In 1949, Dr. Ni-Fu Cheng was apolitical. As Chiang Kai-chek began to lose ground to the People's Liberation Army, the widower Cheng was savvy enough to make arrangements to evacuate his daughter, Su Wei, to his sister's home in America. Because of his medical research on longevity or shou, he was unwilling to leave China. Secure in the importance of his research, he is able to ignore the political changes of Communism.

The novel fast-forwards to January of 1989. The Chinese Army has been stripped of a million men, capitalism is creeping in, and the basic tenet of Mao's philosophy…that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" seems to be forgotten.

The Chinese government realizes that Cheng has made the earth-shattering discovery regarding the prolonging of life; but he will not reveal his formula. Corrupt politicians devise a plan to extract the secret from Cheng. Knowing that his daughter, who had escaped to the U.S., has terminal cancer, they now hope to lure Dr. Lili Quan, Cheng’s granddaughter, back to China.

Meanwhile, a failing drug company with connections to the CIA, plots to steal Cheng’s secret. Others also know about Cheng’s breakthrough and want to learn the secret of shou.

Through a strange set of circumstances, Lili interrupts her residency to take a temporary research position in China. While she is sightseeing, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) arranges to have Chi-Wen Zhou meet her. He has been directed to woo Lili, since the PRC is certain her grandfather will share the secret with her. Thus starts an international game of terror culminating in Tiananmen Square. Lili, the idealistic American meets Chi-Wen the romantic Taoist who is controlled by the masters of the Cultural Revolution.

In Shou, the complex plot is well structured; the characters are reasonably well defined; and the love story that emerges is tender, but passionate. But, the story is beset with choppiness, especially in the beginning when it flits from one place to another introducing characters, and then back-tracks to inch the story along a bit. Because there are so many sides to this equation, it was probably necessary to do this, but it interrupts the rhythm of the story.

But Shou is far more than its basic elements. In addition to the medical mystery and love story, without appearing to do so, the authors teach the reader about China and the rise and fall of democracy there.

--Thea Davis