The Civil Servant's Notebook

Dongzhou City needs a new Mayor. The secretive, government corridors are awash with rumor, insinuation and subterfuge as the mandarins fo the local Communist Party go through the motions of selecting their candidate. Ruthless politicking then ensues and dangerous factions begin to form around the two contenders, Liu Yihe and Peng Guoliang. Devious plots, seduction, blackmail and bribery are all on the table in a no-holds-barred scramble for political prestige and personal gain. At the center of it all is a notebook, a humble witness to events but one whose pages contain information they shouldn't. Penned by a former insider,The Civil Servant's Notebook offers a glimpse into the distorted psyches of those who roam the guarded halls of Chinese political power. "Serve the people" is just about the last thing on their minds.

Wang Xiaofang was born in 1963 in Shenyang, northeast China, and was private secretary to Shenyang Deputy Mayor Ma Xiangdong from 1997-1999. Ma achieved infamy for gambling and losing millions in public money in Macau's casinos, and was later sentenced to death for his crimes. Wang Xiaofang was found innocent of any involvement and left the service in 1999 to begin a career as political fiction writer. He has published thirteen novels of political fiction in China, and his works regularly top the bestseller charts. This is the first of his books to be published in English.