In the tradition of Gorky Park, John Gapper's new thriller takes readers inside the secretive and dangerous world of modern China, as a young woman makes a haunting discovery, €”one that forces her to choose between duty to her government and a desperate desire to learn the truth about herself.

This wasn'€™t just a body in a field. The corpse'€™s shape was hers, €”same length, same curves. Then she knew, and everything else receded to nothingness. All she could see was a woman with the same nose, the same eyes, and the same face.

Her twin.

As an up-and-coming agent of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, Song Mei probes political corruption, not mysterious deaths. But that changes when she arrives on the scene of a grim police investigation and is confronted with a crime, €”and a victim, €”impossible to ignore. Despite strict orders and even threats from superiors, Mei knows there can be no turning away.

Breaking protocol, Mei undertakes a covert search for the truth about the mystery woman'€™s death, €”and life, €”by following in her footsteps from a factory plagued by worker suicides to a luxury hotel dealing in high-end escorts to an American home haunted by tragedy. But when Mei crosses paths with an ex-CIA operative on a shadowy mission of his own, her personal quest takes a jarring turn into political and industrial espionage that pits both agents against the highest ranks of communism and capitalism.

Praise for John Gapper'€™s A Fatal Debt

Rarely does one read a first novel so self-assured, sharp, and compelling. It takes off like a rocket and doesn'€™t stop until its explosive conclusion. -€”Joseph Finder, author of Suspicion

An enlightening and grisly tale . . . tightly plotted and fast-paced. -The New Yorker

An ingenious thriller about the ruthless world of high finance. -€”The Washington Post

€œA fast-paced book that should entertain finance aficionados and fans of detective fiction alike. -Fortune

A neatly crafted and well-written thriller . . . an audacious, assured debut. -€”David Ignatius, author of Bloodmoney

€œ[Gapper] knows when to put his foot on the narrative accelerator. -€”Financial Times

€œIntriguing . . . suspenseful . . . a web of deceit and betrayal. -Booklist