STEALING THE DRAGON

REVIEWS

"Yay, a brisk caper with Jackie Chan echoes involves former cop Cape Weathers, a PI, in a plot stretching from Hong Kong to San Francisco and featuring a fabulous sensei named Sally. Though action driven—the opener aboard the ship is a stunner—the characterizations are strong, and Cape and Sally are keepers. Cornelia Read and Lee Child rate it A, Child saying: "Tough, original, compelling." I curled up and couldn't put it down. Some books should be just for fun, she says having once spent the entire hydrofoil trip from Hong Kong to Macao watching my first Chan flick. Rob nearly killed me."
—Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen

"In STEALING THE DRAGON, first-time novelist Tim Maleeny gives us an exercise in pulp, noir and kung fu, all rolled into one: three great tastes that go great together.
   In what promises to be the start of a continuing series, Maleeny introduces us to Cape Weathers, a private investigator based in San Francisco. STEALING THE DRAGON is balanced between two storylines, one of which has Cape digging up information about a ship that crashed on the rocks of Alcatraz—one which was holding Chinese refugees sneaking into the country as slave labor.
   The other story concerns Cape's sometimes partner Sally, a lesbian Triad assassin, and delves deeply into how she became such a person, from when her parents were killed to the training and then initial missions. The two narratives converge later in the novel when Triad business becomes a focal point.
   What's not to love? Just strap yourself in for a non-stop fun read with this one. If you're not frothing at the mouth already, you're reading the wrong books. Cape is your typical P.I. that has been covered before—nothing new, just more of a smart ass than others. Still, you feel for him as he investigates, cracking wise throughout the story.
   Sally's storyline easily could have been a separate book. With the chapters alternating between the two, you'll never be bored. An obligatory shocker comes late in the game, and Maleeny—an excellent short-story writer—does not tip his hand at all with it, which is a nice change of pace for this mystery reader.
   Look, no one is going to confuse this book with high art. STEALING THE DRAGON is a modern-day pulp that we so desperately crave here at BOOKGASM. I, for one, want more Cape adventures, and I want them now."
   —Bruce Grossman, Bookgasm.com