An absolutely gripping and totally addictive thriller that will keep you racing through the pages all night long.
A sensational thriller… Dark, engrossing and atmospheric… sublime tension. EXCELLENT

Patrick Radden Keefe is a fantastic journalist. As someone who doesn’t often read non-fiction he grabbed my attention in Empire of Pain with his narrative style and so I was excited to read The Snakehead. I still enjoyed the narrative style, although you can tell it is an earlier publication. I got through it a bit slower than expected, however overall it is a fascinating piece of journalism where I learned so much. I will read anything by PRK now.

Initially, I requested this title because I was blown away by Patrick Radden Keefe's previous work of nonfiction, Empire of Pain.

The Snakehead is just as impactful. I was drawn into a world I knew nothing about, of people smuggling and criminality. There were many different personalities and countries to keep track of, but I never felt confused or overwhelmed. Keefe is masterful at allowing the reader to get to know the humanity of the people he's investigating and weaves this deftly among the facts. Another fantastic read!

Patrick Radden Keefe is probably my favourite non-fiction writer, so I was very excited to read this new title from him. His writing is so detailed, and his research so thorough that you can read his books without having any previous knowledge of the subjects that he is writing about. In particular, his investigation into the illegal immigrant trade between China and the US, read at times more like a work of fiction than non-fiction – he has the ability to keep you engrossed in the topic as you race through each chapter. This is my third book of his to have read and once again, I have thoroughly enjoyed his work and look forward to his next publication.
Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the advanced reading copy.

Patrick Radden Keefe (Empire of Pain) continues to impress with his thorough research and ability to distill it into a gripping story. In The Snakehead, he delves into the illegal immigrant trade between Fujian in China and the US, particularly NYC. He focuses on the trafficker Sister Peng, active throughout the 1990s, and Golden Venture incident that went badly wrong off the coast of the US.

The snakehead Sister Peng profited immensely through her people trafficking business and managed to elude the law for many years before they caught up with her, tried and sentenced her to prison. The money made through people trafficking was astounding, and the personal trauma of the many asylum seekers was heartbreaking. Radden Keefe was able, through the stories of many of the immigrants, to convey the tragedy of lives lost and years wasted on efforts to achieve a better life for themselves and their families.

The book raises many questions about how the US treated these (and subsequent) migrants and especially about what would make so many young men (they were mostly men) risk their lives, vast smuggling fees and family well being for such an uncertain future.

Radden Keefe’s clear and compelling writing exposes the ruthlessness and immorality of the people smugglers, helping us to better understand the current global migration crisis, and the people who facilitate it. If I have any criticism, it is only that the story at the heart of The Snakehead took place 30 years ago. Since then, the people smuggling business has grown hugely and the global migration crisis has at times taken over our politics and news stream. There are some excellent books that address what is going on with today’s migrant crisis. But if you want to know more about the why and how behind this immoral global business, The Snakehead is an excellent piece of investigative journalism.
Thank you to NetGalley and Picador for a copy of the book.

3.5*. The Snakehead tells the meandering tale of immigration from China to the USA in in the 1980s and 1990s, through the unlikely empire of Sister Ping.

Patrick Radden Keefe is an incredible story teller, taking a topic and weaving a mesmerising and complex issue around people who were engaged on the ground.

In 1993 the Golden Venture ship ran aground outside New York with hundreds of migrants on board. This is one of many smuggling operations that Sister Ping was involved. Sister Ping who ran a shop and a restaurant in New York and appeared as a most unlikely criminal (save for her incredible wealth). Leading a criminal empire which focused on people smuggling and providing off-grid international banking services, we are told how smuggling and immigration impact on the individual. In particular are those who find themselves on the high seas for months and thereafter incarcerated in the US for years.

The Snakehead is as sharp as I’ve come to expect from Patrick Radden Keefe. It is at its most engaging when the narrative is character led (much like the Sackler Family in Empire of Pain and the disappeared in Say Nothing). It takes some unnecessary deep dives into politics, which may not age well but the narrative and pacing keep the reader wholly engaged. This book is a true eye opener.

Thanks to Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for an ARC.

I read and was so impressed by Patrick Radden Keefe's Say Nothing and Empire of Pain. I recently read Rogues , some of his long reads published in a book and they did not strike the same chord in me so I was a little apprehensive about this one as was aware The Snakehead as aware it was originally published years ago but this is its first outing on this side of the Atlantic. My fears were unfounded , The Snakehead is possibly better than Say Nothing and Empire of Pain.
Full of the meticulous research I have come to expect from PRK transformed into a pageturner. It takes great skill to turn true crime , particularly such well researched true crime into such an easy to read format and engage the reader so completely.

