Tangled Web UK Review December 2000
The Skull Mantra by
Eliot Pattison
pbk out November 00
(Arrow)
at £5.99
A decapitated body is found by the prison work gang on a remote Tibetan
mountainside. The regional party commander Colonel Tan orders the temporary
release of prisoner and former Chinese investigator Shan Tao Yun and
instructs him to launch an enquiry. Shan is appalled. The last time he
tried to find the truth he was sent to the gulag. But he is not permitted
to refuse.
The headless corpse is identified as a Chinese prosecutor. The Buddhist
monks held in the prison camp believe the murder was committed by Tamdin, a
supernatural demon who is avenging Chinese persecution. They down tools,
risking torture and execution. Shan is desperate to try and unmask the real
killer and so avert the massacre of the monks.
As Shan tries to uncover the truth he has to untangle the political and
religious intrigue which involves an American mining project, Tibetan
sorcerers, corrupt Chinese Party officials, the Buddhist resistance movement
and secret monasteries.
The Skull Mantra is set against the memorable landscape of occupied Tibet
and the unceasing struggles of the Tibetan people against their Chinese
oppressors. It is an extraordinary debut, full of Tibetan lore and legend,
versed in the culture of Chinese Imperialism, with a setting so vivid you
can smell and taste it. Compelling, bleak and beautiful.
Manchester Evening News 24.11.00
(
Cath Staincliffe
- Author of the highly acclaimed Sal Kilkenny Mysteries set on the Mean Streets of Manchester)
