Hunter

Author: Cheng Gang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: After reading The Da Vinci Code, now see The Hunter. The Hunter, China's first "spirit" suspense novel, has attracted widespread attention! In April 2005, The Hunter, a spiritual suspense novel published by Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press, had already gained significant attention before its release! Some media predicted that the suspense novel The Hunter would spark another surge in the suspense craze of 2005. The Hunter was planned by Shanghai Tangfeng Book Co., Ltd. and was launched grandly during the May Day holiday. According to reports, The Hunter focuses oning a talented but eccentric young writer, Ma Nan. Ma Nan is invited to assist the police in deciphering a mystery and engages in a series of highly challenging intellectual battles with the killer. During this process, martial arts novels, Double Dragon Tai Chi, and the Nine Palace Diagram become key tools for solving the mystery, but Ma Nan is also drawn into the case. The book possesses a strong intellectual appeal and stands out in the realm of Chinese suspense and thriller novels, posing a high challenge to readers' reading intelligence. It is called China's first strictly "spirit" suspense novel.
The author of The Hunter, Cheng Gang, is a renowned Chinese suspense and thriller writer. In 2004, he successively released bestsellers such as Sleeping Valley and Ghost Child, quickly becoming a dark horse in the field of Chinese suspense and thriller novels. The young Cheng Gang is highly intelligent, versatile, and knowledgeable, with extensive expertise in various fields such as astronomy, geography, folklore, history, psychology, and psychiatric medicine. His works are not only meticulously crafted in terms of pure literature but also feature clever plot setups, strong logical reasoning, and a compelling intellectual appeal, which are rare among Chinese suspense novelists. Many readers of The Hunter believe that the protagonist, Ma Nan, bears resemblance to Cheng Gang in certain aspects of his life. Some netizens even hailed Cheng Gang as China's Dan Brown, claiming, "After reading The Da Vinci Code, you still need to read The Hunter!"
In 2005, it was indeed a year of wild excitement and immersive suspense! Compared to other works in the same genre, Cheng Gang's suspense and thriller novels appear more profound and thought-provoking. He excels at creating grand scenes, weaving multiple storylines while intertwining character fates with the main events. His novels are not just about telling an engaging story but also focus on character development, delving into the depths of human nature. He believes that most horror and suspense novels published in China are unrelated to supernatural elements, and that the horror atmosphere and events are almost always man-made. Such horror is merely the result of events affecting people's psychological awareness, and thus does not qualify as true psychological horror. Only works that originate from human psychological activity and produce horror events in reality can be considered genuine psychological novels. Cheng Gang is quite skeptical of the psychological horror promoted by other Chinese writers in the same genre.
To differentiate his work from other psychological suspense novels, Cheng Gang positioned his new novel The Hunter as a spiritual suspense. Cheng Gang believes that the human spirit, like the mind, is mysterious and unpredictable. When a person's spiritual world becomes chaotic, it inevitably affects their real life. The exploration of the spiritual world inevitably collides with reality, forming the essential elements of a suspense novel. The Hunter is his attempt to explore this concept.
According to the book's planner, Qin Yingzhi, the spiritual suspense novel The Hunter incorporates numerous elements of traditional Chinese culture, such as the Nine Palace, Double Dragon Tai Chi, and the Fuxi and Nüwa. This clearly reflects Cheng Gang's reading habits. Cheng Gang is deeply passionate about folklore and history and has conducted specialized research on the customs and traditions of ethnic minorities. The Double Dragon Tai Chi diagram in The Hunter is a photograph he took while studying the Donglei Muhu rock paintings. Additionally, Cheng Gang has participated in archaeological activities multiple times, gaining knowledge about ancient Dongyi states like the Tenghua Flower of Shaohao and the Dongfang Tianshu General Ya Rock Paintings. These experiences have become his arsenal and foundation for writing suspense and horror novels, setting his works apart from those of other authors in the same genre.
Synopsis: Many years ago, "I" lost my memory in an accident. Years later, "I" met a beautiful woman and had a vague sense of familiarity with her. "I" almost fell in love with her but discovered she was the killer who had murdered "I." "I" spied on her, trying to uncover her motive for killing "I." A serial murder case broke out in Haicheng. The killer could satisfy any luxurious wish of the victim. During the crimes, the mysterious killer would solemnly set off a dazzling firework, expressing sorrow. Feathers, maple leaves, the Double Dragon Tai Chi, the Nine Palace Diagram, and other puzzles appeared one after another, left at the scene of the victims, as signals of challenge from the highly intelligent killer to the police. The Indian Ocean tsunami occurred, and the elusive killer reappeared at a seaside hotel on a Qin Dynasty island. The talented but eccentric young writer, Ma Nan, lives alone in a pastoral villa in the suburbs and concurrently serves as a visiting professor at two universities. He is invited to assist the police in solving the mystery. After a series of highly challenging intellectual competitions, Ma Nan is also drawn into the case. The novel focuses on shaping the character of Ma Nan. It abandons the clichéd suspense elements found in similar works and explores a new path in suspense, posing a high challenge to readers' reading skills. It is China's first strictly spiritual suspense novel.