Action & Adventure
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The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu: A Novel
Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence
Finalist for the Young Lions Fiction Award
A Chinese American assassin sets out to rescue his kidnapped wife and exact revenge on her abductors in this New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice: a twist on the classic western from "an astonishing new voice" (Jonathan Lethem).
Orphaned young, Ming Tsu, the son of Chinese immigrants, is raised by the notorious leader of a California crime syndicate, who trains him to be his deadly enforcer. But when Ming falls in love with Ada, the daughter of a powerful railroad magnate, and the two elope, he seizes the opportunity to escape to a different life. Soon after, in a violent raid, the tycoon's henchmen kidnap Ada and conscript Ming into service for the Central Pacific Railroad.
Battered, heartbroken, and yet defiant, Ming partners with a blind clairvoyant known only as the prophet. Together the two set out to rescue his wife and to exact revenge on the men who destroyed Ming, aided by a troupe of magic-show performers, some with supernatural powers, whom they meet on the journey. Ming blazes his way across the West, settling old scores with a single-minded devotion that culminates in an explosive and unexpected finale.
Written with the violent ardor of Cormac McCarthy and the otherworldly inventiveness of Ted Chiang, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is at once a thriller, a romance, and a story of one man's quest for redemption in the face of a distinctly American brutality.
"In Tom Lin's novel, the atmosphere of Cormac McCarthy's West, or that of the Coen Brothers' True Grit, gives way to the phantasmagorical shades of Ray Bradbury, Charles Finney's The Circus of Dr. Lao, and Katherine Dunn's Geek Love. Yet The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu has a velocity and perspective all its own, and is a fierce new version of the Westward Dream." -Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn
Finalist for the Young Lions Fiction Award
A Chinese American assassin sets out to rescue his kidnapped wife and exact revenge on her abductors in this New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice: a twist on the classic western from "an astonishing new voice" (Jonathan Lethem).
Orphaned young, Ming Tsu, the son of Chinese immigrants, is raised by the notorious leader of a California crime syndicate, who trains him to be his deadly enforcer. But when Ming falls in love with Ada, the daughter of a powerful railroad magnate, and the two elope, he seizes the opportunity to escape to a different life. Soon after, in a violent raid, the tycoon's henchmen kidnap Ada and conscript Ming into service for the Central Pacific Railroad.
Battered, heartbroken, and yet defiant, Ming partners with a blind clairvoyant known only as the prophet. Together the two set out to rescue his wife and to exact revenge on the men who destroyed Ming, aided by a troupe of magic-show performers, some with supernatural powers, whom they meet on the journey. Ming blazes his way across the West, settling old scores with a single-minded devotion that culminates in an explosive and unexpected finale.
Written with the violent ardor of Cormac McCarthy and the otherworldly inventiveness of Ted Chiang, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is at once a thriller, a romance, and a story of one man's quest for redemption in the face of a distinctly American brutality.
"In Tom Lin's novel, the atmosphere of Cormac McCarthy's West, or that of the Coen Brothers' True Grit, gives way to the phantasmagorical shades of Ray Bradbury, Charles Finney's The Circus of Dr. Lao, and Katherine Dunn's Geek Love. Yet The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu has a velocity and perspective all its own, and is a fierce new version of the Westward Dream." -Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn
Editorial Reviews
"A book out of bounds.... Saves the western by blowing it to bits. Don't wait for the movie."―Marlon James, Wall Street Journal
"Lin's assured debut novel... hums with striking descriptions of an unforgiving landscape."―New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
"Tom Lin is a sublimely gifted debut novelist... He offers a window onto a buried history [and] exposes the racism that was, is, and will be at the heart of the American experiment... In McCarthy-like sentences, Lin also pays homage to the arduous journey of Ming and his companions and to the landscape that sprawls around them... Lin's pilgrims meet their fates in startling, wondrous moments... The body count is high, but so is the level of literary skill and topicality... Lin flips the script: his outlaw is a living, breathing rebuke to white racism, an Angel of Death to the worst perpetrators... While Lin probes American obsessions with race, guns, and myth-making, he also imbues his grittiness with stunning lyricism and a larger spiritual aura."―Oprah Daily
"Impressive… As a kind of redemptive imaginative act, Lin has created a poetic and cinematic story centered on a Chinese American sharpshooter."―San Francisco Chronicle
"A rollicking gallery of Western archetypes."―Los Angeles Times (Best Books of Summer 2021)
"A western gothic revenge tale ripe for a Coen brothers adaptation."―Boston Globe
"Part revenge fantasy, part classic bloody tale of the Old West. In this book, things return-people, oceans, violence-but remembering is a choice and the body bears the cost... In this unforgiving landscape, which Lin vividly and meticulously describes in prose whose music is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's, even a rainstorm can take on mythical proportions."―New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant."―New York Magazine
"Eminently entertaining… There's a lot to love in this expansive debut novel from Tom Lin. The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is a truly cinematic Western. Its vistas and action sequences are perfectly designed for fans of graphic novels and the big screen alike. Similarly, the body count is crafted for an audience that enjoys adrenaline's pulse in its ears. Lin's wordcraft is deft and painterly, whether he's describing a fight scene or a desert… an imp...
