Shanghai Immortal

A.Y. Chao’s debut novel, “Shanghai Immortal” is an interesting story that takes place in Jazz Age Shanghai. The main character, Lady Jing, is a half-Huli jing, half-vampire fox spirit who was used as a pawn by her mother to the King of Hell when she was a little girl. She has spent the last 90 years as the King’s ward, performing errands avoiding the sarcastic Hulijing courtiers’ comments, and attempting to manage her violent anger. Jing jumps at the chance to reveal the courtiers’ scheme to take a valuable dragon pearl away from the King.

Jing sets off on a mad hunt for intelligence first across Hell and then into mortal Shanghai, with the assistance of a kind mortal assigned to establish the Central Bank of Hell. However, when her mischievous actions endanger the mortal. She has to choose between taking revenge for her face loss and letting go of her cynical outlook on life to have the opportunity to be shown kindness, and perhaps even love.