Wild Prey by Brian Klingborg

Published by Minotaur Books on May 17, 2022

Inspector Lu Fei of Raven Valley Township is incorruptible which, in China, is bad for a career as a government employee. Lu has thus been relegated to a small community where his talents are wasted. Lu begins Wild Prey in a marketplace, watching for a man who is wanted for selling black market products. The man has violated Chinese laws that protect wildlife by prohibiting the sale of animal products that, according to ancient superstitions, improve heath or virility.

Lu next deals with a young woman who reports a missing sister. The sister went missing outside of Lu’s jurisdiction, but Lu’s efforts to encourage an investigation by the correct authorities are unsuccessful. Lu travels to the city where the sister, Tan Meixiang, was last working. Coincidentally, she was employed in a restaurant that is suspected of serving dishes made from black market animals. The restaurant has a reputation for delivering other shady services to its exclusive clientele, but the owner’s connection with powerful people shields him from prosecution. The owner, Wilson Fang, flees from the premises during a shootout for which Lu will inevitably be blamed.

Lu’s unorthodox investigation of the restaurant leads to his suspension. At the same time, it attracts the attention of a well-placed individual in a shadowy government agency. He recruits Lu to act as an undercover operative, posing as a buyer of exotic bushmeat to infiltrate the seller’s facility in Myanmar. The assignment is dangerous; more than one person will become lunch for a tiger before the story ends. Fu believes that the assignment will lead him to Wilson Fang and might therefore help him discover Meixiang’s fate, so he accepts — not that he has much choice. The plot elements and many of the crooked characters come together deep the Myanmar jungle.

Wild Prey is the second Lu Fei novel. Lu is a likable character, a classic crime novel cop who refuses to play the game and whose career suffers because he places justice ahead of the career aspirations of his superiors. While Wild Prey treats the reader to a series of action scenes, Lu is also likable because he’s nonviolent by nature, preferring wits to weapons as problem-solving tools. Lu is nevertheless capable of holding his own in a fight, particularly when his life depends on the outcome.

Lu is pursuing a woman who operates a local bar. In his undercover role, he is expected to drink excessively and sleep with prostitutes. Avoiding the latter obligation is another test of Lu’s character. In the end, Lu’s character serves him well.

The familiar elements of police-based crime novels are freshened by the Asian setting and an atmosphere that emphasizes the customs and cuisine of both China and Myanmar. Brian Klingborn’s descriptive prose transports the reader to fascinating lands while he delivers the excitement and characterization that crime novel fans admire.

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