Dragon Bones

A Novel

By: Lisa See

Narrated by: Janet Song

When the body of an American archaeologist is found floating in the Yangzi River, Ministry of Public Security agent Liu Hulan and her husband, American attorney David Stark, are dispatched to Site 518 to investigate. As Hulan scrutinizes this death—or is it a murder?—David, on behalf of the National Relics Bureau, tries to discover who has stolen from the site an artifact that may prove to the world China’s claim that it is the oldest uninterrupted civilization on earth. This artifact is not only an object of great monetary value but one that is emblematic of the very soul of China. Everyone—from the Chinese government, to a religious cult, to an unscrupulous American art collector—wants this relic, and some, it seems, may be willing to kill to get it. At stake in this investigation is control of China’s history and national pride, and even stability between China and the United States.

The troubled Hulan must overcome her own fears of failure, while David tries desperately to break through the shell that has built up around his wife. As Hulan and David are enmeshed in international schemes for power and the turbulence of their own relationship, these hunters after the truth become the hunted—in a fast-driving narrative set against the backdrop of the building of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest and most expensive project China has undertaken since the Great Wall and the subject of great international debate. It is here, in the heart of the Three Gorges, that David and Hulan will battle their enemies and their own natures to see who will win China’s dragon bones.

Dragon Bones combines ancient myth with contemporary anxieties concerning religious fanaticism and terrorism to tell a story of love, betrayal, history, ecology, greed—and gory murder.

Critic reviews

Advance praise for Dragon Bones

“Mixing history, myths, and current events, Dragon Bones is an extraordinarily rich novel. It reveals the emotional and economical entanglement of China with the West, and tells a story of violence, lust, greed, fear, and desperation. The novel not only is a page-turner but is also timely.” —Ha Jin, author of Waiting and The Crazed

Praise for Flower Net

“Lisa See [does] for Beijing what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did for turn-of-the-century London or Dashiell Hammett did for 1920s San Francisco: She discerns the hidden city lurking beneath the public façade.” —The Washington Post Book World

Praise for The Interior

“Lisa See is one of the classier practitioners of . . . the international thriller. She draws her characters . . . with convincing depth, and offers up documentary social detail that reeks of freshly raked muck. See’s China is as vivid as Upton Sinclair’s Chicago.” —The New York Times Book Review

Powerful but deeply flawed

I liked this series enough to listen to it twice—having discovered Dragon Bones first, I wants to be filled in on the protagonist’s backstory details. Spoiler alert: I am deeply disappointed in how See chose to address the baby daughter’s death as a footnote, only mentioned in reflective asides. Her lack of cohesive character development is a tragic weakness in her writing that keeps me from feeling any attachment to those characters. While the storyline in each of her novels is filled with intrigue, gruesome and puzzling cultural details that appeal to anyone with an interest in China & murder mysteries, the 2 dimensional nature of her characters is a disappointment.

Because I have spent a significant amount of time in Asia and continue to be interested in both China and new conspiratorial murder mystery stories, I enjoy Lisa See’s works. If you’re like me, an otherwise peace-loving reader, who loves unexpected and unpredictably horrifying, facts intertwined with fiction-styled, intercultural stories, See’s mastered all of these and you’ll be grateful to discover her novels!

But, if you’re looking for deeply complex character development, look elsewhere.

digging for ancestors

not personal enough no real story about the characters. would have liked more in depth history

A satisfying end to the Red Princess trilogy

You know a book series is good, when you really want to know what happens to the characters afterward. Lisa See's Red Princess Mysteries trilogy (Flower Net, The Interior, dragon Bones) comes to a bang-up conclusion in this book, but the vivid characters of Liu Hulan and David Stark will stay with you and make you wish there was a fourth book.

This story is very much high adventure, with an ending that has both melodramatic confrontations and a deep dive into Chinese history. There are many twists and turns in the plot, so carefully written that the reader is really a step ahead of the characters. I kept interrupting the reading to go to Wikipedia and look up some of the historical persons and artifacts discussed. As always, Lisa See has carefully researched her story, and then embedded the research into a rollicking great adventure. Read the trilogy.

Lisa never disappoints.

Well written historical fiction. Many insights culturally, historically, philosophically and human. Great narration as always.

Another excellent novel by Lisa See

I enjoyed this novel as I have every one written by Lisa See. I look forward to more in the near future.