Hong Kong Blues

It’s wedding bells for Megan Deschamps and Chris Girolami. She’s a Grammy-nominated jazz singer; he’s a Microsoft millionaire. They’re about start a fairy-tale life together by exchanging marriage vows on a fabulous yacht in Hong Kong harbor. Until someone drops by and really spoils the party. When the Hong Kong triads go after Megan and Chris, Hong Kong comes to life in Vic Warren’s latest novel. The Hitchcock-style thriller is Warren’s third book.

Four Stars!  Reviewed by Tina Stanciu for Readers' Favorite

 “Vic Warren’s third book, Hong Kong Blues, is a noir-style thriller which tells us the story of Megan Deschamps and Chris Girolami and their unique adventure in the City of Nights. We are first introduced to the characters at their wedding ceremony, taking place on a yacht in Hong Kong. The author tells us a little about the bride and groom; Megan is a jazz singer and Chris a Microsoft millionaire, and about how the couple met and fell in love. What started out as a beautiful story that celebrates love and commitment soon takes a noir film turn for the strange when a dying man falls out of a helicopter, and while he takes his final breath he whispers something to the couple. Those last words that they don’t understand carry an important meaning for the leaders of Hong Kong’s powerful Triads, as it turns out that the man was an important part of one of the organizations. At this point, you start to understand a little more about how the story will play out - everybody wants to know what the man said, from the police to the Triads, which puts the couple in a not so pleasant situation.

Although it uses some clichés throughout the story, Vic Warren did an excellent job with the descriptions of characters and places. Hong Kong Blues offered me an engaging reading experience and it made me feel like I was watching a noir film instead of reading a book. The ending was a bit expected, but that does not ruin the experience for you, especially because the plot and development are well organized, and the author knew how to keep the reader interested. I particularly loved the chapter titles; they are beautiful and I think that every one of them can make for an excellent book title.”

Vic Warren's third book is a Hitchcock-style thriller called Hong Kong Blues, which opens with a fairy-tale wedding ceremony being performed on a luxury yacht in Hong Kong harbor. Megan Deschamps, a Grammy-nominated jazz singer, and Chris Girolami, a Microsoft millionaire, are tying the knot. As the sun deck is cleared for dancing, and the couple steps out for their first dance, a helicopter passes over, and a well-dressed man falls to his death, nearly hitting Megan. Before he dies, he says something to the newlyweds. Hong Kong Police Chief Inspector Lawrence Kwong arrives to investigate and realizes that the dead man was Chen Zongze, a leader of the Four Prosperities society, one of Hong Kong’s powerful Triads, the secret societies that parallel the Italian Mafia. Now two important Triads want to know the dying man’s last words and will kill to get them.

ABOUT VIC WARREN AUTHOR OF SAFFRON, STAIRWAY OF THE GODS, HONG KONG BLUES, THE QUARTZ AND THE RIVER With a phenomenal career that started out writing and designing over 100 children’s books published with Scholastic and McGraw-Hill, as well as a Clio award-winning advertising career, Vic Warren was ready for a new writing challenge. His third novel, Hong Kong Blues, is a Hitchcock-style thriller about a newly-married couple being chased by two Hong Kong Triads, who want to learn the last words of a man who died in their arms. Early readers liked the characters so well that he has started a spinoff series called The Inspector Kwong Mysteries, and he has finished the first two books: The Quartz and The River. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Warren worked as an advertising executive in the travel industry for 30-plus years. He is a recipient of a Clio award and is best known for creating the Alaska Airlines Eskimo logo. His experience with Alaska Airlines opened many doors for him in the travel and tourism industry and he started his own company called Turning Heads. He also became a book packager, editor, designer and writer in collaboration with several illustrators, producing more than 100 children’s books. He attended the San Francisco Academy of Art, majoring in graphic design and art direction. Warren is an avid traveler to Asia, Europe and the South Pacific. In his first novel, Stairway of the Gods, Warren took the legendary story of Japanese officer, General Tomoyuki Yamashita—who is rumored to have buried priceless spoils of war in the Philippines just before the end of World War II—and turned it into riveting fiction. Warren’s tale of skullduggery unfolds on the slopes of the Banaue rice terraces when an earthquake reveals Yamashita’s treasure, and Joan and Paul Webster are stuck on the mountain. When Joan is faced with trying to keep the discovery secret, they find themselves confronted with deceit, betrayal and murder. His second novel is Saffron, a sci-fi adventure that reads like mainstream fiction and deals with the discovery of a race of underwater humans off today’s California coast. Saffron is the first in a new series of books Warren is calling The Neptune Chronicles. He is currently at work on The Fog, the third book in the Inspector Kwong Mystery series. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Laurel, and their three-legged cat, Oscar. To learn more about his novels, Stairway of the Gods, Saffron and Hong Kong Blues, please visit his website, The Art of Adventure, at www.vicwarren.com.