The Snakehead showcases another the side to the great American dream which this complex and comprehensive story of the Chinatown Underworld under the control of Sister Ping. Cash , guns, more cash and an eye opening exploration of the experience of many immigrants n the US and their struggle to get there in the first place. I did want to know more about immigrants who live a different experience, after reading.

It took me a little while to be drawn into this one but once I was I was wholly invested, thinking about it when I wasn't reading it and thinking about it more since I have finished it. I think I will purchase the audiobook of this one and revisit at some point .

An informative , propulsive read. Recommend.

4- 4.5 stars..

Middle aged Grandma, China, people smuggling...could be a fictional thriller but this is true crime. If you've read PDK before you'll know what to expect and won't be disappointed.

On a thrilling investigation into the human trafficking business from China to the United States. I have spent the last few days or so reading this slowly in the midst of my busy period at work. Time says that it reads like a mashup of The Godfather and Chinatown, and it really does. It certainly didn't disappoint.⁣
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The book begins with the story of the Golden Venture's shipwreck near Rockaway Peninsula in New York in 1993, in which 10 people died and over 200 undocumented immigrants were found, and how this prompted the investigation that eventually highlighted the operation of the Chinatown's underworld and its people smugglers aka "snakeheads". At the heart of this operation was Cheng Chui Ping aka Sister Ping, a shop owner in Manhattan's Chinatown, who was responsible for bringing thousands of undocumented immigrants from Fuzhou in China ton America and earning a fortune as a result of her trade. The premise of the book is actually summarised so well in the last passage of the final chapter.⁣
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“Every shipwreck tells a story. And if this particular story is in some ways an unhappy one, it is also a story about the awesome power of optimism and bravery and hope, about the many twisting paths that bring strangers to this country, and about what it means to be—and to become—American.”⁣
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Whilst it is a true crime book, I also learnt a lot about history of China, particularly that of Fujian, which I'm particularly interested in as Fuzhou is where my paternal grandparents were born in and it made me imagine what their own migration experience would be like. ⁣
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What an engrossing read.

PRK does it again. He will remain an all time favourite writer and journalist inspiration for as long as he continues to produce work.

It is interesting to read this retrospectively after consuming his more recent work first. Tracking his investigation patterns and storytelling techniques in their infancy (at least in this long form length) was incredibly interesting.

Once again he manages to find alternative routes of exploration and investigation to tell a story that is infamous amongst readers of organised crime stories.

I've never read a book by Keefe but I'm off to buy everything this author has written.

The Snake Head is a brilliant book on a part of history I had no idea about, the smuggling of Chinese immigrants to America. Keefe's investigation and fact finding brings this tale to life in such a way that it felt like I was reading fiction.

I have to admit the ingenuity of the people doing these acts were mind boggling to me!

I can't wait to recommend this to customers at the shop I think they'll love it!

I read 'Imperium of pain' by Patrick Radden Keefe and was delighted to get a copy of 'The Snakehead' by the same author thanks to NetGalley.
It's a slow-pace reading due to enormous amount of names of people, their nicknames and places mentioned in the book. It tells the story of one of the biggest smugglers of people from China to America in 80's and 90's. The book is well-researched and amazingly well-written. Highly recommended for readers of true crime books.

'The Snakehead' is another outstanding work of investigative journalism from Patrick Radden Keefe, this time exploring the human smuggling industry from China to the US and the central role played by the unassuming criminal mastermind Cheng Chu Ping, more commonly known as 'Sister Ping'.

As with 'Empire of Pain', the author's previous exposé of the Sackler family's role in the opioid crisis, this is always an immensely readable book, distilling the complex intersection of organised crime and US immigration policy into compelling human narratives based on meticulous research and extensive conversations with many of the protagonists.

The book's main focal point is the running aground of the Golden Venture, a cargo ship containing 286 undocumented migrants from China, in New York. This moment marked a turning point in US attitudes towards immigration from China and led to renewed efforts to bring Sister Ping and other criminal gang leaders to justice. Sister Ping emerges as a fascinatingly enigmatic character, celebrated as a hero in her home Fujian province but seemingly unconcerned by the human cost of 'her reckless devotion to the economies of scale." But as well as Sister Ping and her associates, Radden-Keefe also profiles officials from the INS and other agencies trying to grapple with this issue, and with many of the migrants themselves who were directly affected as well as the 'People of the Golden Vision', a surprisingly eclectic group of advocates for those migrants on the Golden Venture who were subsequently imprisoned in York County, Pennsylvania.

Whereas 'Empire of Pain' seethed with moral outrage at the devastating consequences of the Sackler family's mendacity, there is greater moral ambiguity in 'The Snakehead' and Radden-Keefe takes a more even-handed and nuanced approach, acknowledging the many benefits caused by migration from China to the US but also the ruthlessness of the human smuggling industry. He resists offering easy answers but helps us to understand the vast geopolitical complexities of this issue more fully.

