THE LAST MANDARIN is a gripping, high-octane rollercoaster ride as Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung keep the danger on the front burner with tension that doesn't abate until almost the last page. From the White House to Beijing, from noodle shops in Hong Kong to the necropolis of the first emperor of China, the jockeying between world superpowers is mind-bending. 

The main character is Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese American. Her mother, Vivien Li (not the film star), was one of the protestors during the historic Tiananmen Square uprising. She moved to the US and has been a vocal activist for human rights and a free China. She is also a thorn in the sides of the Communist party there. Vivien, as we find out, has the ear of powerful people, including the President of the United States.

Alice, on the other hand, is a food blogger. Her relationship with Vivien is distant, and she always feels as if she has disappointed her mother, although she wonders if Vivien even cares enough to feel disappointment. While Vivien is delicate, small and slender, Alice is not. She resembles her father with her round face and body. People note the lack of resemblance between her and her mother and often comment on it. That wounds Alice every time. Vivien values appearances, and her power suit is her silk Shanghai Tang jacket. It represents her place in the world, someone who is bright and respected and valued for her opinions.

Alice is having brunch with her mother when the alarms go off on everyone's phones. This is followed by fire alarms, and pandemonium ensues. People in elevators are frantic when the elevator alarms blare. Civil defense alarms and every conceivable alarm is shrieking as people frantically try to get out of buildings, while those outside try to get inside. Vehicles bang into each other as their alarms sound. Then, as suddenly as it began, all is silent.

Frighteningly, that occurrence has happened around the world, in every city and country, everywhere on the ground and in the air. Alice's brother, Kevin, and his husband, Paul, are at their mother's Georgetown home when the women return from the restaurant shaken. But almost immediately, Vivien tells Alice that she must accompany her. Alice asks where, but she doesn't respond.

"THE LAST MANDARIN is a gripping, high-octane rollercoaster ride as Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung keep the danger on the front burner with tension that doesn't abate until almost the last page."

A government car takes them to the White House, where Vivien clearly knows her way around. They are in a situation room with people questioning Alice about an email and a photo that had been sent to her before the alarms went off. Alice recognizes the Director of National Intelligence and is shocked when he asks her about Liam, her classmate at Columbia University, who is also a food blogger and friend. Alice has a crush on Liam, and he has asked to meet her when he gets to DC. The picture is of Liam on a ferry in the harbor in Hong Kong. It's unusual because he has never taken selfies, and the accompanying text doesn't make sense either.

The situation is unreal to Alice, even more so when she sees the Secretary of Defense at the meeting. They inform her that Liam is dead, drowned in the harbor, and their questions about him continue. The president enters. Alice and Vivien learn that the signal that set off the alarms originated in China. As Vivien is an expert on China and knows dissidents there, the officials are asking for her help. Since Alice was friends with Liam, they need her assistance as well. What's perhaps most frightening to everyone involved is that to successfully enact such a feat of technology --- alarms going off around the world --- the planning must have taken years, if not decades. What is coming next? Vivien tells the president that the only thing more frightening than the Chinese planning this is if they didn't, and some clandestine group is in charge instead. 

From that scene, the action ramps up as Alice decides to go to Columbia to see what she can find out about Liam. This leads her to Akron, Ohio, where he worked and where his family lived. There she finds what might turn out to be clues about what Liam was investigating in China. While there, she narrowly escapes being a victim to the next worldwide episode of planned terrorism. Untold numbers of people die, and others are merely injured, but the event causes worldwide panic.

When Alice returns to her mother's home, she finds out that Vivien has gone to China. She decides to follow. But she is kidnapped while in Hong Kong and is taken to China, where she and her mother begin their journey to discover who is at the center of the attacks. Only slightly less arduous than that task is for mother and daughter to figure out how to work together. From the start, we learn a lot about China's history, the Cultural Revolution, and the way that the current government is run. 

It's interesting to note how this novel differs from Louise Penny's Inspector Armand Gamache series. Penny's writing in those books is slow and gentle. There is no nonstop action as the story centers on the characters and the setting. Three Pines, the mythical Canadian village across the border from Vermont, is an idyllic small town where everyone knows each other. The pacing is about Gamache and the connections he makes with the people he encounters.

This novel, on the other hand, is plot-driven, and the action is intense. Those behind the attacks might be from China, but they have allies everywhere. The accomplices are those people whose “only allegiance is to themselves. To power. And money. They have no other loyalty. If they think doing business with China would be good for their bank accounts, they'd toss aside all human rights.” They are talking about the tech billionaires and wannabes --- those to whom money and power trump all human morals and democracy.

It's easy to see why the Penny/Fung partnership has resulted in a finely written thriller. Fung brings to the table her background in China, specifically Hong Kong, along with her knowledge of the complexities and brutality of war. Penny brings her ability to write almost poetic passages amidst otherwise brutal subjects. She has a knack for finding the beauty in people and places. 

Together, they have written a memorable novel about relationships and secrets. Vivien has many secrets she has kept from her family that come back to haunt her. There are secrets that Alice and Kevin carry. There are secrets about other family members, those from China whom Alice had never met. Then there are the secrets that the traitors carry, both in the US and in China. And finally, perhaps the most cataclysmic secret is that of an organization that has flourished, unseen and hidden, for decades. 

It's fascinating to see how Alice's relationship with her mother changes over the course of the story. First, Alice is intimidated by Vivien and her powerful aura. But as the action moves forward, she takes more control of the investigation as her brilliant mind, previously hidden beneath the weight of her insecurities, works through puzzles and mysteries, coming to a solution and solving problems. The evolving relationship between them is beautiful to behold and ultimately very satisfying.