Hidden Abyss

袁帅 / 施屹Jul 2025

Rating 3.3

Word count: 341K words
Chapters: 39

Summary

In January 1940, Liang Shuo, an underground Party operative, wakes in a mountain snowstorm with a head injury and no memory. Following clues to Shanghai in search of his identity, he is caught in a Japanese manhunt and begins to suspect he is a member of the Kuomintang's Military Statistics Bureau. Men from the Wang Jingwei regime's No. 76 also find him and claim he is the head of its operations division. The Japanese and Wang regimes are about to hold a joint "Peace and Co-Prosperity Conference," after which a group of refugee laborers under tight Japanese confinement will be sent to the front, their lives hanging by a thread. The Party devises Operation Abyss to rescue these compatriots at the time of the conference, but at this critical moment the underground operative tasked with carrying it out, "Qingshuang," has vanished. Amid the layered traps of the Japanese and puppet agents, Liang Shuo recovers his memory: he is Qingshuang. Holding fast to his Communist faith, he risks himself and returns to No. 76 to find a chance to save his compatriots. He learns that a Japanese spy list sealed for over a decade will also be activated at the conference, and to complete Operation Abyss he must seize it. Liang Shuo rallies all the patriotic forces around him, shatters the Japanese scheme, and saves more than a thousand refugees.

Editor's review

Set in Shanghai in early 1940, Operation Abyss follows Liang Shuo, an amnesiac underground Party operative, as he searches for his identity and gradually uncovers his true face as "Qingshuang." The novel's greatest strength lies in how tightly it binds the loss of personal memory to the peril of the nation: Liang Shuo moves between the Japanese manhunt, No. 76's overtures, and Operation Abyss, and the reader reasons, tests, and chooses alongside him in an environment where friend and foe are hard to tell apart. The author writes the workings of the Japanese-puppet secret police and the tension of maneuvering through multiple identities in fine detail; the plot advances through gaps in information and contests of human intent rather than pure action, giving the reading a step-by-step sense of pressure. The fate of more than a thousand refugee laborers and the Japanese spy list sealed for over a decade converge at the "Peace and Co-Prosperity Conference," lending the suspense narrative a heavy historical grounding. Best read over several consecutive evenings; the relationships are complex, and picking it up and putting it down makes it easy to lose the thread. For readers who enjoy spy fiction, identity puzzles, and the War of Resistance backdrop, this is a work that leaves something to think about beyond its tension.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy spy novels set against the War of Resistance and crave the tension of underground work and maneuvering between identities
Suspense readers interested in amnesia-driven identity search and double or even multiple identity puzzles
Historical fiction fans drawn to the details and atmosphere of Japanese-puppet rule in Shanghai around 1940
Readers who want to see how faith is reaffirmed in extreme circumstances

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer light slice-of-life or sweet romance and do not want tense, oppressive atmosphere
Readers sensitive to violent interrogation and the brutality of war who wish to avoid it entirely
Readers expecting pure historical research or documentary nonfiction and unwilling to accept fictional characters and plot

Reading tips

First sort out the relationships among Liang Shuo, No. 76, the Military Statistics Bureau, and the Party; jot down identities as you go to avoid confusing the threads.
Read the first half through Liang Shuo's amnesiac perspective and resist flipping ahead, preserving the suspense of the identity reveal.
Where the Operation Abyss thread and the Japanese spy list converge, look back at earlier foreshadowing to better appreciate the narrative design.
After finishing, consult background material on occupied Shanghai in 1940 to understand the novel's choices and inventions in building historical atmosphere.

版权信息
01 雪夜
02 上海
03 书生
04 76号
05 月光
06 军统
07 严公馆
08 审讯
09 试探
10 虚实
11 暗涌
12 江风酒楼
13 樵苏
14 密码
15 遇险
16 平田
17 骨蛆
18 合作
19 围捕
20 家宴
21 骨蛆
22 覆灭
23 复仇
24 旧情
25 遭擒
26 押送
27 营救
28 名单
29 逃跑
30 登场
31 叛徒
32 失忆
33 雪明
34 名单
35 血仇
36 大会
37 潜渊
38 尾声

FAQ

I've never read a spy novel. Can I start with this one?

Yes. The novel unfolds from Liang Shuo's post-amnesia perspective, and the reader acquires information in step with him, which makes it naturally accessible. The identity layers are numerous, though, so pay attention to the names of the various factions; when you encounter an unfamiliar agency, note it down rather than stopping to look it up, and things will become clearer as the plot progresses.

Is the historical background in the book real?

The story is set in Shanghai in early 1940 and draws on historical elements such as the Wang Jingwei regime's No. 76 and the Japanese-Wang "Peace and Co-Prosperity Conference," but the main characters and Operation Abyss are fictional. Read it as a spy story grounded in authentic historical atmosphere, not as documentary nonfiction.

Does the protagonist's amnesia slow down the plot?

Amnesia is the core mechanism driving the narrative, not a delaying device. Liang Shuo actively seeks his identity according to clues while being fought over by various factions, and memory recovery advances in step with external crises, keeping the pace tight. If you prefer protagonists who are straightforward from the start, you may need to adjust to the exploratory feel of the early sections.

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About the author

袁帅 Author

Yuan Shuai is an author about whom limited public information is available. Three of his works are currently included in the collection, covering exam preparation, applied psychology, and social fiction. The Application of PKPM Software addresses the practical operation and study of engineering software for readers who need to master the tool. The Fly Effect turns to applied psychology, using concepts and phenomena to explore human behavior and psychological mechanisms. Shenyuan is a social novel that leans toward narrative and observation of social reality. Spanning technology, psychology, and literature, these three works show the author's attempts in different fields. As his dates of birth and death, nationality, and educational background are not clearly recorded, further biographical details cannot be supplied; readers may come to know his concerns and manner of expression mainly through the works mentioned above.

施屹 Author

Shi Yi is a Chinese author about whom relatively limited public information is currently available. Only one work by this author is included in the collection, the novel Shenyuan (Hidden Abyss). Judging from its common classification, the book is regarded as a social novel, suggesting that its subject matter leans toward realistic social life and may center on characters' circumstances, choices, and fates within a specific social environment, rather than relying on fantasy or alternate history. Because the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, English name, and personal biography cannot be reliably confirmed, it is difficult to say more about the author's creative development or literary background. On the available evidence, Shi Yi's profile as a writer awaits further works and information; Shenyuan serves as the main entry point for understanding this author, and through this social novel readers may observe the author's narrative concerns and language style.