The Dark Horse of Shanghai is a story of cultural clashes between the United States and China that plunges the reader through a maze of deeply-entrenched Chinese business traditions and back alley tactics most Americans cannot understand. On May 7, 1999, the U.S. deliberately bombs the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo War. Six years later, Kip Duchene, a business icon in California known for turning troubled companies around, is prodded by his best friend, Sal Estrada, to join him in China to stop the imminent demise of Shanghai Shores, a failing housing development. But he's handicapped from using his well-honed business skills-he doesn't speak the language, has no idea how Chinese think, and is unprepared to cope with widespread corruption. Rico Niu, a giant in the Chinese underworld, emerges as a deadly adversary willing to do anything to take over Shanghai Shores in his quest to revenge what happened in Belgrade. As Duchene begins to falter, help comes from the beautiful Angie Li, a savvy local who knows how to get things done in Shanghai. Working side-by-side, the unlikely pair plows headlong into one crisis after another while Duchene struggles with his growing attraction to her. When Rico Niu becomes frustrated with his takeover attempts, he gives the order to insure that Duchene makes the ultimate sacrifice-his life. Hearing about the setbacks at Shanghai Shores in the news, local people start calling the once heralded housing development, "Hei ma Shanghai (The Dark Horse of Shanghai)."
About the Author: Kent W. Sorensen spent eighteen years doing business in Far East Asia and Russia, where he learned that his success depended on understanding and respecting local culture. He is at home writing cultural fiction, an emerging genre in which social and cultural differences between people can end in powerful alliances or deeply destructive conflicts. Some of the best written books that have popularized this genre are The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini), Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden), and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See). The Dark Horse of Shanghai is the first in a series of novels that feature Kip Duchene and his frustrations in dealing with Chinese business practices. Sorensen is presently working on The Jutaku Affair, set in modern Japan in the months that followed the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Readers can also look forward to the next Kip Duchene novel, Dragon's Head of Shanghai, expected to be released early next year. Sorensen lives in Sonoma, California-a quaint town in the wine country located north of San Francisco.