The Limehouse Text A Novel [Paperback]

InThe Limehouse Text,Barker and Llewelyn discover a pawn ticket among the effects of Barker's late assistant, leading them to London's Chinese district, Limehouse. There they retrieve an innocent-looking book that proves to be a rare and secret text stolen from a Nanking monastery, containing lethal martial arts techniques forbidden to the West. With the political situation between the British Empire and Imperial China already unstable, the duo must not only track down a killer intent upon gaining the secret knowledge but also safeguard the text from a snarl of suspects with conflicting interests.

Prowling through an underworld of opium dens, back-room blood sports, and sailors' penny hangs while avoiding the wrath of the district's powerful warlord, Mr. K'ing, Barker and Llewelyn take readers on a perilous tour through the mean streets of turn-of-the-century London.Group Reading Guide
The Limehouse Text
Will Thomas

Questions for Discussion

1. During the opening sequence in the prologue, our narrator's employer is about to engage in a brutal fight to the death that the narrator blames himself for causing. How does the prologue set the tone for the rest ofThe Limehouse Text? Does the tone and your feelings about the narrator change from beginning to the end? If so, in what ways?


2. In the first chapter, we learn that Quong, private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker's first assistant, had been murdered by a bullet through his forehead one year prior. Is it surprising that Llewelyn is not more concerned about his own well-being, given the fate of his predecessor? Why or why not? Why is Barker particularly driven to find Quong's killer?


3. Describe the relationship between Llewelyn and Barker. How is it similar to and/or different from Sherlock and Dr. Watson? Why doesn't Barker tell Thomas more about what they are investigating? How does it affect the narrative power to findl&