Annie Szabo has discovered a miracle: Jimmy Qi, a kid from Chinatown with the power to heal using music. He’s dazzling, he’s a scoundrel, he’s wise, and he makes a great newspaper article. But now, every unsavory character in San Francisco is after him.
These include members of the tong society; a CDC doctor; a dolphin fanatic; and an FBI agent who seems too good to be true. Feeling responsible for creating San Francisco’s latest hot commodity, Annie enlists her mother-in-law, the audacious fortune-teller Madame Mina, to help keep Jimmy safe from his avid pursuers. Then the bodies start turning up.
Though the spicy Szabo women would like to kick back with a warm lover, a good movie, and a few laughs, life has something else in mind. One meeting with an extraordinary boy leads them headlong into a wild adventure.
Reviews
“Nudged by mother-in-law Madame Mina, Annie writes an article about Jimmy Qi, a Chinese-American boy with the power to heal through music, which soon puts the youngster in danger. Everyone, it seems, wants a piece of the rising star of San Francisco’s Chinatown—including a shady evangelist, the FBI, the tongs and a man who talks to dolphins.
“After two suspicious deaths, Annie and Jimmy go on the lam, not knowing whom to trust or why. Leo Rosetti, Annie’s lover, and her daughter, E.B., are also tossed into the intrigue, along with meddling world-famous twins who have taken a shine to Annie and Jimmy. Through it all, Annie keeps her cool, until a devastating family secret is uncovered. The author succeeds in weaving humor, zany characters and the occult into an entertaining story with serious undertones.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“Simultaneously kooky and mysterious.” – Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine on The Red Hot Empress
“A madcap dash through San Francisco’s Chinatown and the crumbling Haight-Ashbury district with a cast of bona fide eccentrics.” – Kirkus Reviews on The Red Hot Empress