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Amazon.co.uk Review
Eleven years ago, Stone kicked to death the bodyguard of Shooter, the man who had slashed his mother's face. Offending the gangster who runs Hull's underworld is not the way to have a nice time in jail and the disfiguring tattoos on Stone's face were no more his choice than the gang rapes. He wants revenge on Shooter as much as he wants a life that bears some relation to normality. Then he finds Ginny unconscious on the steps of his apartment and takes her in as much to protect himself from the law as for any other reason. She is in Hull from California looking for her best friend, Juliet, who has disappeared, and has been attacked for asking questions. Ginny's quest becomes his, both because he comes to love her, and because he suspects that neither disappearance or assault could have happened without Shooter's being in some way involved. Baker's intense psychological thriller takes us to the inside of Stone's head, and explores a violent man who is trying to change and to cope with more damage than is quite survivable. Its intense plotting, and real sense of evil, has room for passionate romance and some entertaining family comedy. --Roz Kaveney

Product Description
The new tattoos on his face - they held him down in the nick and did them for him - make Stone look like a scary individual. People give him a wide berth. But he's trying to rebuild his life, he really is. But the battered Asian girl - she turns out to be Vietnamese - he finds in the doorway of his basement flat drags him straight back to the old world. She's come to Hull - Hull! - from California, looking for her best friend, who has vanished after her letters suddenly stopped. She's beautiful, this Ginny, and Stone is, deep down, kind, so yes, he'll help. But soon, he's right back in among the vicious lowlife of this city of docks and the opportunities they provide. Before long the terrible truth begins to emerge... Highly acclaimed for his York-based Sam Turner series, John Baker strikes out on a different tack with The Chinese Girl - different, but equally brilliant.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: an ultimately uplifting novel which is refreshingly original, 6 Jun 2001 By A Customer This review is from: The Chinese Girl (Paperback) After an eleven year stretch Stoner Lewis has been out of jail for a few weeks and is trying to adjust to the world outside. Home is Hull, where the docks provide plenty of opportunities for criminal undertakings and Stoner knows some of the lowlifes only too well. But he's keeping well away from trouble and keeping an eye out for his mother, Sally and his aunt Nell who live nearby. Coming home from the pub one night he finds a beautiful Chinese girl, beaten-up and unconscious in the doorway of his basement flat. He takes her in and looks after her, finds out that she's come all the way from California to look for her friend whose frequent letters suddenly stopped arriving. Stoner agrees to help but before long the search brings them up against the violent psychopath who has the neighbourhood stitched up and a nasty line in henchmen and guard dogs. Baker creates an affectionate portrait of a man trying to stay on the straight and narrow after years banged up and of a man falling in love. Although The Chinese Girl contains some grisly and harrowing elements, the importance of dreams, the strength of love and the humanity of the characters create an ultimately uplifting novel which is refreshingly original and a