★ A modern hard-boiled mystery novel set in Taipei: This work represents a fresh attempt at Chinese-language hard-boiled fiction. The story is set in Taipei's Linsen North Road—a district filled with the grit and gray zones of the city's underworld. With a stark, tough prose style, the author portrays a desperate detective's final struggle in a swamp of crime, injecting a distinctly local hard-boiled texture into Chinese-language mystery fiction.

★ A penetrating portrayal of the sex, drug, and underworld industries: The story begins with the murder of a Vietnamese masseuse and gradually unravels the tangled, far-reaching forces behind it—a transnational network spanning sex trafficking, fraud, and drugs, with invisible hands pulling the strings from the shadows. The novel offers a deep dissection of underground social and economic structures, painting a vivid and chilling picture of crime.

★ A prophecy mirroring today's society: Though fictional, the novel eerily captures the undercurrents and crises lurking beneath the surface of contemporary society. Issues such as transnational fraud, human trafficking, and drug infiltration resonate powerfully with current events, elevating this hard-boiled mystery beyond genre fiction into a grim allegory reflecting reality.

★ A unique narrative texture forged by the author's multifaceted background: The author, Tan Duan, holds a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has worked as a journalist, screenwriter, documentary producer, and professional masseur. This diverse career gives him a distinctive observational perspective and narrative texture. The prose is lean and hard-edged, with a layered plot structure—secrets are like poison; uncovering one only leads to more, weaving a taut, immersive narrative that keeps readers turning pages.

Desire is the human weak point. But perhaps justice, too, is a kind of desire…

In the twilight of Linsen North Road, a washed-up detective makes his final stand. Novelist Tan Duan delivers a stark, brutal allegory of reality.

Her hands soothe your deepest weaknesses, and can also pull at the threads of your fate—yet she, too, is devoured by the very desires she touches.

Secrets are like poison.

As long as a secret exists—whether you protect it or expose it—you will be drawn into more secrets, sinking deeper until you can no longer escape, becoming a zombie, a puppet controlled by the very secrets you hold.

Wei Jinsheng is a female detective with secrets she can never tell; Luo Dawan carries the weight of past trauma and the stain of underworld connections. Together, they investigate the murder of a Vietnamese masseuse—only to step into a vast, tangled web of power behind the killing: a transnational network of sex trafficking, fraud, and drugs, with unseen hands pulling the strings from the highest reaches of shadow.

They try to peel back the lies, only to become part of them. Is trust a lifeline in a web of deception—or a blade?

Even among those on the margins, loyalty exists. Those who expose secrets have secrets of their own…

Being a police officer means walking along a cliff's edge. You have to stay on the thin line—one misstep and you fall. Some things you do may never be discovered. But when you fall, no one will catch you…

Tan Duan

Tan Duan holds a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Sheffield in the UK. He has worked as a journalist, screenwriter, documentary producer for public television, and a professional masseur. He is now a full-time novelist.

His novel Sunset Over Dadaocheng was selected for the Ministry of Culture's BFT Program for full translation publication.