A gripping, real-life thriller about one of the world’s most wanted men
When people in Ukraine are murdered by a hail of missiles, when sirens wail in Tel Aviv, when Yemeni children starve, and rising oil prices shake the global economy after an attack on Saudi refineries, this man may well have had a hand in it. He is a key figure in the battle for power and influence between the United States and China. Western intelligence agencies have been trying to stop him for decades, and at least one US president has made a personal intervention with Beijing. Yet the man seems untouchable. The search for him is live, the hunt goes on, but very few people have ever heard his name. He is the Chinese phantom.
Karl Lee, alias Li Fangwei, plays a key role in the secret struggle between the world powers, bypassing Western sanctions to supply dictators with the weapons they need to wipe out their neighbouring countries — or even to trigger a third world war. The FBI has put a $5 million bounty on his head, but nobody has been able to catch him. Now, four award-winning investigative journalists have set out to find him. Following the routes of his deliveries and his money, the authors track down his companies in China and uncover his network of shell companies. During their investigation, they get embroiled deeper and deeper in the games of international secret services and realise that Karl Lee is just a pawn in a much bigger game of modern warfare and international espionage.
"Lucid, compelling, and vividly written." - Luke Harding, #1 New York Times bestselling author
