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The Expat: A Novel Hardcover – July 2, 2024

by Hansen Shi (Author)
Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
See all formats and editions
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A fresh and vivid new voice brings a contemporary edge to the classic espionage novel.

At twenty-six, Princeton grad Michael Wang is trapped. Stifled under the bamboo ceiling at General Motors, he’s working quietly on a breakthrough in self-driving car technology that he hopes will catapult him out of obscurity. Disaffected and largely friendless in San Francisco, he’s dogged by resentment towards the Ivy Leaguers who never accepted him and his colleagues at GM who see him as passive and faceless.

But all that changes when one night, on a freelance coding platform, he meets the beautiful and enigmatic Vivian. She’s been admiring Michael’s work from afar and represents a rival Beijing tech company that’s eager to poach him as a newly minted executive, liberate his ideas from the stagnant confines of GM, and help him find success in the wilder, less regulated business environs of China.

For Michael—alienated and underappreciated—it’s no choice at all. But as soon as Michael arrives in Beijing, Vivian vanishes. When the true nature of his new position is made clear, Michael finds himself enmeshed in a dangerous web of industrial espionage and counterintelligence. Caught between two countries that view him as a pawn, where do his loyalties lie?

Piercingly intelligent and ruthlessly contemporary, The Expat is both a white-knuckle spy novel and a thrilling exploration of the myth of meritocracy, high-tech immigration, U.S.-China conflicts, identity, and disaffection that asks: in the pursuit of self-actualization, who will we betray and how far will we go?
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  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Pegasus Crime
  4. Publication date
    July 2, 2024
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1639366776
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1639366774
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

Praise from NPR

Praise from Zia Haider Rahman

Praise from Tony Tulathimutte

Praise from Paul Yoon

Praise from Ju Yon Kim

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Expat by Hansen Shi is narrated by Michael Wang, the American-born son of Chinese immigrants. The hero of Mr. Shi’s assured debut gets thrust into a treacherous game of geopolitics." -- Wall Street Journal

“The main character in Hansen Shi's excellent debut spy novel is an alienated young man named Michael Wang. He’s a first generation Chinese American a few years out of Princeton who’s hit the bamboo ceiling at General Motors in San Francisco, where he’s been working on technology for self-driving cars. Enter a femme fatale named Vivian who flatters Michael into believing that his brilliance will be recognized by her enigmatic boss in China. Once Michael settles into life in Beijing, however, he realizes he’s been tapped, not as a prodigy, but a patsy. I wanted this moody espionage tale to go on longer.” -- Maureen Corrigan, NPR

“In the complex figure of Michael Wang, Hansen Shi has found a character embodying major concerns of the 21st century, from the challenges of class injustice to the rapaciousness of corporations, from the dizzyingly rapid rise of China to the tightening grip of technology on modern life. Calling to mind Grahame Greene and John le Carré's later work, this riveting spy yarn deftly examines the interplay of political history and inter-generational trauma and humiliation. A magnificent debut.” -- Zia Haider Rahman, author of In the Light of What We Know

"Relentlessly intelligent and global in scope, The Expat has the electric hum of a long spring stretched tight. The concerns—authentic existence in a hyperreal economy and physical survival—put Hansen Shi in the company of Tom McCarthy and Nick Harkaway. Thrillingly ambitious!" -- Will Chancellor, author of A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall

“Hansen Shi’s debut uses a taut, piercingly of-the-moment spy story as a staging area for a beautifully layered, bitingly funny exploration of identity, the legacies of trauma and alienation, and the way that nations and the clashes between them can consume and co-opt every corner of a life. THE EXPAT is pure espionage pleasure but also an enthralling dispatch from a world scarred by seething, barely submerged conflicts, both ideological and personal. A triumphant first novel.” -- Paul Yoon, author of Run Me To Earth and The Hive and the Honey

"In The Expat, Hansen Shi vividly reimagines the figure of the Asian American spy as a disaffected tech worker, offering an urgent, contemporary twist on a character that has inspired such authors as Suki Kim, Chang Rae Lee, and Viet Thanh Nguyen. Shi's novel is as smart as it is engrossing, deftly melding the intrigue of the espionage thriller with a haunting exploration of the seductions and the disappointments of national and ethnic affiliations."

-- Ju Yon Kim, Harvard University, author of The Racial Mundane

"The Expat is, for starters, a first-rate novel of modern spycraft, complete with honeypots, dark web recruiters, triple agents, and international proxy wars. But it's also a brilliant novel about a certain brand of Asian-American thwartedness—how the thirst for recognition can make you vulnerable to your own self-mythology, and how people who are denied visibility may exploit their invisibility. Like a Tesla, The Expat is sleek, fast, and unexpectedly deadly, and Hansen Shi's talent is so giant that it's a bit suspicious... I wonder who he's working for?" -- Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection and Private Citizens

About the Author

Hansen Shi is a writer and technology investor. He studied literature at Harvard College where he was on the Fiction Board of the Harvard Advocate. He currently works as a venture capitalist in New York City.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pegasus Crime (July 2, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639366776
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639366774
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

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Hansen Shi

Hansen Shi

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A thought provoking story
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2024
Verified Purchase
People love seeing other people fail and get punished. Then they fall back on tropes about treason and betrayal to morally justify their hatred.
However, when you look at it from the standpoint of knowing how they feel, and you see the characters side of the story, it’s not so easy to dismiss them.
What I liked about this book isn’t so much what happened to the main character, but how all the other people who were brought down had lives and dreams and were beat down by a messed up corporate culture. The story showed them as people who got used first by their companies, then by two countries instead of just greedy traitors.
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J
5.0 out of 5 stars Unputdownable
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
Richly researched and deliciously addictive read - engrossed from the first page, I finished it in one day over the course of two (edge of my seat) sittings. Very much looking forward to what this rising star has in store for the future, and will be watching his inevitably bright career with great interest.
One person found this helpful
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Mani Pavuluri
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible debut book – perfect fun summer read
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
Really fun book to read that I couldn't put down. If you're in tech, a recent college grad, interested in china-us dynamics or really the overall immigrant experience of being on inside but not quite the inside, this is a great read. Highly highly recommend.
One person found this helpful
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DF
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book - gripping, complex, and thoughtful
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2024
Shi has put together a phenomenal first novel. You find yourself both detesting and rooting for the main character at various points. Complex dialogue sings out and binds all the characters together.
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CRZ
5.0 out of 5 stars "Ex"traordinary read
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2024
A good fiction novel builds a wonderful world; a great fiction novel places you in the middle of a mysterious world and moves you through it at a pace leaving you eager to explore more. The details are here, and those details matter: the energies, neighborhoods, and even delivery apps of the various cities indicate a mix of dedicated research and fond, lived experiences.

As the author, Hansen expertly and seamless captures Michael's flow of emotions, sensations, and even capturing the experience of quickly Googling something that you're not too sure of. All of this makes for a page turning, "ex"traordinary read.
One person found this helpful
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DK
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book of 2024
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2024
The author intricately weaves the protagonist's emotions, deeply entangled in the dynamics of family, friends, and love, with the exciting storyline that unfolds throughout the book. This meticulous unraveling of the protagonist's inner world is executed with great care and attention to every sentence. Despite being an unorthodox protagonist with many flaws, Michael completely captivates readers by the end of the book, and the overall narrative framework is elegantly crafted, making for an effortlessly engaging read.
One person found this helpful
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