The Headmaster's Wager, by Vincent Lam

I'm not sure if I didn't like this book because of the topic -- war -- or if it was the work itself.  I guess it says a lot in the fact that I finished the book, but it was tough.  I skipped torture pages and other areas that seemed to be filled with more words than substance.  Again, I'm not sure if I'm criticizing the writing or just the terrible infliction of war onto my psyche. 

I'm also biased as I like novels with rich characters. I was getting pretty frustrated with Percival Chen and his inability to grow.  He was not a good father, but he proved to be loving, in the end.  I just wonder if his son actually knew he was loved so passionately.  Some of the other characters were stock types.  Mak appeared to be such until Lam gave the reader an opportunity to see his conflict as he had to torture Percival. 

I'm glad I finished the work, but I am ready for something completely different. Below is a review from Publishers Weekly:

Lam's latest (after Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures) is a masterfully paced exploration of a world convulsed by war, wherein faith and reason no longer hold sway. Percival Chen, an affluent Chinese English instructor in late 1960s Saigon, is determined to escape the politics of war-torn Vietnam, profiting from the sidelines instead. He instructs his son, Dai Jai, to remain faithful only to their Chinese heritage, not realizing that even this allegiance has become a deadly liability. Obeying his father's edict, Dai Jai is arrested by Vietnamese authorities, and Percival exhausts his shady connections in his attempts to rescue Dai Jai from the brutality of the police. Meanwhile, Percival falls in love with Jacqueline-a mixed-race prostitute with ulterior motives-despite the objections of his loyal friend Mak, a man embroiled in his own mysterious affairs. Lam marshals his characters with humor, suspense, and tenderness as the fall of Saigon looms. Even as Percival navigates the minefield of shifting ideologies, treachery, and paranoia-incurring one inconceivable cost upon another-his devotion suffuses every page. Lam depicts a world caught in an implacable cycle of violence, leavened only by the grace of a father's love.