Identity & Belonging — The Book Roads

The Expat

Hansen Shi

What if the recognition you’ve spent your entire life chasing turned out to be a trap? At twenty-six, Michael Wang is a talented Chinese American software engineer working at General Motors in San Francisco. Despite graduating from Princeton and developing groundbreaking self-driving car technology, he feels overlooked, trapped beneath the invisible barriers that limit his advancement. Lonely and resentful, he longs for someone to recognise his potential. Then he meets Vivian, an enigmatic woman connected to a Beijing technology startup that promises Michael everything he believes he deserves: professional recognition, wealth, and the freedom to realise his ambitions. He accepts the offer and travels to China, only for Vivian to disappear shortly after his arrival. Michael soon discovers that his new employers have recruited him for something far more dangerous than technological innovation. Caught in a web of corporate espionage and international intelligence, Michael becomes a pawn in the growing rivalry between the United States and China. As his situation deteriorates, he must confront uncomfortable questions about identity, loyalty, and the price of belonging. Hansen Shi’s debut thriller combines high-stakes espionage with a sharp examination of the myth of meritocracy and the vulnerabilities created by alienation. It asks how far someone might go to prove their worth—and what they might sacrifice along the way.

China United States 2024