Shanghai 1927. Pearl of the East or Whore of the Orient? Depends on who you ask. It's a cesspool of poverty, thronged with refugees, gripped by civil war. But for some it's still a fever dream: jazz clubs, film stars, and opium dens, celebrities and spies, easy money and easier women.
The son of a rural Irish cop, Michael Gallagher has joined the Shanghai Municipal Police to escape an Ireland crippled by its recent bitter independence fight and escape a personal tragedy.
Michael encounters Shanghai's biggest philanthropist, a man called Big Ears Lu—who is also its creepiest racketeer. He falls for the beautiful courtesan Miriam Tsai.
But does Michael's collusion with Lu keep Miriam trapped in the House of Multiple Joys?
Shanghai in 1927 is a city where after dark anything seems possible. A city where anyone can be crushed, and anyone corrupted. Even an innocent Irish cop.
From the wreckage of guerrilla war in Ireland to the dawn of world war in Asia, Gangsters of Shanghai seethes with twentieth century turbulence and temptation.
Can Mike Gallagher remain uncorrupted, and escape the imploding city with his life and his self-respect?