He was chasing a career-making story. But this disturbing mystery has already gone viral…

Freelance journalist Nathan Troy is a global citizen looking for eye-opening news. Living in Beijing, he stumbles upon a ward full of patients afflicted with an unknown deadly disease. Facing closed doors and open hostility, he won’t rest until he exposes the dark conspiracy.

But as he digs deeper for answers, mysterious figures try to scare him off the trail with tortuous violence. To his horror, it looks as though there’s no stopping a shadowy cabal of mad scientists from wielding an epidemic designed for ethnic cleansing…

Can Nathan uncover the truth, or will his shocking scoop land him in the morgue?

The Year of the Rabid Dragon is the first book in the Nathan Troy Mystery series. If you’re curious about nefarious uses for CRISPR technology, boots-on-the-ground reporters, and vibrant Chinese culture, then you’ll love L. H. Draken’s thought-provoking novel.

Buy The Year of the Rabid Dragon to unmask a modern-day scandal today!

With the 1989 Beijing massacre fading from popular memory in the West, China from the mid-1990s to a few years ago felt more open than ever to global trade, communication, travel, and cultural and educational exchanges. There was even talk in the mainstream press that China was heading toward a more democratic future. It was during this second Sino-Western honeymoon that authors in the US, Canada, France, the UK, and elsewhere began writing mystery fiction set in contemporary China in their regional languages. These “China mysteries”—crime, detective, and mystery thriller novels that take place in China but were not written or published there—formed a new genre of popular fiction that highlighted the world’s hopes and fears after Tiananmen. The multinational and multicultural writers of China mysteries, among them ex-PRC nationals like Qiu Xiaolong, Zhang Xinxin, and Diane Wei Liang, converged on the China Mainland to negotiate political and cultural complexities through crime fiction plotlines. Their books emerged from Western lineages of the modern novel and popular genre fiction—with Chinese contributions—and depended on Western commercial publishing models shaped by cultural, national, political, and economic factors. This work examines more than a hundred China mysteries—many describing and analyzing social and economic changes at the center of modern life in China—to provide a brief history of the genre and analyze the formulaic and original elements of the mysteries, including their attention to matters of location, social content, characterization, history, and biography. It also highlights the role of “information” acquisition as a motivation for readers and authors of popular fiction, which has become a topic of discussion in Chinese literature studies. With its timely commentary on Sino-Western relations as presented through crime fiction, China Mysteries will appeal to students and scholars of contemporary Chinese literature and culture, as well as fans of crime novels and others who are curious about the global dimensions of the genre and how it complicates our understanding of “world literature.”

Despite its significant growth over the past five years, the mobile and social videogame industry is still maturing at a rapid rate. Due to various storage and visual and sound asset restrictions, mobile and social gaming must have innovative storytelling techniques. Narrative Tactics grants readers practical advice for improving narrative design and game writing for mobile and social games, and helps them rise to the challenge of mobile game storytelling. The first half of the book covers general storytelling techniques, including worldbuilding, character design, dialogue, and quests. In the second half, leading experts in the field explore various genres and types of mobile and social games, including educational games, licensed IP, games for specific demographics, branding games, and free to play (F2P). Key Features The only book dedicated to narrative design and game writing in social and mobile games, an explosive market overtaking the console gaming market. Provides tips for narrative design and writing tailored specifically for mobile and social game markets. Guides readers along with conclusions that include questions to help the reader in narrative design and/or writing. Explores real games to illustrate theory and best practices with analyses of game case studies per chapter, covering indie, social/mobile, and AAA games. Includes checklists to help readers critique their own narrative design/writing.

Sanity is overrated in this “captivating, funny, exciting” fantasy adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Scarred Earth Saga (Smexy Books). Some things never go away, like vile enemies, bad ale, and annoying kin. But I thought I was finished with the one dragon I’d have done anything for: Éibhear the Blue, a big, gorgeous, blue-haired beast who thinks the world belongs to him. The world and, apparently, me. So if Éibhear wants to play the caring hero and travel into the most forsaken of Gods forsaken lands to protect the one woman who doesn’t need it—namely me—I’ll let him. Because while I’m trying to fulfill a ridiculous quest for a pushy god, I’m going to draw this overconfident warlord much too close, rekindle his fires, and enjoy every minute of his delicious defeat . . . Praise for the Dragon Kin Series “Aiken’s patented mix of bloodthirsty action, crazy scenarios and hilarious dialogue have made this series a truly unique pleasure.”—RT Book Reviews (4½ Stars) “A chest thumping, mead-hall rocking, enemy slaying brawl of a good book.”—All Things Urban Fantasy “Laugh-out-loud funny—I loved it!”—Thea Harrison, New York Times bestselling author "A hot, hot series." --Library Journal

"Excellently written . . . vivid and authoritative" --George F. Kennan

An electrifying thriller debut set in modern China, in a world of artists, paranoid revolutionaries and government conspiracies... First she tried to start over. Now she's just trying to survive. ON HER OWN Ellie Cooper's tour of duty in Iraq left her with a damaged leg, a faithless husband, and a desperate need to get away. In Beijing, she falls for charismatic Chinese artist Lao Zhang but, after the arrival of a mysterious guest, he disappears... ON THE RUN Her cheating husband, Trey, tracks her down to demand a divorce. But far more disturbing are the Chinese and American agents who begin to hound Ellie for Lao Zhang's whereabouts. AND A LONG WAY FROM HOME When things suddenly turn threatening, Ellie turns fugitive, convinced there's a hidden agenda - one that involves something she should never have seen in Iraq - something that could get her killed. Now she's alone, in a country she barely knows, falling down a rabbit hole of conspiracies from which she can't escape...

The Dragons in Our Midst series is a modern-day Arthurian adventure following a boy with fire breath and a girl with dragon wings as they battle against a thousand-year-old dragon slayer. Readers will be drawn to the hair-raising adventure with relevant themes like trusting friends, compassion, forgiveness, loyalty to family, faith, and light triumphing over darkness. This complete set includes the four books in the Dragons in Our Midst series: Raising Dragons: Outcasts Billy and Bonnie must come together to preserve a thousand-year-old secret legacy. Thrust into an evil war they didn’t even know existed; the teens’ newly formed friendship will be tested as they battle a blood thirsty dragon slayer who wields a powerful, medieval weapon. This unlikely pair will try to save their dragon heritage before it’s destroyed forever. The Candlestone: Billy and Bonnie learn to use their unique strengths as they battle powerful enemies wielding the candlestone, an ancient gemstone weapon used against dragons. Circles of Seven: Billy and Bonnie discover seven evil circles in a multidimensional world. Tears of a Dragon: Billy and Bonnie will be forced to make the greatest decision of their lives—a choice that will change their world forever. Dive into a world filled with knights, dragons, fair maidens in a war against good and evil.

A determined dragonslayer and his rag-tag band of adventurers stumble upon a secret that the dragons have been doing their best to hide. This new omnibus edition collects the novels "The Rage, The Rite," and "The Ruin."