An American expat couple -- Jeff the lingerie maven and Laura the print journalist-turned-TV news producer -- move to Hong Kong to seek their fortunes in the runup to the handover.

This is a good first novel, and it shows. By that, I mean that it's got lots of energy and color, but it's also shot through with obvious flaws that become distracting at times.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first.

They say that the good novelist should show, not tell. That means dialog and action, not narrative description, right? Cohen follows this rule to the nth degree, especially as he describes Laura's adventures as a TV news producer. Long stretches of the book comprise almost minute-by-minute behind-the-scenes accounts of new broadcasts, including Laura's directions (and often her thoughts), the chatter of the other crew members, plus lengthy voiceovers as spoken by the news anchors and reporters on screen.

This technique works well at times, especially in novel's heart, i.e. a recounting of the newscast on handover night itself. But Cohen turns to this trick so often it becomes exhausting; it should have been saved as a one-off for the handover sequence.

Next, Cohen's characterization needs work. Neither Laura nor Jeff is particularly likable (which is fine in a satirical work) or memorable (which is not fine). They've each got a couple of quirks (Laura, for example, unknowingly shouts out stage directions in the throes of passion), but they don't come alive. Jeff is particularly bland, drifting about in reaction to shoves from the women in his life.

Most of the secondary characters are also thin. For example, Yogi, Jeff's sexually rapacious and seemingly single-minded mistress, is also supposed to be an investment banking savant, but there's no way to reconcile these two aspects of her character.

On the plus side, this novel wallows magnificently in the daily absurdities of life in this singular city.

Cohen also digs out many of the inevitable burrs under the saddle of expat life: Jeff must try to deal with manufacturers in the mainland; Laura is crushed to discover that 'who-you-know' is often the key to power and promotion in her workplace; the wildly inflated costs of western grocery items are surveyed, with Jeff turning to the alternative of fighting through the old ladies at the wet market; and so on.

Another strength is Cohen's ability to evoke the ethos of the handover era. Cohen has nailed the enervating confusion of that strange time, with hope and ambiguity and greed and insecurity all competing for the top spot in one's daily emotional workout program.

Recommended. ( )