Book Title 2

Book One of The Man with the Dragon-Head Cane series

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Mara Wolfe is the best agent the Utah State Bureau of Investigation has. She’s also on the verge of being fired.

When six people are found wandering Parowan Gap at dawn — no injuries, no memory, no longer wholly human — she gets the case nobody wants. And a consultant she didn’t ask for, doesn’t trust, and can’t stop thinking about.

The old world never went away. It’s been waiting.

And something there just opened the door.

Read the Opening Chapters
The Man with the Dragon-Head Cane: Unlocked

They're Waiting For You

Mara Wolfe

Former Marine. Utah SBI Special Agent

She closes cases no one else will touch, but she burns through partners like matches. She has a Marine's instincts, a detective's mind, and a file full of complaints that should have ended her career three times over.

She also has a closure rate no one in the Bureau can explain and a willingness to charge into situations that make seasoned operators blanch. No one asks why she does it. No one really wants to know.

Mara Wolfe doesn't believe in the impossible. She has spent her entire career proving that everything has a rational explanation, a paper trail, and a person responsible.

She's about to discover that she's been very wrong about that.

Tobias Crane

The Man with the Dragon-Head Cane

He walks with a cane. He speaks like someone who has been alive long enough to have earned every word — and patient enough to wait until the right moment to spend it. He knows things because he was there when they happened — places, events, and secrets that history books got wrong, usually on purpose.

Tobias Crane is a consultant. That's what his credentials say. It's the least interesting thing about him.

He is also, inconveniently, exactly the kind of man Mara Wolfe can't stop thinking about.

Khairos

Draco Superior. Reluctant Accessory. Unfailing Observer.

He is old enough to have developed very strong opinions about humanity and very little motivation to do anything about them.

He was once a dragon on a mountain with a southern exposure and no obligations. Now he lives in the carved head of a walking cane — an arrangement he has decided suits him. The acoustics are excellent. The view is fixed but reliable. Someone else does all the walking.

He observes. He comments. He is unfailingly honest about both, which humans tend to find uncomfortable, illuminating, and occasionally infuriating.

But every few centuries, when something genuinely interesting finally happens, he pays attention. This appears to be one of those times.

A Story About

The Ancient

— what has always been there, patient and waiting, older than the canyon walls that hold its markings

The Modern

— a badge, a case, a woman whose entire understanding of the world is about to be dismantled piece by piece

The Cost

— some doors, once opened, cannot be closed. And some truths, once known, cannot be unfound.

Book Reviews

What People Are Saying

Lydia P.
Beta Reader

"I was hooked from the moment Mara broke down the meth house door."

"The fast pace of the book really helped keep me immersed and hooked. Literally any of the battles — I dreaded having to put down the phone to do anything else."


"Mara knew who she was and what experiences made her that way. She had realistic internal debates when those beliefs were questioned — but she was also willing to grow and accepted new things in her reality with a stellar calm and rationality."


"The battle ending in Chapter 22 was so well written — Mara's adrenaline calm and focus into the panic of Tobias' injury, and her falling into that calm again to patch him up."


"As unhappy as I was with the massive cliffhanger, I think it was a really good place to transition to a sequel."

Tammy N.
Beta Reader

"As I picked up the cadence of your writing style, I became better engaged with the story. I love the rhythm of your writing."

"My totally hooked moment was in Chapter Two when Mara was assessing Khairos and his eyes closed and opened for her. I just knew this story was going to be awesome for me."

"I absolutely loved Khairos. His dry wit humor and wisdom was perfect — I found myself wanting him to comment every time Tobias and Mara interacted with each other."

"The pacing was just right. It moved fast when it needed to and slowed down when it needed to. The battle scenes had me reading faster and my heartbeat was increasing."

Would she recommend it? "It's an easy read full of humor, history, emotion, and it takes place in our own backyard."

Would she read Book 2? Yes, without hesitation. "Don't change the main story — it's perfect!"

Anita P.
Beta Reader

"The opening lines really caught my attention. Once I was used to the writing style, the story really had me hooked."

"I didn't want to stop in a lot of places. The fight scenes kept me wanting to read and find out how everyone was going to survive. The scenes where they are fighting their attraction to each other — because I want them to get together."

"There is nothing slow about it. It is just burning and burning and burning."

"I love Khairos and no, his humor did not distract."

"Oh, I was certainly not happy with how it ended — but I can understand it and approve of it."

Would she recommend it? "YES!! It's a great story that grabbed my attention and kept it."

Would she read Book 2? "Yes, without hesitation."