
The Shanghai Factor
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to Cart failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Please try again
Unfollow podcast failed
Please try again
LIMITED TIME OFFER
3 months free
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Buy for $21.04
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
-
Narrated by:
-
Stephen Bowlby
-
By:
-
Charles McCarry
An unnamed spy is dispatched to Shanghai to aid a shadowy U.S. agency known only as HQ. There he meets a mysterious woman named Mei and begins a torrid affair that threatens to expose him to Chinese intelligence, the notorious Guoanbu. As danger waits for him around every corner, and the enigmatic Mei moves into and out of his life, he finds himself drawn further into a deadly cat-and-mouse game between Guoanbu and HQ that threatens not only to end his life but to also dangerously destabilize East/West relations.
©2013 Charles McCarry. Recorded by arrangement with Mysterious Press, an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2013 HighBridge CompanyListeners also enjoyed...




















While the narrator ably handles the voices of the various characters, he butchers many of the Mandarin phrases and names, e.g., "Qi" being pronounced "key" instead of the correct "chee". I wish he had done a little homework before making this recording. I don't think such egregious mispronunciation of a European language would be acceptable in a narration of this purported quality.
Good Story Marred by Bad Chinese
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narrative delves into complex themes of counter-intelligence and betrayal on a grand scale, which I found compelling. However, I occasionally found myself perplexed by the plot's direction and ultimate purpose.
"The Shanghai Factor" stands as a testament to McCarry's enduring skill in crafting espionage thrillers, particularly those rooted in the intricate dynamics of covert operations.
Give me more like "The Shanghai Factor"
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have noticed, however, a lot of recent spy fiction has an almost hyper-fixation on writing about sex, but it is never their novel's best parts. They can write smoothly about counter-intelligence, foreign cultures, and almost everything that is obliquely related to spy-craft, but once they start writing about sex, the prose starts sliding around like a vertigo sufferer on a a lake of frozen KY (if you doubt me go read/listen to Matthews' Red Sparrow).
It wasn't a classic or GREAT novel, but not every spy novelist can grow up to be Graham Greene or John le Carré.
Good mix of Counter-Intel & Mentor Spy fiction
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.