Perplexing, mysterious, hypnotic. Playing for Thrills is the story of Fang Yan, a down-and-out gambler who finds himself accused of a decade-old murder. In trying to establish an alibi, Yan discovers that there is a gap of seven days for which he cannot account. His investigation leads him to some dubious characters, but as he begins to investigate that missing week, he runs into more mysteries. Who is the mysterious woman he allegedly spent the week with? What role did the man in the striped shirt play? Identities shift and become confused. Recalling film noir, the fiction of Roberto Arlt and the movie Memento, Playing for Thrills is a strange story of one man's attempt to uncover a past, yet frustrates both protagonist and reader in the way the facts to be uncovered become clearer yet less helpful the deeper one goes. ( )

"Playing for Thrills" is a Chinese noir, a surreal account of a young man who is accused of a murder he can't remember committing. That makes it sound like a rip-snorting story, but reading it is an exercise in confusion -- which I think is the intent. Take the book on its own terms: it's the portrait of a disaffected, dissatisfied, lost generation -- and on that level it works. If you're looking for a gripping thriller, I'd suggest picking up a different book. ( )