During a trip to China, Paul and Christine experience the nightmare of every parent: their four year old son is threatened with kidnap. The only safe place for the family is the US embassy in Beijing, but they are two thousand miles away, with the police searching frantically for them, and all airports, train stations and major roads under surveillance. They'll have no chance without help from strangers, but who will be willing to risk their lives for them?

Suspenseful and rife with the page-turning storytelling that has come to define Sendker's work, Far Side of the Night is a brilliant and timely thriller that offers a penetrating look into contemporary China.