• Skip to main content

Matthew Legare - Thriller Author

Website for Matthew Legare, writer of historical, thriller, and noir novels, including the Reiko Watanabe/Inspector Aizawa series set in 1930s Japan.

  • Home
  • Books
    • Shadows of Tokyo
    • Smoke Over Tokyo
    • Treason in Tokyo
    • Shanghai Twilight (Tom Lai Book 1)
  • Blog
  • Free Book
  • Contact
  • test email

China

Shanghai by Riichi Yokomitsu – a Japanese Novel of Interwar Shanghai

February 17, 2023 by Matthew Legare 4 Comments

Shanghai by Riichi YokomitsuShanghai between the world wars is a fascination of Westerns, the Chinese themselves, but also the Japanese. The zeitgeist of 1920s Shanghai is reflected in the appropriately named Shanghai by Riichi Yokomitsu.
[Read more…] about Shanghai by Riichi Yokomitsu – a Japanese Novel of Interwar Shanghai

Tagged With: China, Japan, Japanese fiction, Shanghai

Serve the People! by Yan Lianke Review

August 15, 2022 by Matthew Legare 1 Comment

Serve the People coverThe Cultural Revolution has been a taboo subject in China, but confusing and forgotten to Westerners. The political upheavals instigated by Mao Zedong between 1966-1976 were baffling to those who observed and participated. Mao ostensibly sought to create a new, permanent revolutionary China, doing away with old ideas, old customs, and old culture, but his main aim was to purge all political rivals and enshrine himself as a godlike figure, which somewhat continues to this day. It is during this tumultuous era, that the novel Serve the People! by Yan Lianke takes place.

[Read more…] about Serve the People! by Yan Lianke Review

Tagged With: Book Reviews, China, Chinese authors, Chinese History

The Bitter Peace by Philip S. Jowett – Conflict in China 1928-1937

July 15, 2022 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

The Bitter Peace by Philip S. Jowett

Chinese history has long been ignored in the West, but a few spotlights do shine out from time to time on certain events, even if only to provide superficial understanding. These usually point to the Opium Wars, the Boxer Rebellion, and, recently, the Sino-Japanese War. However, there is a small window of time in Chinese history that contained multiple smaller wars, which has almost been completely ignored by Western scholars. This brief era is what The Bitter Peace – Conflict in China 1928-37 by Philip S. Jowett illuminates.

[Read more…] about The Bitter Peace by Philip S. Jowett – Conflict in China 1928-1937

Tagged With: China, Chinese History, History, Military History

China’s Good War by Rana Mitter Review

August 21, 2021 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

China's Good WarWorld War II has been cemented of the national consciousness as a “good war” in the Allied nations – America, Britain, Russia – for decades now. However, the fourth major partner of the Allies – China – has only recently embraced this narrative and until fairly recently, even downplayed its importance. This shift is the crux of Rana Mitter’s new book China Good War. [Read more…] about China’s Good War by Rana Mitter Review

Tagged With: Book Reviews, China, History, Japan, World War II

Assassin’s Hood Review & Garrett Hutson Interview

July 18, 2021 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

Shanghai, 1935 – a Japanese sailor is gunned down in the busy streets, escalating tensions between China and Japan. Doug Bainbridge, an officer in the ONI – the USAssassin's Hood by Garrett Hutson Office of Naval Intelligence – is tasked to investigate. Joined by his friends, Doug is sucked into a whirlwind of intrigue, double-dealing, and espionage.

[Read more…] about Assassin’s Hood Review & Garrett Hutson Interview

Tagged With: Author Interviews, Book Reviews, China, historical fiction, mystery, Shanghai, Thrillers

Yellow Peril By Richard Jaccoma Novel Review

October 18, 2020 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

Yellow Peril Richard Jaccoma CoverOpium dens, seedy bars, and exotic jungles – all tropes associated with pulp fiction, specifically the yellow peril subgenre, which writer Richard Jaccoma uses in his appropriately named 1978 novel, Yellow Peril – The Adventures of Sir John Weymouth-Smythe.

[Read more…] about Yellow Peril By Richard Jaccoma Novel Review

Tagged With: Book Reviews, China, Forgotten Fiction, Pulp, Yellow Peril

City of Shadows Review & MJ Lee Interview

August 14, 2020 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

City of Shadows CoverIn 1928 Shanghai, a Chinese family named the Lees is brutally murdered while a disabled girl watches in horror, before falling victim herself. It’s up to Inspector Danilov and his sidekick Strachan to unravel this bizarre mystery. [Read more…] about City of Shadows Review & MJ Lee Interview

Tagged With: China, MJ Lee, noir, Pulp, Shanghai

Red Phoenix Review & Andrew Warren Interview

July 17, 2020 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

Red Phoenix is the second in the Thomas Caine series by Andrew Warren, filled with international espionage, intrigue, and some stunning action sequences.Red Phoenix cover [Read more…] about Red Phoenix Review & Andrew Warren Interview

Tagged With: Author Interviews, Book Reviews, China, Shanghai, Thrillers

City of Devils Review & Paul French Interview

June 19, 2020 by Matthew Legare 2 Comments

city of devils cover1930s Shanghai has long captivated people for its lurid underworld, usually presented in the form of the notorious Green Gang. However, there was a brief period in Old Shanghai where a new batch of gangsters rose to prominence, and their story is told in Paul French’s City of Devils.

[Read more…] about City of Devils Review & Paul French Interview

Tagged With: Author Interviews, Book Reviews, China, noir, Shanghai, World War II

The Jade Dragon Review & Garrett Hutson Interview

September 14, 2019 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

The Jade Dragon by Garrett Hutson is a murder mystery set against the backdrop of 1930s Shanghai. Full of gangsters, intrigue, spies, and politics, we follow the journey of one American determined to solve the murder of his friend.The Jade Dragon Cover

[Read more…] about The Jade Dragon Review & Garrett Hutson Interview

Tagged With: Author Interviews, China, mystery, Shanghai

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Copyright © 2023 · Author Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in