The Dragon's Last Gasp

Set during the post-Vietnam war era . the main character survives an inner city environment plagued with alcoholism and poverty. He is a quiet, educated, street wise recovering heroin addict who decides to move to stately Lakewood Ohio. It is a small reserved town, mostly composed of white burgher-types. It is integrated with blacks and some immigrants who are, for the most part, peaceable. Peace, though, had eluded the big city nearby in recent months. During this time the city lies in the grip of a serial murderers rampage against young women. The Dragons Last Gasp opens up on Clevelands streets, Woude Woods first novel, where you ride shotgun on a classy American suspense/detective fiction. Woods hero, Paul Long drives a classic vintage Fleetwood as he canvasses Clevelands inner city following the terrifying trail inside the killers stomping grounds. He and a childhood friend are determined to find out what happened to someone named Marcie --- one of the killers victims. She is tied to his own history of psychological and emotional experimentation with drugs and addiction-a hard, unforgiving bondage. Woods narrative is as sleek as the automobile Paul drives. The story reaches a stirring emotional level as Longs own inner struggle and the demons from his past are revealed.. He rubs elbows with street pharmacists, with local cops, with the night and its constituents searching for clues and tracking leads in the ghetto, stalking a killer who seems uncannily familiar. In addition, Wood manages to touch a raw nerve with his startlingly clear portrayals of the people living in the street. Chasing the Dragon will affect the reader profoundly. Wood builds up suspense and grit. His pictures of the cityscapes create a sense of forboding, preparing a surprising, unexpected and explosive showdown. The Dragons Last Gasp cycles through the classic icons of detective fiction with a deft touch. There is a fascinating blend of machismo coupled with deep-thinking. The heart of its hero is hypnotic, yet his presence is fundamentally sound and assuring in the night. The book thus succeeds not only in coming to grips with the Dragon, it brings justice home as secrets are exposed in the finale make it unmistakeably clear that this is indeed the Dragons last Gasp!