Kirkus Reviews:
“Delaney has been covering China since the mid-1990s for such outlets as Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg News, and the South China Morning Post (where he’s currently the U.S. bureau chief), and he’s clearly the right person to tell this story—a trustworthy guide and a fine example of ‘write what you know.’ He ably tells a tale of a China in the midst of transformation, as in a poignant vignette in which a starving Dawei stands transfixed outside a Häagen-Dazs ice-cream parlor, trying to make sense of it all.”
The full review
Writer’s Digest features the story behind The Wounded Muse:
Robert F. Delaney discusses the process of writing his debut novel, which serves as a case study into the unique experience of writing about a true story that, at the time of its occurrence, received significant media coverage.
The full piece
Former Quill & Quire editor/publisher and distinguished Canadian arts critic, Susan Walker, reviews The Wounded Muse.
A well constructed page-turner, Robert F. Delaney’s first novel is for Canadians watching the Huawei affair play out, a timely expose of what it’s like to operate in China as a North American, whether it be as a journalist, an investor or even a spy.
East Asia Book Review:
“The Wounded Muse is an exciting yet grounded thriller set in Beijing during the years leading up to the 2008 Olympics. It’s a wonderful setting in time and place; here was the People’s Republic of China getting ready to celebrate its arrival on the world stage as a great power. Beijing was being readied to showcase a new prosperous and “open” China, but such perfection sometimes requires a heavy hand.”
The full review
The Hindu:
“Robert F. Delaney’s immersive experiences — as a Chinese-speaking financial journalist who had front-row seats to one of the most awe-inspiring economic miracles and who soaked up the local culture for nearly two decades from 1995 — qualify him as a confirmed ‘Old China Hand’. And in The Wounded Muse, a novel based on real-life events, he distills all his experiential learnings to craft a thrilling narrative of international intrigue set in a Beijing in the throes of sweeping change in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games.”
The full review
The Compulsive Reader:
“The external and internal settings of the novel bring out its luscious and complex themes. In addition to sensational descriptions of Beijing bars, street corners, and apartments, the novel also delves into the nooks and crannies of the human heart. All four of the main characters are gay men, each with his own challenges to love, but not without an ample supply of vividly portrayed sexual pleasure. The messy personal interplay mirrors political collusion the men are up against. The tumultuous cityscapes are the perfect backdrop for the rocky relationships the novel explores.”
The full review
Spy Museum:
SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with award winning author and journalist Robert Delaney, who has been covering China as a journalist for more than 20 years.
The podcast
It’s All Journalism:
“Robert Delaney, author of the upcoming novel The Wounded Muse, fell into his career as a journalist and writer. He also fell into his specialty. He can, in part, thank his kung fu instructor.”
The podcast
DryCleanerCast:
On this episode we are joined by author and journalist Robert F. Delaney and we discuss the inspiration behind his new China set book “The Wounded Muse”
The podcast
Monkey Bicycle:
Welcome to another installment of If My Book, the Monkeybicyclefeature in which authors shed light on their recently released books by comparing them to weird things. This week Robert F. Delaney writes about his debut novel, The Wounded Muse, published by Mosaic Press.
The list
Open Book:
The WAR series: Writers as Readers, with Robert F. Delaney
The Q&A
Chinese Literature Podcast:
Lee interviews China journalist and author, Robert Delaney, who has just published a novel which is semi-autobiographical, in which a film-maker disappears into the maw of the Chinese police.
The podcast
The Wounded Muse 