A Death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Murder, Money, and an Epic Power Struggle in China Hardcover – April 2, 2013

I visited Chongqing last year and many of my friends asked me about the Bo Xilai scandal because they didn't have access to media reports. Not too many people believed in the government propaganda. I wish I had the book then. Bought the book last week. It contains an incredible amount of information about the case. I have learned so much about the Chinese political system. The narratives are quite compelling and believable. Some stories, like the Ferrari accident, are appalling. Overall, I think the authors are quite objective and non-judgmental in presenting each character. I really enjoyed it.

This book is compelling and detailed. An informative and amazing look inside the Chinese government, which is the ultimate big government state. It controls almost everything and corruption is rampant. In a one-party state, internal power struggles are necessary and constant and this book reveals how it is done. It shows that private enterprise gets its power from the state and without political connections private businesses have little chance to succeed. All power flows from the state. Those who favor big government should read it.You have to draw your own conclusions on what happened in this particular power struggle because there is a lot of misinformation from sources with their own agenda. Maybe there was a murder and maybe there wasn't, but it definitely served the purposes of those with ultimate power to conclude that there was, as it removed a powerful official who was considered to be a threat to the power of others. The bottom line is that legal investigations and proceedings are controlled by the state and the outcome of trials are predetermined. The process has no integrity and the "evidence" cannot be trusted.

Two Chinese journalists have chronicled the rise and fall of Bo Xiliai, a high level official in the Communist party. His maneuvering to gain power and ruthless use of people around him and greed led to his downfall partially by the betrayal of his police chief and the murder of an Englishman Heywood at the Lucky Holiday Hotel allegedly by Bo Xilai’s wife. Is is truly a suspenseful thriller and displays the ugly underbelly of the Communists Party in its palace intrigues and power plays. A brief outcome of the final judgment of Bo Xilai and his wife would be helpful for those not familiar with the ebb and flow of Chinese politics.

The backgrounds on Bo Xilai and other leaders highlighted in the book were interesting and informative. The exposure of the culture of corruption between government officials and favored business leaders gives great insights to the ugly underbelly of Chinese economic growth. The story of the cover-up, its unraveling and subsequent fall-out also made for good reading. Where the author and the book go off the mark is in the nature and number of speculations posed on who were the "winners" and "losers" of the affair in Part IV. That part of the book seemed forced. It was almost as if the author had to meet a page quota. A more succinct analysis of what subsequently happened in the leadership changeover and how the scandal played a role in this is what the book required.

A real eye opener. I knew, as everyone knows, that corruption is everywhere in Chinese government, but I had no idea how deeply evil this thoroughgoing police state is--where those in power imprison and torture the innocent and snuff out human life at will. A must read for an understanding of contemporary Chinese government. Fortunately, in learning, culture, and humanity, China itself is far deeper than the obscene amoralism of its political system as described here.

The book is well written. It begins like a thriller and transits into a more academical work nicely. I would have given a 5 stars, if it was not for the conclusion which, to my view does not match the rest of the book. Even the Chinese leadership knows that China will implode one day, this is not new, it is like predicting the end of the world. The question is: meanwhile what do we do? The answer is that we should stop projecting ourselves and play the mirror game with China. As the book says, Bo Xilai is not a case of corruption, it is the result of a power struggle, the main reason being that by our standards, China is not a corrupt country.

Armed with impeccable knowledge in the cultural roots and skillful composition scheme, authors' have wove a vivid political drama tapestry by using the threads of abundant up to date facts and rich Chinese history. The book is amazingly entertaining by those story lines. It's one of the well informative sources to realize China in depth.

I was recommended this book for its insight into modern Chinese politics. It delivered making it easy to understand the motivations of the various actors and factions present in modern China. While not always a page turner, it has an easy to read style that draws you in. The major negative is that this book was written as the ramifications of the initial crime were still being felt in China and thus is partially incomplete. Once you are finished with book - look up the main characters to see how the their stories end.