Utterly engrossing: reads like a top-notch work of crime fiction
Feature image credit: Khachik Simonian (via Unsplash)
“The ship made land at least a hundred yards off the Rockaway Peninsula, a slender, skeletal finger of sand that forms a kind of barrier between the southern reaches of Brooklyn and Queens and the angry waters of the Atlantic.”
You would be forgiven for thinking this is the opening line of a rather gripping novel. It is, in fact, the first sentence of a work of extraordinary investigative journalism. But as this line attests, this is also a work of great storytelling.
Renowned for Empire of Pain and Say Nothing, writer and investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe first came to prominence with The Snakehead in 2009. 2023 finally sees its UK and Australian publication.
The ship off Rockaway turns out to be Golden Venture, a decrepit, repurposed fishing ship chock-full of undocumented immigrants from China, many of whom die in the icy waters. And so begins the unravelling of this tale of crime, misadventure, optimism, and loyalty. Keefe goes back to the beginnings of Chinese migration, documented or otherwise, to America. In tracing this history, he introduces us to a host of characters, many of whom end up living in the Chinatown area of New York City. None is more enigmatic than Cheng Chui Ping, known as ‘Sister Ping’. A smart, ruthless businesswoman, she began helping family back in Fujian to migrate to America through unofficial channels. This enterprise grew until she became one of the most important “snakeheads” (head of a Chinese illegal migration network), pocketing millions of dollars along the way, while staying under the radar for decades. Along for the ride is her passive, quiet, husband, Cheung Yick Tak.
The Snakehead perfectly balances investigation and narrative. Although Keefe deconstructs U.S. migration policy, departmental demarcations, criminal greed, and the migrant urge, he also honours those whose stories he tells: the agents, the criminals, the hopeful migrants, the communities of Fujian, and the members of the Chinese diaspora. This work is perfectly structured, rigorous, humorous, thought-provoking, relatively non-judgmental, and above all respectful. It neither idolizes the players, nor demonizes them.
Another winner from Radden Keefe.
If you have only recently discovered, or are yet to read him, then this should be on your TBR pile stat!
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Pan Macmillan Australia
Released: February 2023
RRP: $36.99
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