Book Review: The Water Rat of Wanchai - Ian Hamilton

 

 

The Water Rat of Wanchai (2011)
Ian Hamilton

The Water Rat of Wanchai is the first book in Ian Hamilton’s Ava Lee series, currently at 6.5 titles and counting. The Water Rat introduces the protagonist, a butt-kicking 115 lb. Chinese-Canadian accountant who lives in Yorkville named Ava Lee.

Ava Lee is quite the accomplished lady: a Havergal graduate; the master of a rare and secretive martial art (bak mei); a forensic accountant; and of course, drop-dead gorgeous. Ava works in tandem with “Uncle”, a non-relative based out of Hong Kong with whom she has a fond and respectful relationship. They track down missing money for their clients all over the world for a lucrative thirty percent commission. Ava has been very successful – when we meet her, she lives in a million dollar condo, travels only high end, and exhibits a terrible addiction to labels.

The Water Rat has Ava working to trace and recover $5 million dollars from a shrimp deal gone bad; the client is related to Uncle through ties thicker than blood, and therefore there is great pressure to succeed. Ava travels solo from Hong-Kong to Thailand to Trinidad, seeking out, interrogating, and when necessary, beating the snot out of a number of repulsive characters. The trail leads her to Guyana, where Ava is forced to work with a charismatic tyrant, Captain Robbins, the unofficial but extremely powerful ruler of this impoverished country. She locates her prey, Jackson Seto, and essentially kidnaps him in order to secure the $5 million and send it back to her client.

Ava Lee thinks she has the case sewn up, until her attempt to renege on a deal with the greedy and unscrupulous Robbins results in her being held hostage, along with her hostage, in the British Virgin Islands under the intimidating watch of Robbins’s massively over-muscled brother (dubbed “Mr. Clean” by Ava). I won’t spoil the ending, but rest assured that between her brains and bak mei she survives to continue her accountancy adventures for at least another 5 titles.

My two cents:

• Ava Lee is easy to admire yet hard to like; she is smart, tough, and fearless – but also cold, materialistic, and humourless.
• Despite the book’s superficial feminist slant, there is a curious undertone of the opposite: everyone Ava deals with is male, with the exception of her mother (not exactly a deep soul), a sister (barely mentioned), and the unfortunate girlfriend of her target, Jackson Seto. Ava Lee’s panties feature frequently, as do her many showers and massages; and her critical distaste for heavy and/or middle-aged women (Ava is gay) is weird as she never seems to encounter a woman she does find attractive.
• The relentless high-end product-placement every couple of pages makes me wonder if Hamilton has some kind of deal – or perhaps hopes for some comps.
• Judging from Hamilton’s website, he has created a character that has very little in common with him: Ian Hamilton is not Chinese, not female, and not gay. According to iMIS, he’s not an accountant, either.  All of which leads me to think that Mr. Hamilton must be a very brave man.
• I have to disagree with the comparison of Ava to the heroine of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series. The author’s website states that Ava is “…the smartest, most stylish heroine in crime fiction since Lisbeth Salandar”. Aside from being extremely independent, the two are nothing alike. Lisbeth comes from the school of hard knocks; Ava Lee comes from the school of privilege.  Lisbeth is a vigilante seeking justice; Ava thinks in terms of profit and good business practice. Lisbeth is not “stylish”, and she is not obsessed with stuff.  Just sayin’.

However, despite my list of grievances above, The Water Rat of Wanchai achieves its true purpose: it is fun to read, and I would confidently recommend it to anyone seeking to be entertained. I will be reading the rest of the series.