Detective Dave Washburn has had a bad day. During a botched robbery by
members of the San Francisco Tong, three people were murdered and his
partner wounded. It seemed that things couldn’t get any worse until he met
his ex-wife who blamed him for their son’s death and their failed marriage.
But Washburn’s luck is about to change.
That night basketball star Johnny Chang is murdered and Washburn is
assigned to the case. What the detective doesn’t know is that Johnny had
found a formula in a rare manuscript that he believed was used by legendary
Chinese sages to achieve immortality. With the formula Johnny planned to
become the greatest Chinese basketball player ever, and he intended to
achieve immortality, literally to live forever.
In the course of a seemingly routine murder investigation Washburn, a
former champion boxer, begins looking for the obvious motives: hate,
jealousy, greed and sex. He has some interesting suspects. Paul Liang, the
head of the Tong, wants the manuscript and will let nothing stand in his
way. Master Han, Chinatown’s formidable Gung Fu master and Paul Liang’s
enforcer, has a grudge to settle with Washburn and may have killed Chang for
his boss. Sue Ellen, Johnny’s girlfriend, was the last one to see him alive
and is the mother of his child. Had the popular Johnny Chang run out on her
for another woman? Otis Smith, Johnny’s basketball rival, had a score to
settle with him.
To solve Johnny’s murder Washburn will have to enter into a world he did
not know existed. He will be confronted with a reality so awesome that it
will flip his belief system upside-down, and, like Johnny Chang, he will be
swept away on the wings of dragons.
Praise for the Book
”This is the first fiction book I've found that manages to combine a
murder mystery and the realm of Chinese arts so successfully. An excellent
read!" -- Karen Limb, Review for 'Tai Chi Chuan and Internal Arts
Magazine'
'On the Wings of Dragons' is a book that you'll have trouble putting
down. The love story between Johnny Chang and his girlfriend Sue Ellen, Dave
Washburn's own personal sorrows and challenges, and ancient Chinese myths of
immortality are all wrapped up into one package. The characters are well
rounded and have realistic human strengths and weaknesses. The novel is a
murder mystery/detective thriller with the excitement and quick pace of the
genre, yet it has a message beyond the drama. 'On the Wings of Dragons'
makes you wonder about your own immortality. --Reviewed by Miriam Kates
Lock (Freelance journalist)
If you like a touch of the exotic and the esoteric, then 'On the Wings of
Dragons' is the murder mystery for you. The main plot surrounds the death of
basketball star Johnny Chang. For Dave Washburn, a rather cynical and
depressed detective, Chang's murder seems a routine investigation until the
involvement of the Tong, some golden pills and a secret manuscript, which
turn it into a mystery with many layers, unlike anything he has experienced
before. The novel is very well written, with intriguing characters and
strong, believable dialogue. You will keep turning the pages, and maybe
fantasizing even after the last page is closed. --by Dvora Waysman
(Novelist, written for the Jerusalem Post)
