Foul Lady Fortune

A disgraced, immortal assassin reluctantly partners with a high-profile playboy while investigating a slew of brutal murders in Gong’s (Our Violent Ends) enticing duology opener, a take on William Shakespeare’s As You Like It set in 1931 Shanghai. After betraying her family and nearly succumbing to fever, 19-year-old Rosalind Lang was administered a mysterious serum that granted her healing abilities and stopped her from aging. Now, four years later, she is employed by nationalists under the code name Fortune to hunt reprobate Communist White Flowers. When a series of murders causes unrest in Shanghai, and members of the invading Japanese empire come under suspicion, Rosalind’s new orders involve posing as a married couple with nationalist spy Orion Hong and, together, infiltrating a local Japanese paper to uncover the perpetrator. Cavalier and flippant as he may seem, Orion hides dark secrets of his own that could endanger their mission and even Rosalind’s immortal life. While the duo’s repartee is sizzling on its own, their relationships with secondary characters—including Rosalind’s transgender sister Celia and Orion’s brother Oliver, both Communist Party members—add tension that further complicates Gong’s pulse-pounding caper. An author’s note provides historical context. Ages 14–up. Agent: Laura Crockett, Triada US. (Sept.)