my blog at https://www.thecuecard.com/books/lakeside-getaway/ on Sept. 19, 2022

This novel is set in Hong Kong around 2019 during the time of the unrest, protestors, and the Chinese crackdowns, which adds a large intrigue factor. The story follows Adrian Gyle, a British reporter in his 50s living on Java Road, who’s been in Hong Kong 20 years, as he finds his career on the way down and crosses paths with his old Cambridge friend Jimmy Tang, the son of one of Hong Kong’s wealthiest families. They are socioeconomically very different — Adrian was a scholarship boy in college from a place no one had heard of and Jimmy rich and foreign, but they bonded over their studies of Chinese poetry and language.

These many years later their friendship still includes a complex, enticing exchange of banter, privilege, and class, and at first you don’t know where the story’s headed. There’s a tense atmosphere on the streets of Hong Kong as those, like Adrian, side with the young pro-democracy protestors and others, like Jimmy’s shipping-magnate family, with the Chinese authorities wanting to put them down. Either way, many like Jimmy, see these protestors on a suicide mission and revolution will never happen in a hundred years.

Then Jimmy, who’s married, gets secretly involved with a 23-year-old-whip-smart protestor Rebecca To, whose wealthy family the Tangs have long known. Adrian also seems drawn to Rebecca, and you wonder if he will get involved with her, but then Jimmy’s affair with Rebecca suddenly gets exposed and she goes missing. Soon Adrian begins trying to find her and to investigate if Jimmy had anything to do with her disappearance.

It’s a slow-burn, intricate story that poses questions about their friendship, trust, and life in Hong Kong. This was my first novel by this author and I was impressed by how much the Hong Kong setting and the main character’s struggling moral compass become apart of the story. You have to be a bit patient letting it meander and unwind where it wants – but those who like foreign-based novels with some intrigue I think will be well-rewarded in the end. I was caught up in it and hope to read more of Osborne’s books set in other far-flung places. Currently he’s based in Bangkok and seems like one of smartest novelists we have writing today.

Lawrence Osborne has an uncanny ability to write immersive novels about Americans or Brits who end up facing moral dilemmas in exotic locations far from home. That location itself – Bangkok in his last book, The Glass Kingdom and now Hong Kong in On Java Road – becomes a character in its own right, rich with lush details and fragile melancholy.

Here, the narrator is Adrian Gyle, a not-to-well-known reporter, who has reached the pivotal age of 50 and perceives that he casts no shadow on the sidewalk. Although he has spent the last few decades filing freelance stories, he has begun to recognize that Hong Kong is declining, and its moral ambiguity is becoming more and more pronounced.

Take his old Cambridge friend, Jimmy Tang, for instance. Jimmy comes from a dynasty of shipping magnates, drinks the best liquors and has a particular passion for luxe suits that he freely buys for his himself and Adrian. Adrian witnesses all his excesses, including his married friend’s new “toy”, a young woman half his age, also from a prestigious family, who is part of the student rebellion.

When the young woman – someone Adrian imagines himself with if he were younger and in a better socioeconomic status – disappears, Adrian discovers that the unrest that permeates his adopted city also permeates his own being. Is his long and loyal friendship with Jimmy – which is repaid by access to some of the most connected parts of Hong Kong society – worth turning a blind eye on his excesses…particularly if the excesses might have led to foul play? And has he also been turning a blind eye to the ideals of democracy and free press, which are overtly occurring in Hong Kong and perhaps less overtly, in the U.S. and Britain? Can he, in fact, stand up for himself and for what’s right or is the price too high?

The pace of On Java Road is languid and Lawrence Osborne takes his time getting to the crux of the story, and deliberately keeps the ambiguity going. Put another way, his aim is not to provide answers but instead to pose questions. The book affirms for me once again why I am a big Lawrence Osborne fan. Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.

Adrian Gyle was a journalist in Hong Kong in a time when protests against the Chinese government were heating up. He held a privileged position with ties to some wealthy families left over from his days at Cambridge and his friendship with Jimmy Tang. The book is an examination of the conflict between the government and the protesters, Adrian and Jimmy, the wealthy and the poor, and the young and the old. Adrian also was conflicted over what was true and what was imaginary.
We learn a lot about Hong Kong and are treated to descriptions of various places in and around the territory. The descriptions of Adrian's desire to fit into the local society could be echoed by immigrants the world over. He also knew he would never be part of Hong Kong as he wished. His only real tie to the society was Jimmy and that tie was severed when Jimmy's girlfriend, Rebecca, disappeared. Finding her or figuring out what happened to her became an obsession with Adrian.
I found the book a bit repetitive and Adrian was somewhat boring in his failure to take charge of his life and actually do something worthwhile.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. The opinions expressed are mine and I was not compensated for them.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. I found the story unnecessarily predictable, melancholy and fussy at the same time. I did not like the characters or the narrative. Thank you for the opportunity.

On Java Road by Lawrence Osborne is a great historical fiction that I really enjoyed.

I really liked the balance between the mystery, suspense, intrigue, and historical fiction components. The plot and narrative were paced appropriately throughout so that I was compelled to turn each page.

The backdrop of Hong Kong, for me at least, kept things unique, interesting, and I actually learned a few things about the historical aspect of the handover and China. Definitely gripping.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and Random House for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 8/2/22.

Set in Hong Kong during the riots that developed around the Chinese takeover. Two men, a British journalist and a wealthy Hong Kong citizen, develop a friendship during their university days. They remain friends until one of them is involved in a scandal that tears them apart.

