City of Devils

Now one of Kirkus Reviews'' "Best Books of the Year"

From Paul French, the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in PekingΓÇöwinner of both the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-FictionΓÇöcomes City of Devils, a rags-to-riches tale of two self-made men set against a backdrop of crime and vice in the sprawling badlands of Shanghai.
Shanghai, 1930s: It was a haven for outlaws from all over the world: a place where pasts could be forgotten, fascism and communism outrun, names invented, and fortunes madeΓÇöand lost.
ΓÇ£LuckyΓÇ¥ Jack Riley was the most notorious of those outlaws. An exΓÇôU.S. Navy boxing champion, he escaped from prison and rose to become the Slots King of Shanghai. ΓÇ£DapperΓÇ¥ Joe FarrenΓÇöa Jewish boy who fled ViennaΓÇÖs ghettoΓÇöruled the nightclubs. His chorus lines rivaled ZiegfeldΓÇÖs.
In 1940, Lucky Jack and Dapper Joe bestrode the Shanghai Badlands like kings, while all around the Solitary Island was poverty, starvation, and war. They thought they ruled Shanghai, but the city had other ideas. This is the story of their rise to power, their downfall, and the trail of destruction left in their wake. Shanghai was their playground for a flickering few years, a city where for a fleeting moment even the wildest dreams could come true.