The only thing that makes a good mystery novel better is one in which the author teaches. You might learn how to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight or in the case of this one the cultural and religious similarities between Tibetans and Navajos. My only critique is the pacing of the novel is extremely slow; painfully slow, thus making a 5 star mystery reduced to a three star read. (

)

revslick | May 1, 2012 |

Another Shan mystery located in Tibet. Shan is summoned to a remote village to save an elderly monk. He finds murder, gold, a Chinese scientist and his nephew as well as a Navajo women tracing cultures of both Tibet and the Navajo. As always the reader is educated about Tibet and its cultures as Shan solves the case mindfully. Recommended

oldbookswine | Mar 16, 2011 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 2 of 2

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (1 possible)

▾Work-to-work relationships

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Series (with order)

Shan Tao Yun (5)

Canonical title

Prayer of the Dragon

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

Epigraph

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the Tibetan and Navajo peoples, who keep the mysteries of the human spirit alive.

Special thanks to
Matthew Woolford Pattison.

First words

Before bing condemned to the Tibetan gulag, Shan Tao Yun had never known there were so many ways of dying, so many words for death, had never considered how the wonder of death could be as great as the wonder of birth.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Publisher series

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary

▾Book descriptions

No descriptions found.

▾Library descriptions

"Shan Tao Yun is an exiled Chinese national, a former Beijing investigator on parole from the Tibetan work camp to which he had been consigned as punishment. While there he was befriended by unlicensed Tibetan lamas with whom he has been living, since his release, in a secret monastery." "Now he is summoned to a remote village to save a comatose man from summary execution for two murders. The victims' arms had been severed and borne away. Why?" "Shan discovers that the unconscious suspect is not Tibetan, as had been assumed, but Navajo, and that the recent murders are only part of a chain of deaths. Suspects include a prominent Chinese scientist and his would-be criminologist nephew, as well as the village headman, and the illegal miners who are camped nearby. Together with his friends, the unlicensed monks Gendun and Lokesh, Shan must solve the riddle of Dragon Mountain, the place "where world begins.""--BOOK JACKET.General Adult. Praise for the Shan series: "Nothing I've read or seen about how China has systematically crushed the soul of Tibet has been as effective. . . . A thriller of laudable aspirations and achievements."-Chicago Tribune "Shan becomes our Don Quixote. . . . Set against a background that is alternately bleak and blazingly beautiful, this is at once a top-notch thriller and a substantive look at Tibet under siege."-Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A rich and multilayered story that mirrors the complexity of the surrounding land."-San Francisco Chronicle "Pattison thrills both mystery enthusiasts and reader fascinated by, and concerned about, Tibet."-Booklist "Pattison has taken an unknown world and made it come alive."-Library Journal Summoned to a remote village from the hidden lamasery where he lives, Shan, formerly an investigator in Beijing, must save a comatose man from execution for two murders in which the victims' arms have been removed. Upon arrival, he discovers that the suspect is not Tibetan but Navajo.… (more)

» see all 2 descriptions