Review for the Book

From the Jindu Grand Mall case in 1998 (Su Xiaoni) to the June 17 Major Case in 2008 (Zhang Huajiao); from the Yinsha Resort in Lishui City in 2013 (Peng Qiuhan) to the Xiujin Ridge case in 2018 (the victim’s name withheld to avoid spoilers), and finally to Yang Sifan’s accidental death. Four major cases, starting with June 17, span three generations, ten years of hidden pursuit, and a decade‑long layout of justice.

“Though spring is not born from winter, the darkness brought by the setting sun always ends with the reappearance of dawn – round and round, never stopping.”

There are always people like Gao Ran, Yang Sifan, and Jiang Li who give everything to uncover the truths concealed by powerful hands. Even if they leave the profession or the frontline they love, even if they walk thorny detours, even if they trudge through muddy hills, they will bring a sunrise to the pitch‑black night.

Also, I truly love the female characters in this book – from their names to their personalities, everything feels real and normal. There is nothing that made me uncomfortable while reading: no foul language, no gratuitous descriptions of female victims, no meaningless body‑type details.

No one constantly lights a cigarette, no one endlessly complains about their wife or marital problems, no one preaches about professional spirit, and certainly no male‑centric personal heroism.
— Reader “Cherry Little Spoon”

★ A female‑ensemble social‑realist suspense thriller, blending true stories from the author’s decade‑long career as a journalist.
★ After the death of investigative journalist Yang Sifan, she, and she, and she form a pact of revenge. A ten‑year, relay‑style pursuit of the truth, culminating in a final, deadly counterstrike.
★ A legendary reporter, a crooked‑cop‑turned‑detective, a mysterious undercover agent… they are no longer vague background figures, but the true protagonists.

“I am utterly obsessed with the night shifts I worked during my ten years as a journalist. I had to tell a story that, even in that strange and dangerous world after sunset, there are still the most professional people doing the most professional things – striving for a light that never asked for their sacrifice, even at the cost of their own lives.”
— Jing Tianze (author)

After the death of investigative journalist Yang Sifan, her apprentice, her mentor, and her rival… formally form a revenge alliance.

Yang Sifan’s “suicide” is the last explosive news story of her life.
The notoriously thorny reporter suddenly drinks pesticide, leaving behind a strange handwritten will – addressed not to family or friends, but to “Dear Ms. Jiang Li.”
Though unmarried and childless, she begs the recipient to take care of an unfamiliar little girl.

The police rule it a suicide by pesticide and close the case hastily.
But her apprentice Zhou Xiao and her former mentor Jiang Li refuse to believe it. Yang Sifan might have had many flaws, but she was not someone who would kill herself.
They decode the letter: Time to act.

As the truth slowly surfaces, only one question remains: Who will die next?

Jing Tianze

Winner of the Galaxy Award, one of China’s top science fiction awards, and former judge of the inaugural China Science Fiction Coordinate Awards. Jing worked as a social news journalist for ten years, and has woven real events from his own reporting into this novel.