Debut novelist Tim Maleeny has taken the classic private investigator story
and twisted it hard in STEALING THE DRAGON. Pulling together threads from
hard-boiled detective and international thriller traditions, Maleeny’s
narrative focuses on San Francisco based P.I. Cape Weathers and his enigmatic
partner, martial arts expert Sally. Maleeny takes his readers on a journey
across time and countries, weaving together clues from Cape’s activities
in San Francisco and Sally’s recollections of growing up in Hong
Kong.
Maleeny blames his upbringing for his love of crime fiction, noting that
he grew up reading pulp fiction of the 1930’s. In addition to Rohmer’s
Fu Manchu novels and Lester Dent’s Doc Savage books, Maleeny credits
his parents for passing along a love of books and reading. Although he
admits to writing short stories as a teenager, Maleeny did what any self-respecting
guy does when he hits college – he switched his focus to girls. He
insists that he continued to read voraciously through graduate school and
the start of his career in advertising, but fiction writing went on the
back burner.
What began as an opening paragraph written during a business trip has since
developed into an idea for an ongoing series. STEALING THE DRAGON is the
first novel of the Cape Weathers books. When his wife became pregnant with
their daughter and started going to bed early, Maleeny took the opportunity
to stay up late and write.
The adventure begins when a container ship carrying Chinese refugees crashes
onto Alcatraz Island. When the entire crew is discovered murdered, Cape
isn’t the only one who thinks that Sally might be responsible for
the deaths. Unfortunately, Sally is missing. Cape delves into Chinatown
in search of his friend, finding himself moving deeper into unfamiliar
and increasingly hostile territory. Throw in a stolen Triad artifact, crooked
local politicians, FBI scrutiny and organized crime groups, and things
start to heat up fast.
With a story line that runs from Asia to San Francisco, Maleeny relied
on his study of Asian philosophy and religion and travel to Hong Kong to
supplement his research for STEALING THE DRAGON. While recognizing the
need for additional research, Maleeny developed a rhythm of writing as
much as he knew and then checking facts as needed. This method allowed
him to maintain accuracy without losing momentum. Maleeny used his personal
experiences and research to avoid stereotypical representations of Chinese
culture in San Francisco.
The protagonists of STEALING THE DRAGON also manage to side step the clichés
of genre fiction. A trained assassin named Sally? You bet. Not only is
she given a name that suggests “pigtails rather than death,” but
Sally’s character is much more rounded than is typical of a fictional
badass. Yes, she is haunted by her past, but Sally is not solely defined
by the tragedies and hardships of her childhood. Best of all, Sally has
a decent sense of humor to go along with her ass-kicking abilities.
Maleeny didn’t skimp with his secondary characters, either. He does
an excellent job of sketching in just enough quirks and details to make
these characters real and memorable. Perhaps most memorable is Cape’s
newspaper contact, Linda Katz. Other than her myriad phobias (electromagnetic
radiation, anyone?), Linda’s hair stands out – literally and
figuratively – as the defining feature of her character. Maleeny
uses her hair as “that voice that we all have inside our heads that
never gets spoken aloud.”
Want more? The second book in the Cape Weathers series has already been
completed and is scheduled for release in October of 2007. BEATING THE
BABUSHKA takes Cape and Sally on a new adventure centered on the Russian
mafiya and its role in the movie business.
STEALING THE DRAGON is now available. For more information about his writing
and appearances, visit Tim Maleeny’s website at www.timmaleeny.com.
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Angie Johnson-Schmit currently lives in Arizona with her husband,
two dogs and a turtle. A voice actress for Coyote Radio Theater, she
spends too much time practicing silly voices.
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2007 SPINETINGLER Magazine - All rights reserved
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