A review of ‘The Shanghai Circle’ by a member of the Online Book Club on the 4th of November 2023

5 out of 5 stars

The Shanghai Circle: Chinese Circles Book One is a historical novel about multiple characters whose lives intertwine. The story is set when Japan threatened Shanghai. Joseph is a young man who dreams of becoming the leader of the Sung Triad Society, just like his father. After being initiated, he worked for the triad in Shanghai for a while before being sent to Hong Kong. Joseph became the leader of the triad in Hong Kong. He expanded the triad very fast without caring what his greed might lead. In the meantime, he also learned about the enmity between the Sung Triad and the Guest Company. Davina is the daughter of the owner of the Guest Company. Her father sent her to the best universities in Europe. This is because he wants her to be his successor. Thomas and James are young expatriates from Europe who came to work in the Guest Company. Irina is a young Russian woman who is drowning in debt after her parents died and left behind a colossal debt. To pay the debt, she involved herself with the leader of a Sung Triad Society.

This is a well-told tale of love, war, greed, power, betrayal, revenge, prostitution, drug use, and crime. I enjoyed reading the novel from beginning to end. Tony Henderson developed the characters well. Irina’s and Joseph’s characters developed the most. My favorite character was Thomas. I love how he showed interest in learning the language of the natives. I also like how loving and respectful he was towards everyone. My second favorite character was Davina’s father. He molded his daughter to become the leader of a large company in a male-dominated society. It was so brave of him to give his daughter the chance that no female had had before in their community.

The book was so good from beginning to end that I didn’t find anything to dislike about this book. I hope the follow-up is as great as this one. I can’t wait to see how the war between the Sung Society and the Guest Company will unfold.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. Everything about the book was great: the fantastic plot, the well-developed characters, and the simple writing style.

I recommend this excellent novel to people who enjoy reading historical novels. The book is a page-turner from beginning to end. I don’t recommend it to younger readers because of the explicit sex scenes in the book and other themes.