Stealing the Dragon: Tim Maleeny

A container ship carrying hundreds of Chinese refugees runs aground on Alcatraz, its crew murdered with deadly precision…

And thus begins a no-holds-barred whodunit filled with complex mystery, organized crime, and murder. Cape Weathers, ex-cop and PI, is stuck right in the middle of the mayhem. He has more than a sneaking suspicion his partner and friend, Sally, is involved in the murders…or even responsible. But he can’t question her because Sally, a trained assassin, has disappeared into thin air. And Cape isn’t the only one with their suspicions about Sally. The local cops are quite interested, too.

As the story unfolds, it’s evident The Triads are responsible. The crime groups wanted something on board that ship, except that very important something has gone missing. In order to escape with his life, Cape needs to find out what that something is – and who has it. Things take quite an intriguing turn when there’s a bounty on his head and a very dead body in his trunk. And where is the mysterious Sally?

This novel hits the ground running and never lets up. Maleeny takes a lush, San Francisco-style noir and turns it on its head with plenty of gusto. The story flips back and forth between Cape’s present and Sally’s past and present, and it’s an interesting -- and elaborate -- twist. We get the crime, the suspect(s), and victim(s) and how the three are tied together, but following Sally’s motivation from a tragic childhood adds a depth rarely found in today’s crime fiction.

I’m very impressed with this debut in the series. It’s got a lot of promise, and I can’t wait for the next adventure!
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Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: MIDNIGHT INK (March 1, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0738709972
ISBN-13: 978-0738709970
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