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A DEATH IN THE LUCKY HOLIDAY HOTEL By: Wenguang Huang, Pin Ho
Murder, Money, and an Epic Power Struggle in China
PublicAffairs
April 2013
On Sale: April 2, 2013
320 pages ISBN: 1610392736 EAN: 9781610392730 Kindle: B00B6TVDEG Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
The downfall of Bo Xilai in China was more than a darkly thrilling mystery. It revealed a cataclysmic internal power struggle between Communist Party factions, one that reached all the way to Chinaβs new president Xi Jinping.
The scandalous story of the corruption of the Bo Xilai familyβthe murder of British businessman Neil Heywood; Boβs secret lovers; the secret maneuverings of Boβs supporters; the hasty trial and sentencing of Gu Kailai, Boβs wifeβwas just the first rumble of a seismic power struggle that continues to rock the very foundation of Chinaβs all-powerful Communist Party. By the time it is over, the machinations in Beijing and throughout the country that began with Boβs fall could affect Chinaβs economic development and disrupt the worldβs political and economic order.
Pin Ho and Wenguang Huang have pieced together the details of this fascinating political drama from firsthand reporting and an unrivaled array of sources, some very high in the Chinese government. This was the first scandal in China to play out in the international mediaβdetails were leaked, sometimes invented, to non-Chinese news outlets as part of the power plays that rippled through the government. The attempt to manipulate the Western media, especially, was a fundamental dimension to the story, and one that affected some of the early reporting. A Death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel returns to the scene of the crime and shows not only what happened in Room 1605 but how the threat of the story was every bit as important in the life and death struggle for power that followed. It touched celebrities and billionaires and redrew the cast of the new leadership of the Communist Party. The ghost of Neil Heywood haunts China to this day.
 Media BuzzMorning Edition - June 26, 2013 All Things Considered - May 26, 2013
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