Ava Lee

Fifty million dollars has disappeared into thin air from the accounts of one of the richest men in the Philippines, Tommy Ordonez. His one hope is Ava Lee-sleek, capable forensic accountant and sleuth. With the help of her Triad-connected partner, Uncle, Ava follows the money trail from San Francisco to Costa Rica to the casinos and illegal gambling dens of Las Vegas. Meanwhile, a vengeful adversary from Ava's past has put out a contract on her life, and the shadowy hit man is close at her heels every step of the way. Will Ava recover the stolen cash without stepping into the crosshairs of a growing list of enemies? The first book of an electrifying new series, Ian Hamilton's The Disciple of Las Vegas introduces Ava Lee: a deadly martial artist with a taste for luxury and a mind like a steel trap.

Meet Ava Lee, alluring but deadly, with a mind like a steel trap, as she chases millions of dollars and dangerous criminals around the globe in this exotic and fast-paced new crime series by Ian Hamilton. Wong Changxing, a rich Chinese powerbroker, has just been bilked out of $100 million in an elaborate art forgery con. His one hope of recovering the money, and of saving face, is Ava Lee-a forensic accountant with a talent for tracking down untraceable funds. With the help of her mentor, the Triad-connected Uncle, Ava traces the provenance of the meticulously forged paintings to Denmark, the Faroe Islands, New York, and London. As she infiltrates one of the most prestigious auction houses in the world, she uncovers a massive web of corruption, where high art and high-stakes fraud threaten more than just her client's business--this is one scam that could get her killed. Ava Lee is one of the most scintillating, unique heroines to come along in years and The Wild Beasts of Wuhan is a must-listen.

Ava is back, and she is tougher than ever as she uncovers the secret world of art fraud, in the third book in the wildly popular and bestselling Ava Lee Series. In The Wild Beasts of Wuhan, Uncle and Ava are summoned by Wong Changxing, "The Emperor of Hubei" and one of the most powerful men in China, when he discovers that the Fauvist paintings he recently acquired are in fact forgeries. Ava uncovers a ring of fraudulent art dealers and follows their twisted trail to Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Dublin, London, and New York. But the job is further complicated by Wong's second wife, the cunning and seductive May Ling, who threatens to interfere in Ava's investigation. Will Ava find the perpetrators and get the Wongs' money back? Or will May Ling get to them first . . .

Ava is in Shanghai for the launch of the PÖ clothing line. She has invited Xu, and over the course of the glitzy event and a late-night dinner, she detects a certain hesitancy in him. He confides that the Tsai family, headed by Tsai Lian, the governor of Jiangsu Province and a "princeling" - he is the son of a general who was on the Long March with Mao and a member of China's power elite - is trying to force him and his Triad organization back into the drug business. Xu is already paying millions of dollars a year to various Tsai businesses, but the family wants more and thinks the new venture can deliver it. Xu believes this move would lead to his eventual destruction and feels he has nowhere to turn. If he opposes them, they will crush him. If he goes along with them, he thinks that inevitably the police and military will hunt him down. Ava sets out to help Xu deter the Tsai family. As she digs into the breadth and depth of the family's wealth and corruption, she gets caught up in a huge tangled web, extending all the way to the U.S. and the U.K., where it reaches the top echelons of political power.

Ava attends London Fashion Week for the launch of the PÖ fashion line, one of the major investments she and her partners in the Three Sisters - May Ling Wong and Amanda Yee - have made during the last year. With the exponential expansion of the luxury-brand market in China, Ava and her partners are determined to see a young Chinese designer break out in Europe and North America and they go full out in London. The show is a success, but perhaps too much of one. It attracts the attention of Dominic Ventola, the principal partner in the luxury fashion conglomerate VLG. The women are invited to Milan to meet with Ventola and senior executives in his company. VLG offers to buy the Three Sisters' stake in PÖ. Ava and her partners decline. A few days later, PÖ comes under attack in the fashion media and a large part of their customer base is pressured by VLG to abandon them. Ava decides to strike back and turns to Xu for assistance, leading to a confrontation between two of the world's biggest global crime syndicates: the Camorra and the Triad.

Ava has spent two nights luxuriating in a hotel in Yunnan Province with the actress Pang Fai, with whom she has begun a secret relationship. She receives an urgent phone call from Chang Wang, the right hand to the billionaire Tommy Ordonez and one of Uncle's oldest friends. Years ago, Ava and Uncle helped Tommy recover $50 million in a land swindle. Chang asks Ava to fly to Manila to meet with his friend, Senator Miguel Ramirez. Ramirez asks Ava to investigate a college in Tawi-Tawi, an island province in the Philippines, which he suspects is training terrorists. Ava's investigation leads to a partnership with a CIA agent, and together they attempt to stop an international plot, horrific in size and scope, only to have it turn on them. Ava's judgement and morals - which Uncle helped her forge - are tested like never before.