The Abalone Ukulele

The Abalone Ukulele: A Tale of Far Eastern Intrigue is an historical novel set in 1913 Shanghai, where four cultures are about to collide: China, Korea, Japan, and the US. The point of collision is three tons of Japanese gold ingots meant to undermine an already collapsing China.

Three very different men, a disgraced Korean tribute courier, a bookish naval officer, and a polyglot third-class quartermaster realize they - with the sub rosa assistance from the US Asiatic Fleet - must foil Japanese subversion and highjack that gold for to finance a Korean insurrection. Three very different women complicate, and even complement, their efforts: an enigmatic changsan courtesan, a feisty Down East consular clerk, and a clever Chinese farm-girl.

It is a tale that wends through the outskirts of Peking to the Yukon River; from the San Francisco waterfront to a naval landing party isolated on a Woosung battlefield; from the US Asiatic Fleet moored in the Dreadnought Row anchorage to a junk on the Yangtze; and from the Korean gold mines of Unsan to a coaling quay in Shanghai. Though the heist is near flawless, something is a-kilter. Soon a foreign intelligence service, a revolutionary army, and two Chinese triads converge on a nation's ransom in gold. The outcome may hinge on a plan for the naval crews of a collier and a distillery ship to rescue nineteen ladies of the evening, conjoined with a major disciplinary breach.