Jason Bourne meets John McClane in this electrifying Taiwanese thriller about a young special-forces sniper ordered to assassinate a high-level government official, and a seasoned homicide detective called in to investigate a series of grisly murders that lead to a criminal conspiracy at the highest levels of power.

Twelve days before retirement, Taipei police detective Wu is handed a curious case: a Navy officer has been found dead in his hotel room. While it is immediately apparent to Wu that the officer has been murdered, the military insist it was suicide and want the case closed with no questions asked. Soon, however, more high-ranking Navy officers turn up dead, and Wu realizes he has a full-blown conspiracy on his hands.

Meanwhile in Italy, Alex, a young Taiwanese sniper, ex-Marine, ex-French Foreign Legion, and currently a fried-rice chef in Manarola, is reactivated and called back into service. Ordered to assassinate a high-level Taiwanese government advisor in Rome, he soon finds himself on the run, hunted across Europe by his old brothers-in-arms.

Who is killing Navy officers in Taiwan? And who ordered the hit in Rome? As the body count rises, Wu finds himself in a race against time to solve the murders before his retirement, and Alex embarks on a journey back to Taiwan to uncover the truth about who set him up.

Inspired by the biggest military corruption case in Taiwanese history — the murder of Navy Captain Yin Ching-feng — The Stir-Fry Sniper is both a masterclass in thriller writing and a study of the heart of darkness in the time of war and peace.

Reader Reviews

Maddie

(4/5)

Nov 21, 2024

“The Sniper”, by Chang Kuo-Li, translated by Roddy Flagg at House of Anansi Press, is a Taiwanese political thriller. Inspired by true events in Taiwanese history, the story follows two protagonists whose initial seemingly unrelated stories cross paths in a web of secrets and conspiracies. In Italy, Alex lives as a fried-rice chef. He is, however, a former Taiwanese military sniper, and he is reactivated and ordered to assassinate a high-ranking Taiwanese official on a trip to Rome. Once he goes...

Iza Brekilien

Started a bit slowly but picked up before ending on a bang - review coming up !

Dan

My thanks to NetGalley and House of Anansi Press Inc for a copy of this international thriller. The Sniper is a Taiwan-based international jet setting thriller in the same style as 70's novels by Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsyth, with a healthy dash of Stephen Hunter gun lore and knowledge tossed in. On and lot about fried rice. The story is familiar, an assassin completes his assignment, only to find the victim is not who he thought it was, and now finds himself pursued by fellow snipers he

Kaye

The Sniper is an intelligent action thriller with bonus points for cultural and culinary content. Alex is a young, Taiwanese stir-fry chef, raised by an adoptive parent who trained him for the military from a very early age. Alex made it onto an elite sniper corps, then served a five-year term with the French Foreign Legion, before "retiring" to civilian life as a fried-rice chef.He gets a call from his original unit, reactivating him for an assassination. Once Alex carries off the assignment, i...

maskedbookblogger

Zuletzt erschien im Droemer Knaur Verlag der Thriller "Der grillende Killer" vom asiatischen Autor Chang Kuo-Li. Bisher habe ich recht wenige asiatische Thriller gelesen, sodass ich mich auf dieses Buch gefreut habe.Handlungstechnisch geht es um den Kommissar Wu aus Taipeh, der zwölf Tage vor seiner Pensionierung seinen letzten Fall bekommt. In diesem Fall geht es um den Suizid eines Marineoffiziers. Wu glaubt, dass es kein Suizid war, sondern eiskalter Mord. Als dann paar Tage später in Rom ein...

Peeters Pierre

(3/5)

Ik mocht dit e-boek lezen voor de FB Sterrenthriller Leesclub van Luitingh Sijthoff, waarvoor dank.Rechercheur Wu staat op twaalf dagen van zijn pensioen, wanneer hij wordt opgeroepen voor een zelfmoord van een marineofficier. Al snel blijkt het om moord te gaan, maar het leger wenst deze zaak snel naar zich toe te trekken en af te sluiten als zelfmoord. Maar dat is zonder rechercheur Wu gerekend.In Italië wordt op ongeveer hetzelfde ogenblik een hoog Taiwanees politicus door sluipschutter Alex

Kees van Duyn

De Taiwanese auteur Kuo-Li Chang begon al op zijn achttiende met het schrijven van romans. In zijn eigen land heeft hij meer dan dertig boeken gepubliceerd en enkele daarvan zijn bewerkt tot films of tv-series. Daarnaast heeft hij eveneens diverse prijzen gewonnen. Aanvankelijk begin hij met het schrijven van mysterieuze romans, maar later verlegde hij zijn aandacht naar de meer hard-boiled roman. De sluipschutter is zijn eerste thriller die in het Nederlands vertaald is. Dit Nederlandstalige de...

Horace Derwent

谍影重重+虎胆龙威？炒饭狙击手？[image error]

Annie Yotova

Detective Wu has only 12 days left before his retirement as one of the leading detectives in Taipei's homicide squad. So when a sailor is found dead, he hopes it to turn out to be an easy case - a suicide or a clear murder. And so it seems initially - until Wu looks closer and really dislikes what he sees. And does not appreciate the Navy pushing him to declare it a suicide. It gets even worse when another sailor is found dead and the homicide squad gets ordered to keep the two investigations se...

mark

(5/5)

Watch closely. Great book. Please translate more from this author!

Lauren

The Sniper by Chang Kuo-Li, translated by Roddy Flagg, is quite a different read than I normally gravitate to—but it’s Taiwanese author immediately attracted the attention of this half-Taiwanese reviewer. Described as a “Jason Bourne meets John McClane” thriller, The Sniper has none of the usual emotional weight or slow pacing that define the books I typically review. Instead, The Sniper offers an international adventure that provides the same sense of escapism as your favorite action movies.The...

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Popular Genres

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

The Sniper

The Sniper

The Sniper

More books from Chang Kuo-Li

炒飯狙擊手

Mörderische Aussichten: Thriller & Krimi bei Droemer Knaur: Ausgewählte Leseproben von Camilla Läckberg, John Katzenbach, Nita Prose, Mona Nikolay, Chang Kuo-Li u.v.m.

Reader Reviews