Hamburger Heaven

Where were you in the roaring 80s? Sam Khost was nearing the end of a five-year round-the-world pilgrimage to the university of life: immersed in the alcohol, lechery and camaraderie of the purgatory culture of misfits and runaways in Taipei's Combat Zone. Ensconced in this grungy, smoke-grimed bar-street backwater, among the littering of this bizarre collection of castaways, Sam finally achieves his own personal nirvana while giving the most astounding and authentic musical performance of his life. His body seemed to fade away and his raw emotions became one and the same with his instrument, manifesting in music all his sadness and joy, his pain and lust, fear and triumph, and rhapsodizing the attainment of his complete emancipation. It was now time to go home. But fate intervenes to force one last stop on his journey: Hamburger Heaven. Trapped in its Sisyphean tangles, will he ever escape the menagerie of Taipei's Hamburger Heaven?

Lawrence Allen lived in Greater China for 20 years. While at university his parents made an early, pioneering trip to China in 1980. Intrigued by their photos and tales from a newly emerging China, Lawrence linked his interest in international business with his fascination for China. He launched his career serving various executive roles with multinational companies in Taipei, Taiwan in 1989, followed by postings in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. Allen’s first novel Tree of Liberty: Trilogy was published in a single volume February 2014. The third book of the series, Tree of Liberty: Revolution, was published independently January 2015. His novel Hang Neck Ridge was published March 2015. Allen’s first book was non-fiction, Chocolate Fortunes: The Battle for the Hearts, Minds, and Wallets of China’s Consumers (AMACOM 2010), a China business book that chronicles the quarter-century battle between the world’s chocolate companies for the hearts, minds, and taste buds of China’s emerging chocolate consumers.