Rock Paper Tiger

"A terrifying odyssey in present-day China . . . with the protagonist pursued by the Chinese and American governments alike in a global panorama. A totally captivating page-turner with vivid, first-hand details and nuanced multi-cultural facets."€"Qiu Xiaolong, author of The Mao Case

"Lisa Brackmann's Rock Paper Tiger is a compelling debut that takes you deep into the dangerous, complicated heart of modern China, with a tough and appealing heroine in Ellie."€"Jeff Abbott, author of Trust Me

American Iraq War veteran Ellie Cooper is down and out in Beijing when a chance encounter with a Uighur€"a member of a Chinese Muslim minority€"at the home of her sort-of boyfriend Lao Zhang turns her life upside down. Lao Zhang disappears, and suddenly multiple security organizations are hounding her for information. They say the Uighur is a terrorist. Ellie doesn€t know what€s going on, but she must decide whom to trust among the artists, dealers, collectors, and operatives claiming to be on her side€"in particular, a mysterious organization operating within a popular online role-playing game. As she tries to elude her pursuers, she€s haunted by memories of Iraq. Is what she did and saw there at the root of the mess she€s in now?

Lisa Brackmann has worked as a motion picture executive and an issues researcher in a presidential campaign. A southern California native, she€s lived and traveled extensively in China. She lives in Venice, California.