OAKES, Andy 1952-

PERSONAL: Born 1952; married; children: two. Education: Certificate in engineering; degree in psychology.

ADDRESSES: Home—London, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Overlook Press, 141 Wooster St., New York, NY 10012.

CAREER: Author and youth counselor specializing in alcohol and substance abuse. Has also worked as an engineer and photographer.

WRITINGS:

Dragon's Eye: A Novel, Overlook Press (Woodstock, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Andy Oakes's novel Dragon's Eye offers readers meticulous details of life in modern Shanghai. In the book, eight mutilated bodies, all chained together, are found in the Huangpu River. Senior police investigator Sun Piao and his assistant Yaobang ignore warnings that the killings are connected to powerful political figures. When his own supervisors and the medical investigator hinder his inquiry, Piao solicits help from Yaobang's brother, a young medical student, and discovers that the corpses are likely victims of the illegal organ transplant trade. Among the victims is an American archeology student; his mother arrives on the scene and becomes involved in both the case and Piao's personal life. The danger of pursuing the case increases when two men involved in storing and examining the bodies are killed and Piao is framed as a murderer.

Though reviewers felt that the book is a bit too long, they applauded Piao's character and the description of his surroundings. Fred Gervat remarked in Library Journal that Oakes has crafted "a rich, palpable ambiance" in a book that includes "several almost poetic passages." A Kirkus Reviews writer credited the author with a "a masterly depiction of modern Shanghai" and called Piao "an admirable hero." Dragon's Eye is a "melancholy, evocative" thriller, according to a Publishers Weekly critic.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2004, review of Dragon's Eye, p. 11.

Library Journal, March 1, 2004, Fred Gervat, review of Dragon's Eye, p. 108.

Publishers Weekly, November 17, 2003, review of Dragon's Eye, p. 38.

ONLINE

Triangle.com,http://www.triangle.com/ (August 26, 2004), Rod Cockshutt, review of Dragon's Eye.*