CHARLES PHILIPP MARTIN

EAST HELL

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ISBN: 979-8-89820-359-7
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Eleven-thirty p.m. is the sweet spot. Sidewalk traffic has dwindled, yet enough stray sounds persist to mask a scuffle. In Hong Kong, that’s as good as it gets.

A vicious and methodical killer stalks the back alleys of Hong Kong. The victims are Chinese and Western, all from different walks of life, their faces marked with a terrifying signature wound. For Detective Inspector Herman Lok, the case is more than a midnight horror; it’s a waking nightmare that mirrors the ghosts of his own past. To catch a vicious, calculating killer who slips through the city like smoke, Lok must navigate the shadows of a changing Hong Kong before the body count rises.
 

Are the murders the result of some madman’s deluded rage? Or does the killer have a very real and rational plan? In East Hell Inspector Lok confronts the question: what is real and what is imaginary in this city where people fear ghosts more than the man who wields the knife?

Hong Kong has its criminal underworld. But a deeper, darker underworld haunts the city as well.

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PRAISE FOR EAST HELL

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"The Asian Noir choir has a new lead singer. Charles Philipp Martin depicts the culturally complex and crime-saturated city of Hong Kong like no other crime novelist of recent memory. This is fine, fine crime fiction."

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— Ron McMillan, author of YIN ANG TATTOO and BANGKOK COWBOY

 

“An engrossing and macabre thriller of the highest order.” 

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— Gerald Elias, award-winning author of the Daniel Jacobus mysteries

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"Martin writes with the cool precision of a camera and the instincts of a crime novelist. Hong Kong comes alive on every page—crowded, dangerous, superstitious, and utterly unpredictable. A gripping piece of police fiction.”

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— Gabriel Valjan, Agatha, Anthony, and Shamus-nominated author of the Shane Cleary series​

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" A masterclass in atmospheric crime fiction. Set against the vibrant, tense backdrop of post-handover Hong Kong, East Hell features Detective Inspector Herman Lok—a deeply human protagonist haunted by the past and hunting a clinical killer in the present. With razor-sharp procedural details and a chillingly effective opening, this is a must-read for fans of gritty, authentic international noir. You won't look at a city alleyway the same way again..”

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— Les Bird, Hong Kong Marine Police (ret.) author of A SMALL BAND OF MEN​​​​​​​​​