The Dragon Factory

January 4, 2010
In Stoker-winner Maberry’s wild second Joe Ledger novel (after Patient Zero
), Joe and his comrades from the Department of Military Science (DMS) take on enough villains and their world-threatening plots to fill half a dozen ordinary thrillers. The dangers Joe and his Echo Team warriors confront include evil boy-girl albino twins born on Christmas, “each child marked with a star like the Star of Bethlehem”; weaponized genetic diseases; the Cabal, whose goal is worldwide ethnic cleansing; Nazi clones; a race of slaves called New Men; a wide array of mythical beasts (unicorns, centaurs, dragons, elves, etc.); and morphogenetic monsters such as tiger/dogs and insect/humans. Joe battles these horrors with his usual ferocity, but by the end, even this superhero is reduced to despair by the toll the job exacts. While Joe has announced his retirement, eager readers can look forward to one more volume in this humorous, over-the-top cross-genre trilogy.

Ray Porter finds unique voices for all the crazy characters involved in this action-packed thriller featuring Joe Ledger. As Porter's effective pacing embroils the listener, the dramatic plot involves the whole Department of Military Sciences team as they battle against competing geneticists and their nefarious plots. Porter gives voice to the leader, Mr. Church, as well as the beautiful but twisted Jakoby twins; their evil father, who's working on a Nazi master-race program begun by Josef Mengele; and the rogue Spetsnaz teams. Porter's voice for Mr. Church is striking, and his perfect tonal qualities for Joe give a sense of humor to a basically damaged person. Listeners will find themselves entranced by Porter's terrific narration. S.C.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine