The Shanghai Gesture

A mysterious bout of narcolepsy has overtaken the seaside hamlet of Land's End, a funk endemic to the region since the wreckage a century earlier of the ship The Ardent Somdomite. Inspector Weymouth Smith and unconvinced cohort Dr. Obregon Petrie attempt to thwart Fu Manchu's latest ploy for world domination while confronting South American piyas, matching wits with a clubfooted ex-STASI, as well as battling the latest technological crazes and their own drug dependencies.
The Shanghai Gesture is not a genre farce, but a compelling tale that merges the author's trademark eye for social satire with the poetic sensibilities of his previous novels.