THE MESSAGE

*Over one million copies sold in China
*Winner of the Chinese Media Literary Award
*Winner of People's Literature Magazine Award
*Major film adaptation starring Zhou Xun, Huang Xiaoming, and Li Bingbing, directed by Chen Kuofu and Gao Qunshu

First published in 2007, THE MESSAGE has sold over a million copies in China and made into a major film by internationally renowned Taiwanese director, Chen Kuofu. The movie, released in 2009, became a huge hit at the box office, and is generally regarded as the first large scale, Hollywood-level production Chinese spy thriller.

China, 1941. While war rages on in Europe, Japan has established itself as the supreme power in Asia. Hangzhou, known for its beautiful scenery, has become a stronghold of the Japanese puppet government. One day, five officers from the code breaking department are escorted to a secret mansion outside the city. Their mission: find out who is the communist spy among them. As each struggles to prove his/her innocence, the Japanese commander throws out a fake message hoping to lure out the underground rebels. Will the mole – codenamed "Ghost" – be able to send the warning out to his/her comrades, before time runs out?

THE MESSAGE is Mai Jia's most gripping novel to date, a brilliant deconstruction of the classic locked-room mystery. Using a Rashomon-style narrative, he sets out to reveal the identity of “Ghost”, then completely overturns the solution, all the while blending facts and fiction, personal observations and historical document. A compact and twisty historical thriller and a most satisfying page-turner.

Mai Jia (b.1964) is arguably the most successful writer in China today. He is hailed as the forerunner of Chinese espionage fiction and has published seven novels, with five million copies sold in total, each of which has been turned into TV and films. He is winner of Mao Dun Literary Award, the most prestigious prize in China. DECODED has been translated into twenty languages.

Mai Jia is the most translated contemporary Chinese novelist. DECODED has been translated into over twenty languages and published in over thirty country. He has achieved unprecedented critical and commercial success: his novels have sold over 10 million copies and Mai Jia has won the Mao Dun Literature Prize, the highest literary honor in China.

A major Hollywood film of DECODED is in the works with Filmnation (ARRIVAL, THE IMITATION GAME, among many other Oscar-winning movies), with Barbara Robinson (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and RAISE THE RED LANTERN) producing. The screenplay is done and they are talking to various A-list directors. This will also be funded by a big Chinese film company so it's going to be a major co-production.