Above all, this is a superb read - gripping, entertaining but also deeply sobering. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

Patrick Radden Keefe is my favourite writer of non-fiction and I devour his work - I consider Say Nothing and Empire of Pain to be masterpieces so I was delighted to get my hands on this, a re-issue of work done by the author prior to the aforementioned two books.

Like his other work, The Snakehead is a book about corruption, moral greyness, and the suffering caused by these corrupt individuals. It concerns China's people smuggling efforts and central to the narrative is Cheng Chui Ping, who immigrated to America legally, but then proceeded to smuggle those from her homeland to the States.

Respected in her community, but hungry for power, her empire grows - yet another empire of pain built on greed,. PRK asks difficult questions around immigration, people smuggling and the power of governments, all fascinatingly told in his bold but accessible voice. Fascinating, heart-rending and immaculately researched, Radden Keeffe remains an auto-buy author for me.

The Snakehead by Patrick Radden Keefe is a gripping account of one woman's role in the multi million dollar industry of people smuggling. At first glance Sister Ping was an unlikely criminal but this middle aged grandmother is a Snakehead, the leader of an organisation that has smuggled thousands of Chinese people into the United States of America. So much of the immigrant and immigration narrative in America is focussed on people from South America who cross the border illegally so I was fascinated to read this detailed account of another side of the story. The investigation into Sister Ping involved multiple state agencies and took place over years but the author keeps the account moving swiftly , engaging the reader and including an invaluable guide to the many people involved at the start of the book which made keeping track of the various players involved a lot easier. I found the accounts of the immigrants experiences moving , but the author was never overly sentimental , instead keeping to the facts and documenting his research. Ping herself is an intriguing character, and I cannot help but wish we got to know a little more about her so that I could understand her better. She was revered by members of her community and managed to outwit the authorities for many years , in many ways a modern day mob boss .
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Patrick Radden Keefe wrote two of my favourite non-fiction books of recent years (Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (2018) and Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (2021)) so I was keen to read more by him. The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream, originally published in 2009, is getting republished, presumably on the back of the acclaim for his more recent work.

People smuggling is a grim business. Migrants and asylum seekers are invariably desperate and willing to risk everything for the possibility of a better life something that often gets lost in debates about immigration, certainly here in the UK.

This book explores the history of Chinese immigration to America and how in the 1980s and early 1990s lucrative smuggling rings, known as the snakehead trade, brought thousands of illegal immigrants into the USA. Many of these came from China's Fujian province. The smuggler makes c$18000 per person which the new arrival had to clear as soon as possible usually through years of hard menial work. The remarkable Sister Ping (aka Cheng Chui Ping) is one such smuggler who ran her business out of a nondescript shop. She was revered within her own community for her role in getting people into the US and for transferring funds back home, amongst other illegal activities.

The Snakehead is further proof that Patrick Radden Keefe is an excellent investigative journalist and a consummate storyteller. He keeps this engrossing tale moving along at a good pace and ably illuminates the world of Chinese gangs, US immigration policy, people smuggling, law enforcement and the judicial process.

Another fascinating read from Patrick Radden Keefe.

I have really enjoyed previous books by Patrick Radden Keefe, including, ‘Say Nothing,’ and ‘Empire of Pain.’ I was pleased to receive a copy of this republished work through NetGalley and, I am delighted to say, that I was fascinated by this. Keefe writes non-fiction but he is an excellent storyteller, and, in this book, he has a fascinating story to tell.

This is a tale of immigration, people smuggling, corruption, organised crime, personal suffering and personal gain. At its heart is the snakehead trade in humans between Fujian Province in China and Chinatown in New York. Central is Sister Ping, the nickname of Cheng Chui Ping, who immigrated to America legally, but then proceeded to smuggle those from her homeland to the States. She hid behind cultural beliefs in supporting those from China, saying that family was central to the Chinese and that it was expected that immigrants would bring family over. In reality, of course, this was about money and power. Respected in her community, she set up her office opposite the Bank of China, undercutting them to workers wishing to send money home and becoming so confident that she informed government officials who became aware of her, that they would be unable to stop her.

As with other books, Keefe branches out to explore the difficult questions around immigration, people smuggling and how people find the risk worthwhile to embark on often deadly dangerous journeys to try to find a new life. This is despite having to pay back huge amounts to people smugglers, as well as the high possibility of losing their life. It also looks at those, like Sister Ping, who become central to these illegal routes into the country and how, even if they are stopped, the problem continues. Organised crime is precisely that and it is debatable how much control governments have over the constant desire of people to better their lives. A fascinating tale and well told.

A fascinating look at immigration in the US and specifically how it affects the Chinese diaspora around the world - I will read anything Patrick Radden Keefe writes, even if, like this, it’s probably in desperate need of an update.