‘Taken as crime fiction, Sampson’s third novel is original, fast paced and clever: taken as a beginner’s guide to the enigma that is modern China, this is an outstandingly interesting description of life in Beijing from two utterly different angles . We see the busy, baffling society from the viewpoint of a Marlowe-style Chinese private eye, an honest, cussed altruist who deals equally with paupers and millionaires… In alternate chapters we follow a British woman journalist from ‘the corporation’ who endangers others through her naivety about what can and can’t be done in a police state The author lives in Beijing and was The Times correspondent there, so her own experience lends authority to a gripping mystery.’
– The Literary Review
‘Sampson’s storytelling is fluent and compelling and her characterisation rewarding…. The Pool of Unease is wonderfully atmospheric and evocative….’
– Cath Staincliffe at Tangled Web
‘An intricate mystery’
– The Sunday Telegraph
“This gripping thriller… is an enjoyable whodunit, worth reading as much for its intriguing picture of today’s burgeoning superpower as for the detective trail.”
– Gerald Kaufman, The Scotsman
‘A chilling thriller that will definitely make your blood run cold…’
– First Magazine
‘She allows the plot to breathe and gather momentum, creating a story that swims with imagination whilst also providing an intriguing window on a city and its people that are being forced to adjust rapidly to change. An ice-hot thriller to devour with your chow mein.’
– Paul W Smith at www.reviewedonline.co.uk
‘This is a fine thriller, in an unusual setting, and written by somebody who knows what she is talking about’.
– Judith Rhodes at Tangled Web
‘Oh, this is quite a story… The characters are all rounded, alive in your mind as you read… it’s the picture of a small boy sent to the city with his sister to earn some money who then sees his sister murdered that stays with me. It’s a book that stays in your mind long after you’ve finished reading.’
– Sue Magee at www.thebookbag.co.uk