Format: Hardback, 432 pages. Category: Fiction. ISBN 978-988-14105-3-5
OUT OF PRINT
Murong’s first English-language book in six years is a panoramic novel of patchwork brilliance, relentless energy and dark humour – a gripping thriller that delves into the secretive world of China’s legal system. Lawyer Wei Da destroys evidence, hides his assets and plans to flee China. About to escape, he is incarcerated in the horrific Cao River Remand Centre. The worst of human nature is exhibited here and even as Wei Da tries to atone, the day of his execution encroaches. The novel was subjected to extensive cuts in China, with the publisher forced to close within months.
Even by his own controversial standards, Murong breaks new boundaries with Dancing Through Red Dust, a fictional representation of the country’s justice system and prisons.
Murong spent 12 months painstakingly researching the novel. During his investigations, he discovered shocking revelations about alleged corruption and brutality at the heart of the Chinese state.
Scenes in the novel describe:
- That justice in China can be bought with bribes and kickbacks
- The sickening extent of prison brutality
- How death row inmates are forced to become organ donors to avoid organ harvesting laws
- How death sentences are traded for favours.
Despite the dark subject matter, Murong’s talent as a humourist shines through as corrupt lawyer Wei Da is exposed to all manner of lowlifes, including colleagues using bribes to clear their wealthy clients and deviant judges demanding sexual favours.
But as his execution date nears, will he find redemption, and love, before it is too late?