THE SNAKEHEAD An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream

A well-researched descent into the world of Chinese organized crime, THE SNAKEHEAD centers on the barbarous Sister Ping, who ran an international smuggling ring out of a noodle shop and ruled with an iron hand in the 1980s in New York City. The author reads his work himself, and it's a good thing. Keefe's voice is temperate but never monotonous as he describes the recently arrived Chinese immigrants, crammed 20 to a house, with nothing better to do than watch Asian martial arts movies and play video games before the sun goes down and they ply their ruthless trade. Similarly, accounts of boat people, jammed into shaky vessels to fester among one another, will make listeners recoil—but only at their horrific realism. J.S.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2009]