"Lin's assured debut novel... hums with striking descriptions of an unforgiving landscape."―New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
"Tom Lin is a sublimely gifted debut novelist... He offers a window onto a buried history [and] exposes the racism that was, is, and will be at the heart of the American experiment... In McCarthy-like sentences, Lin also pays homage to the arduous journey of Ming and his companions and to the landscape that sprawls around them... Lin's pilgrims meet their fates in startling, wondrous moments... The body count is high, but so is the level of literary skill and topicality... Lin flips the script: his outlaw is a living, breathing rebuke to white racism, an Angel of Death to the worst perpetrators... While Lin probes American obsessions with race, guns, and myth-making, he also imbues his grittiness with stunning lyricism and a larger spiritual aura."―Oprah Daily
"Impressive… As a kind of redemptive imaginative act, Lin has created a poetic and cinematic story centered on a Chinese American sharpshooter."―San Francisco Chronicle
"A rollicking gallery of Western archetypes."―Los Angeles Times (Best Books of Summer 2021)
"A western gothic revenge tale ripe for a Coen brothers adaptation."―Boston Globe
"Part revenge fantasy, part classic bloody tale of the Old West. In this book, things return-people, oceans, violence-but remembering is a choice and the body bears the cost... In this unforgiving landscape, which Lin vividly and meticulously describes in prose whose music is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's, even a rainstorm can take on mythical proportions."―New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant."―New York Magazine
"Eminently entertaining… There's a lot to love in this expansive debut novel from Tom Lin. The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is a truly cinematic Western. Its vistas and action sequences are perfectly designed for fans of graphic novels and the big screen alike. Similarly, the body count is crafted for an audience that enjoys adrenaline's pulse in its ears. Lin's wordcraft is deft and painterly, whether he's describing a fight scene or a desert… an imp...
Readers Top Reviews
R & J robert werne
I am always pleased for a new author to be published and make it to the mainstream. However, I do not see how this book made it to the public or why some people like it. The story is mostly drawn out and somewhat boring. Nothing cleaver or interesting aside from some nonsensical fantasy characters that don't pull any parts of the story together. Mostly though, the gratuitous senseless violence is rather revolting, unimaginative, and absolutely useless. I slogged through to the end to see if there was something that would make sense of the otherwise endless story but sadly that never happens. I feel like I completely wasted my money and rather embarrassed to have spent my time hoping for some redeeming conclusion only to be left flat.
jean p
I love me a good western, and this is a great western. I loved every minute, even the really gory ones! I like to imagine this is what it was really like to settle the West, where I live……treacherous, dry, full of scheming bad guys and gals. The magical realism is treat, too, because how else would our forebears survived out here? I’d highly recommend this for the western-magical realism-curious.
A. Warren
I read the previous positive reviews quickly and immediately bought it. In the early going it was interesting because the main character Ming was meeting some strange folk who performed miracles ( magical realism at its best) and was definitely out to kill a number of his enemies. However, things got really boring between killings (though they were exciting themselves) because the author spent a lot of time explaining the surroundings, dusty, cold, river running rapidly, etc. as he traveled between killings. It almost seemed like it was a "filler" to make the book longer; okay I know the West is dusty but Geezz. Anyway, I enjoy westerns very much (a real Larry McMurtry fan) but this one was a big disappointment.
Larry Patten
What a grim, beautiful work Lin created. I finished the book a couple of days ago and it still troubles me. How could I get so attached to the cruel, brutal Ming Tsu? Why did he, in grace-filled moments, come across as such a caring person? This is a western with all the tropes: harsh landscapes, villains with murderous intent, galloping horses, and a potential damsel in distress. It is also a remarkable revisionist western, taking the reader into the unseen, ignored side of the mythology. Lin's language is sublime. His vivid descriptions honor the glorious sweeping vistas while pulling no punches in the last, bloody gasps of Ming Tsu's victims. Saddle up. Keep your eyes peeled. Make sure your powder is dry. Even troubled by the cruelty, I'm glad I took the ride.
Amos Seghezzi
The detail in Tom Lin’s writing really brings you into the world of Ming. There are highs and lows of murder, travel and looking into his past that keeps a balance of the whole book but also brings you on a rollercoaster ride of adrenaline and peace that keeps you wanting to read more. Fabulous author, incredible book and cannot wait for more from Tom Lin!
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