About If You Don’t Go
* Silver Medal Winner, Global Book Awards *
* Free on 1/27/2026-1/31/2026, discounted 2/1/2026-2/2/2026*
A vanished CEO. A return to China. A past and a fortune that won’t stay buried.
Chinese-American patent attorney Alice Zhu hasn’t set foot in her home country since emigrating as a teenager more than thirty years ago. She has built a stable, successful life in the States, her legal practice anchored by a lucrative client: a China-based tech company run by her childhood friend, the brilliant but volatile CEO Deckard Shen.
But when Deckard suddenly ghosts her, leaving behind a massive unpaid legal bill and troubling rumors, Alice has no choice but to confront old wounds and return to Shanghai to save her career.
What begins as a routine business trip quickly spirals into a far more emotional and perilous search for a man who may not wish to be found. Teaming up with the sharp and unpredictable Duan Lili, Alice is pulled into a web of corporate intrigue, illegal operations, and buried secrets. From Shanghai’s tech corridors to Nanjing’s gleaming towers to Sichuan’s remote mountain villages, every clue raises more questions. Is Deckard running from powerful enemies, or his own shadow? Is the rumored cache of Bitcoin his salvation, or his undoing?
Interwoven with Alice’s search are vivid recollections of a mind under siege. The past and present collide in memories of China in the 1970s and 1980s, a time marked by political upheaval, teenage rebellion, and a shared misadventure that nearly ended in disaster. With a crypto fortune on the line and their lives hanging in the balance, Alice and Deckard must reckon with their deeply held beliefs, and the truths they can no longer ignore.
Perfect for readers who enjoy:
– International thrillers with immersive settings
– Corporate and political intrigue
– Character-driven story with psychological depth
– Complex plot filled with suspense, heart, and unexpected turns
– Dual timelines shaped by modern Chinese history
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Author Bio:
Diana Hongcha has worked as both an attorney and a part-time middle school teacher. She dreams of one day splitting her time between Chengdu, China, and Bozeman, Montana, while wrangling a busy family life. For now, international living remains more of a fantasy than a plan.
Like the protagonist in her book, Diana grew up in China and emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager, but that’s where the similarities end. She travels to China often for work and family, and those trips continue to shape her view of a country that’s both deeply familiar and ever-changing. Recognizing that China remains misunderstood in the West despite its constant presence in the headlines, Diana—a lifelong mystery and thriller lover—set out to bridge that gap through a suspenseful, compelling story set in her home country. A self-described nerd, she also wanted to learn the technical details of Bitcoin and add a layer of intrigue to the novel. Writing If You Don’t Go allowed her to weave these threads together.
www.dianahongcha.com