The Snakehead

An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream

By: Patrick Radden Keefe

Narrated by: Feodor Chin

In the 1980s, a wave of Chinese from Fujian province began arriving in America. Like other immigrant groups before them, they showed up with little money but with an intense work ethic and an unshakeable belief in the promise of the United States. Many of them lived in a world outside the law, working in a shadow economy overseen by the ruthless gangs that ruled the narrow streets of New York's Chinatown.

The figure who came to dominate this Chinese underworld was a middle-aged grandmother known as Sister Ping. Her path to the American dream began with an unusual business run out of a tiny noodle store on Hester Street. From her perch above the shop, Sister Ping ran a full-service underground bank for illegal Chinese immigrants. But her real business - a business that earned an estimated $40 million - was smuggling people.

As a "snakehead", she built a complex and often vicious global conglomerate, relying heavily on familial ties, and employing one of Chinatown's most violent gangs to protect her power and profits. Like an underworld CEO, Sister Ping created an intricate smuggling network that stretched from Fujian Province to Hong Kong to Burma to Thailand to Kenya to Guatemala to Mexico. Her ingenuity and drive were awe-inspiring both to the Chinatown community, where she was revered as a homegrown Don Corleone, and to the law enforcement officials who could never quite catch her.

Indeed, Sister Ping's empire only came to light in 1993 when the Golden Venture, a ship loaded with 300 undocumented immigrants, ran aground off a Queens beach. It took New York's fabled "Jade Squad" and the FBI nearly 10 years to untangle the criminal network and home in on its unusual mastermind.

The Snakehead is a panoramic tale of international intrigue and a dramatic portrait of the underground economy in which America's 12 million illegal immigrants live.

©2009 Patrick Radden Keefe (P)2009 Random House

Terrific

Keefe is a gifted writer who makes non-fiction sound like a novel. I never miss reading one of his works. Don’t miss this one.

A sliver of history

Incredible to learn so much about an instance in time and a trade that affects our world today. With so much of the current events revolving around immigration, so little of it is illuminated and contextualized in way the author does.

Awesome

Again another great true story written by Patrick Radden K . Interesting story about immigration . Worth the listening

Excellent

I will read anything written by Mr Keene. He is a wonderful writer. Amazing research and a wonderful look at the migration problem.

Great Story

Fascinating investigative work of the colossal issue of illegal immigration and the closed Chinese society.

Little Old Ladies Are Criminals Too

Would you consider the audio edition of The Snakehead to be better than the print version?

I vaguely remember the news about the leading incident in the book, wherein a ship wrecks and discharges its payload of would-be immigrants on a riverbank in NYC, as close to its destination as possible. The story about the search for the ultimate head of the business, who turns out to be a Chinese grandmother businesswoman who sees herself as helping her neighbors (at $30,000 a pop) is enlightening, particularly now when most of the news stories are about immigrants smuggled over the US-Mexican border. Not only Mexicans are being smuggled via that route, and it's been said Kazakh nuclear weapons could be brought in. Just yesterday, in Russia, an Iranian was caught trying to smuggle nuclear material out of the country by airplane--he was released, but his material stayed in the country. For how long? The US government hires minimum wage flunkeys to

What other book might you compare The Snakehead to and why?

I've never seen any similar book.

Deep Dive on Immigration

Such a difficult topic for citizens to understand! An excellent read that will open your eyes to both the history and hopefully an understanding of how deep the solutions to illegal immigration and human smuggling run. Without some understanding, we cannot begin to address the problems we face.

Another well told story by Mr. Patrick Radden Keefe!

Another well told story by Mr. Patrick Radden Keefe! Great perspective from both sides of our ongoing immigration issues.

Fascinating book on immigration, migration .

Fascinating book on immigration, migration, and the Underworld. Author did a great job. Great balance of history, politics exit right in the human story

Gripping start to finish

First rate non-fiction storytelling and excellent performance/narration. Unforgettable characters. Keefe profoundly demystifies a world anyone who’s ever visited NYC’s Chinatown has surely wondered about.