One of China's bestselling novels, an unusual literary thriller that takes us deep into the world of code breaking In his gripping debut novel, Mai Jia reveals the mysterious world of Unit 701, a top-secret Chinese intelligence agency whose sole purpose is counterespionage and code breaking. Rong Jinzhen, an autistic math genius with a past shrouded in myth, is forced to abandon his academic pursuits when he is recruited into Unit 701. As China's greatest cryptographer, Rong discovers that the mastermind behind the maddeningly difficult Purple Code is his former teacher and best friend, who is now working for China's enemy―but this is only the first of many betrayals. Brilliantly combining the mystery and tension of a spy thriller with the psychological nuance of an intimate character study and the magical qualities of a Chinese fable, Decoded discovers in cryptography the key to the human heart. Both a riveting mystery and a metaphysical examination of the mind of an inspired genius, it is the first novel to be published in English by one of China's greatest and most popular contemporary writers. *Starred Review* Yan Shi, an aging Chinese code-cracker, views his life labor as “a sort of madness that pulls you close to insanity and to genius.” Readers skate the line separating insanity from genius in Mai Jia’s riveting tale of cryptographic warfare. At the center of Mai Jia’s taut novel, the mathematical genius Rong Jinzhen is spirited away as a young man to China’s secretive Unit 701, an elite cadre of code masters. There Jinzhen encounters the hero who broke WWII Japanese ciphers, now a helpless, chess-playing lunatic. Such is the peril Jinzhen faces as he launches his own lonely assault on PURPLE, the fiendish brainchild of his own former professor. In a narrative challenging readers to do their own decoding of its ruptures and inversions, readers see the brilliant protagonist survive daunting psychological dangers as he unravels PURPLE, inspired by a dream about the Russian chemist Mendeleyev. But when PURPLE’s sinister sibling, BLACK, emerges as the new foe, Jinzhen ventures forth again, veering toward mental breakdown when he loses a research notebook. A denouement at once heartbreaking and thought-provoking leaves readers pondering the collective sanity of a world shrouding knowledge in enigmas. Gifted translators bring English-speaking readers a Chinese literary treasure. --Bryce Christensen “[A]n entirely original work--a mix of spy thriller, historical saga and mathematical puzzle that somehow coheres into a powerful whole.” ― The Financial Times “ Decoded , the debut work of Mai Jia, breaks the mould . . . It stands out among Chinese novels for its pace, liveliness and the sheer novelty of the tale it tells. It grips from the first page. [Mai Jia] offers a beguiling and magical mystery tour of China. It is an absolute joy to read.” ― The Economist “There is a determination to unsettle the reader; an uneasiness abotu settling on one focused point of view, almost as if the narrative style is attempting to replicate the complexities of code breaking that lie at the heart of the novel . . . [ Decoded ] possesses an aesthetic of its own, a world in which the characters feel constantly teetering on the edge of obsession.” ― Tash Aw, The Telegraph “[ Decoded ]'s consuming interest--and it truly is a page turner--comes from its…gripping plot, otherworldly aura and flamboyant detail.” ― Perry Link, The New York Times Book Review “ Decoded is a subtle and complex exploration of cryptography, politics, dreams and their significance . . . In the end, it's the complexity of the characters that is Decoded 's enduring pleasure.” ― The London Review of Books “Subtle and psychologically focused . . . the central story is a gripping one . . . it leaves you eager to read more of his work.” ― Alexander Larman, The Observer “A mixture of Kafka and Agatha Christie . . . An utterly fascinating read.” ― Edward Wilson, The Independent “The book's subtle ambiguity is extended to its own conclusion, the decoding of which the reader is compelled to take part in.” ― The Wall Street Journal “An engaging and highly unusual read.” ― The Sunday Independent “ Decoded is a subtle and complex exploration of cryptography, politics, dreams and their significance . . . There is much of interest in this book, from the strange, superstitious beginning to the gradual decline of the Rong family as the twentieth century progresses . . . But, in the end, it is the complexity of the characters that is Decoded's enduring pleasure.” ― The Times Literary Supplement “Between the thrills of pulp fiction and those novels which come to be considered classics, there are boundaries and lines which, for many writers, are difficult to cross, and may take a lifetime (if ever) to realize. Mai Jia's achievement is that he has overcome that barrier with steady and assured strides. The footprints he has left behind form an ingenious, secretive li