The novel includes vocabulary in Mandarin and Cantonese, along with mention of Asian foods as many get-togethers in restaurants are mentioned. The rioting in Hong Kong was what drew me to the story, but not enough was written about the events. Halfway through, the story got interesting for me, though, and I read to the end, hoping to learn what happened between Rebecca and Jimmy.

Friendship, betrayal, and political upheaval collide in this novel set in Hong Kong. Adrian, a poor British boy, and Jimmy, scion of a wealthy Hong Kong family, met and bonded at Cambridge where they shared a love of Chinese poetry. Now, years later, Adrian is living on the margins and working as a journalist while Jimmy has grown even richer. Then Jimmy wraps Adrian into his affair with Rebecca, a 23 year old student who has been protesting in the streets to a predictably disastrous end. No spoilers from me but you, like me, might see what's coming. Osbourne has done a good job of Hong Kong and I especially appreciated that he took the characters outside of Central. This may well remind you of Graham Greene but Osbourne has his own rhythm, as does Hong Kong. You'll feel the humidity. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

In terms of genre, Lawrence Osborne's On Java Road is a mystery novel, but in my experience as a reader, the mystery didn't drive the novel. What kept me reading was the exploration of the effects on different communities of the British return of Hong Kong to China. The book is set several years into that process when younger Hong Kong residents are demonstrating for democracy and the Chinese government is beginning the crackdown it had promised Britain wouldn't happen.

The central characters are Adrian Gyle, an aging British journalist and long-time ex-pat, and Jimmy Tang, a member of Hong Kong's wealthiest classes. The two became friends during their college years in Britain and have a pleasant, if imbalanced, relationship years later in Hong Kong. Jimmy's wealth leaves Adrian, not dependent on Jimmy, but aware of his own, much narrower world. The two meet for lunches and dinners. Jimmy occasionally treats Adrian to a bespoke suit he'll have no occasion to wear and introduces Adrian to some of his many paramours.

The mystery plot focuses on the death of Jimmy's latest flame, Rebecca, who was a student activist about thirty years younger than him. Ostensibly she committed suicide, but at the moment staged suicides are one of the ways police are eliminating student activists and Jimmy may have his own reasons for wanting a an unequivocal end to the relationship. As Adrian investigates Rebecca's death, his relationship with Jimmy becomes increasingly strained.

But as I said, the real heart of the novel for me was its temporal setting. Adrian has his British passport and is wondering when or if it will become advisable for him to leave Hong Kong as the violence and press crackdown worsen. In order to protect his and his family's wealth, Jimmy has to offer visible, if token, support for the Chinese regime, while determining how soon he will have to leave Hong Kong and how he will protect his wealth. A pair of Adrian's friends, jaded reporters who see the Chinese absorption of Hong Kong as inevitable and not necessarily bad, add another interesting perspective to the mix. Finally there are the Chinese students protesting and residents of Hong Kong who welcome mainland control and attack those they see as insufficiently committed to the national government.

Osborne has a gorgeous prose style that evokes his settings with precision and affect. In other words, even though the mystery may not carry the novel, Osborne keeps readers engaged regardless.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.

I love the cover of this book, and thought the blurb sounded pretty noir (which I love!) I think I was wrong in that assumption, and that probably set me up to not like this as much as I would have otherwise. Others will enjoy this though!

There’s no Lawrence Osborne book that I didn’t absolutely love, and this one is no exception. His writing is urbane, mercurial, and atmospheric—compellingly noir. As a British ex-pat residing in Bangkok, Osborne’s Asian settings for his novels are enveloping and alluring. His characters are typically lurid or naïve ex-pats themselves, and often deeply flawed in that alien culture way that gets them in trouble. ON JAVA ROAD is centrally about a friendship between a British journalist, Adrian Gyle, who has lived in Hong Kong for decades (he calls himself a hack), and his good friend, Jimmy Tang, a wealthy local elite. In Osborne’s usual measured voice and tone, a disappearance interferes, or threatens to interfere, with their friendship. What I enjoy so much about this writer is how the language itself tells the story.

Student protests against the extradition bill point the way to the darker side of Hong Kong politics. Drian is covering some of these protests, and meets a rebel student half his age who is dating the married Jimmy. Adrian is intrigued by this woman, who is independent and unthreatened by Jimmy’s marital status and unimpressed by his wealth. However, when Tang’s power and potential betrayal comes knocking on Gyle’s door, Adrian’s investigative skills and inclination to delve further into sinister undercurrents in the city bring him to a precipice in his relationship with Jimmy.

I was immediately installed in Osborne’s rich and textured tale, and, as usual, riveted by the moody and sensual narrative. I read him for the prose as well as the story. “…I wondered just how fully I understood the tight-knit warp and weave of a society like Honk Kong: incestuous, gossipy, given to rumors and backstabbing, its money all wrapped up in a few clans, always ready to flee to foreign parts if the going gets rough.” Mmm…tasty from start to finish.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for sending an early copy for review.

Lawrence Osborne once again inhabits the mantle of Graham Greene. On Java Road has more than the usual infusion of historical interest against observance of the current condition, in this case, the state of Hong Kong on the 25th anniversary of the handover which has caused disruption and citywide unrest. Old hand journalist Adrian Gyle, who has covered HK for over 20 years, met Jimmy Tang while both were students in England. Jimmy, scion of a billionaire family insists on lavish lunches, rare wines, and furnishing Adrian with (unwanted) sartorial delights, and it is their "friendship" that fuels the narrative. Imbued with Osborne's trademark atmospheric pall, the reader gets more than bargained for thanks to an insider's knowledge of HK and how its elements clash and coalesce. I'll read anything he writes.