The first of William Marshall's tautly-written and hilarious stories featuring the staff of the Yellowthread Street police station in Hong Kong includes most of what came to be the trademarks of the series--multiple plots unwinding simultaneously, freeze-frame and looping in the middle of action sequences, existentialist self-examination by the various characters, and considerable sardonic observation of cross-cultural interactions. This book was a lot of fun--and the start of a long-running and engaging series.