“Dragon Day…is a nonstop thriller, illuminating the Chinese police state in which ‘First they decide you’re a threat. Then they find a label for it.’ Top-notch international crime fiction.” Booklist (starred review)
“Here are three excellent crime novels for the heat of summer — this month’s recommendations for Books Mostly Likely to Have Sunblock Spilled on Them…Brackmann is terrific at evoking both the glitz of modern high-society China and Ellie’s hand-to-mouth existence in some of Beijing’s less reputable corners.” Seattle Times
A Seattle Times Top 10 Mystery of the year: “Ellie McEnroe, a funny, shrewd Iraq war vet with a bad leg and a worse attitude, is scraping by in Beijing. Her friendship with a dissident artist puts her in the orbit of a Shanghai billionaire, and she accepts his request to investigate his son’s creepy business partner. Brackmann is terrific at contrasting the glitz of modern high-society China with Beijing’s less reputable neighborhoods.”
An AsiaHouse Best Book of the year: “Lisa Brackmann’s endearing but intensely frustrating character Ellie McEnroe had her swansong in Dragon Day, which had echoes of the Neil Heywood case. Dragon Day got off to a tremendous start when Brackmann, talking through the signature wry voice of Ellie, acknowledged what a cliché it is to use dragon in the title of a book on China…pacey and fun.”
“Brackmann always manages to keep you on the edge of your seat and teach you something about that country at the same time. Not to be missed.” Huffington Post
“One of crime fiction’s most successful portrayals of China and the Chinese art world…［Ellie] is absolutely convincing, both as a character and as a witness to an unpredictable realm where past, present, and future constantly collide.”The Life Sentence (FEATURE: Lisa Brackmann 101)
“Rambunctious, well-plotted . . . Readers will be sorry to see the last of Ellie.” Publishers Weekly
“This novel had me hooked from the very first page…Ellie is a complex character molded in the fine tradition of noir investigators: tough but damaged, a moral soul caught up in a world of corruption. Her unique circumstances—encompassing physical and emotional trauma in America, Iraq, and now China—bring a fresh take on the genre, immersing the sophisticated reader in a tale at once exotic in its details but familiar in its inherent hard-boiled truths.” CriminalElement.com
“Ellie McEnroe, a veteran of Iraq with a limp to remember it by, is one of the liveliest new characters I have run across lately…
…Ellie’s rapid-fire, profanity-laced narration is like a bullet-train tour of daily life in China, one vignette after another, sometimes verging on poetry.” McClatchy
“Ellie McEnroe is back in the third book of the series, and just as stubbornly lovable as ever. As an Iraq War veteran suffering from PTSD, Ellie’s background sheds light on an important subject while not being overt or political. The setting is intriguing, creating a strong contrast to the western ways of Ellie, who finds herself again in the middle of a dangerous situation she did not ask for. Dark, mysterious and engaging, Dragon Day is a must-read.” Romantic Times
“As soon as I read the opening lines of Lisa Brackmann’s new China-set crime thriller, Dragon Day, I knew I was going to enjoy it every bit as much as I had anticipated. At initial glance, the book indulges in the two ultimate China clichés — that “dragon” title and its red cover —but with those first four sentences, Brackmann delivers a big wink to her readers: Don’t worry. You might think you know what’s coming, but you have no idea.” Los Angeles Review of Books
Read an interview with Lisa in the San Diego Union Tribune.
Read an interview with Lisa in the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Read an interview with Lisa in Crimespree Magazine.
Read an interview with Lisa in New In Books.
