The Chinaman (original 1992; edition 1992)

by Stephen Leather

Series: Mike Cramer (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
173	7	157,440	(3.9)	1
Stephen Leather's BESTSELLING breakthrough thriller. The Chinaman understood death. Jungle-skilled, silent and lethal, he had killed for the Viet Cong and then for the Americans. He had watched helpless when his two eldest daughters had been raped and killed by Thai pirates. Now all that was behind him. Quiet, hard-working and unassuming, he was building up his South London take-away business. Until the day his wife and youngest daughter were destroyed by an IRA bomb in a Knightsbridge department store. Then, simply but persistently, he began to ask the authorities who were the men responsible, what was being done. And was turned away, fobbed off, treated as a nuisance. Which was when the Chinaman, denied justice, decided on revenge. And went back to war.… (more)

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Member:	jsmontover
Title:	The Chinaman
Authors:	Stephen Leather
Info:	New York : Pocket Books, c1992.
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
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Work Information

The Foreigner by Stephen Leather (1992)

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Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)

Like a few others, probably, I sought this book out after seeing the movie version, The Foreigner. It’s a good old-fashioned suspenseful revenge story. A rogue IRA unit conducts its own bombing campaign in London. Nguyen Ngoc Minh’s wife and daughter are two of the victims. He systematically wages his own crusade of revenge. Nguyen was a North Vietnamese soldier who came to work with the U.S. Special Forces and resurrects the skills he learned. It makes for an intriguing and well-paced story with some unintended consequences. (

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Hagelstein | Jul 21, 2019 |

So good. The movie was a pretty good adaptation of this novel. Really enjoyed it. Kind of thought-provoking. Good action, (

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Vulco1 | Oct 12, 2018 |

Good thriller. I read it after seeing the film "The Foreigner" so I would probably have rated it higher if I was completely new to it. However, Stephen Leather should be entered into the bad sex scene competition if he hasn't already as there are several qualifying scenes in this book. (

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basilisksam | Mar 2, 2018 |

“Yeah, The Chinaman. Only I’ve found out he’s Vietnamese, not Chinese.”

Just one of the many twists in this book! I picked it up after seeing "The Foreigner", the movie adaptation that just came out on dvd. Turns out, this is one of those rare times where the movie is pretty faithful to the book! Only, for me, the IRA plot makes more sense in the book, as it was written in 1992, as opposed to the movie, which seemed to be set in 2017. Nguyen Ngoc Minh is one hell of a character and I was rooting for him the whole way!

p.s. - I find it kind of strange that Mike Cramer is the character that gets more books! He literally comes into this story 26 pages from the ending, and has almost no impact at all. Weird. (

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Stahl-Ricco | Jan 26, 2018 |

Kisah seorang ayah yang menuntut bela atas kematian anak perempuan dan isterinya. (

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Tirana | Oct 26, 2017 |

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Belongs to Series

Mike Cramer (1)

Is contained in

The Chinaman [and] Hungry Ghost by Stephen Leather

Tango One | The Tunnel Rats | Hungry Ghost | The Chinaman | Dead Men by Stephen Leather

Has the adaptation

The Foreigner [2017 film] by Martin Campbell

Is abridged in

Short Fuses by Stephen Leather

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Canonical title

The Foreigner

Original title

The Chinaman

Alternative titles

The Foreigner

Original publication date

1992

People/Characters

Nguyen

Important places

London, England, UK

Important events

Related movies

The Foreigner (2017 | IMDb)

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

They made an odd couple as they walked together through the store, the girl and the old woman.

Quotations

Last words

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

Disambiguation notice

The Foreigner previously published as The Chinaman

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Original language

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Canonical LCC

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Wikipedia in English (1)

Stephen Leather

▾Book descriptions

Stephen Leather's BESTSELLING breakthrough thriller. The Chinaman understood death. Jungle-skilled, silent and lethal, he had killed for the Viet Cong and then for the Americans. He had watched helpless when his two eldest daughters had been raped and killed by Thai pirates. Now all that was behind him. Quiet, hard-working and unassuming, he was building up his South London take-away business. Until the day his wife and youngest daughter were destroyed by an IRA bomb in a Knightsbridge department store. Then, simply but persistently, he began to ask the authorities who were the men responsible, what was being done. And was turned away, fobbed off, treated as a nuisance. Which was when the Chinaman, denied justice, decided on revenge. And went back to war.

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