win a copy of snakes can't run by ed lin

What up, angry readers? Author Ed Lin has a new book coming out next month: Snakes Can't Run, out March 30 from Minotaur Books. The detective story is a sequel to 2007's This Is a Bust. Here's the official blurb:

It's a hot summer in New York's Chinatown in 1976 and Robert Chow, the Chinese-American detective son of an illegal immigrant, takes on a new breed of ruthless human smugglers - snakeheads - when two bodies of smuggled Chinese are found dead under the Brooklyn Bridge overpass. But as Robert comes closer to finding some answers, he discovers a dark secret in his own family's past.

I doesn't hit shelves for over another month, but here's where it gets good. Exclusively for you, the good readers of this blog, I've got the first two chapters of Snakes Can't Run available for download. Get it now as a PDF preview here (239 KB). Here's an excerpt:

August 1, 1976

By the time I got to Henry Street under the Manhattan Bridge overpass, one black and white and one unmarked police car were already there.

Peepshow was standing at the edge of the crime scene, twirling his baton, the one thing he could do without fucking up.

"Keep moving, keep moving!" he yelled to the murmuring Chinese people. He touched his cap when he saw me. I nodded back.

Two bodies, Asian men in their twenties, lay on their sides. Both had their hands tied behind them with wire. They didn't look fresh, and one man's tattoo behind his ear stood out in sharp contrast to the white bloodless flesh of his neck.

I walked up to English, but before I could say anything he put a hand on my shoulder.

"These fucking bag monkeys won't let me past the tape," he said, pointing out the forensic team collecting samples around the bodies.

"They're just trying to do their job right."

"I'll do their job for them right now. These guys died from gunshot wounds and the bodies were dumped here. You can analyze for blood type all you want, but you can't find the criminals looking down a microscope."

"I hear you."

"You know what solves crimes?"

"What?"

"Shoe leather. Walking around and asking questions."

"All right."

"Chow," he said, coming in closer. "You see the guy in the crowd in the red knit shirt smoking a cigarette?"

"Yeah," I said, knowing better than to look immediately.

"I don't like his face. Too smug."

"I'll follow him."

But wait! It gets even better. I am giving away an advanced reader copy of Snakes Can't Run -- signed by Ed Lin -- to one lucky angry reader. All you have to do is email me with your name and mailing address by the end of March 1. Be sure to include "SNAKES GIVEAWAY" in the subject line. I'll throw all the entries into a hat and pick one lucky winner at random. Cool?

If you're a fan of Waylaid or This Is a Bust, you're probably going to like Snakes Can't Run. For more information about the book, visit Ed Lin's website here. Ed will be doing a tour to promote the book this spring. You can also watch a cool book trailer for Snakes Can't Run here.