The Dragon Factory

The Joe Ledger Novels, Book 2

By: Jonathan Maberry

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Ex-Baltimore cop turned special-ops shooter Joe Ledger is back in action.

In The Dragon Factory, Ledger and his team from the Department of Military Sciences square off against two separate groups of corrupt scientists. The beautiful but twisted Jakoby Twins are creating transgenic monsters and genetically enhanced mercenaries for sale to the highest bidder. Their father, who takes evil to an entirely new level, is using cutting-edge science to complete the Nazi master-race program.

Joe must elude the NSA who are gunning for him, fight his way past rogue Spetsnaz teams, and stop these madmen before the Extinction Clock runs out. And when the bloodbath claims one of his own, Joe Ledger declares total war on those people who would burn down the world in order to reshape it in their own dark image.

Take another thrill ride with Joe Ledger.©2010 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“In Stoker-winner Maberry’s wild second Joe Ledger novel, Joe and his comrades from the Department of Military Science take on enough villains and their world-threatening plots to fill half a dozen ordinary thrillers.” ( Publishers Weekly)

This one comes together slowly

The Dragon Factory picks up shortly after the events of Patient Zero as the Department of Military Sciences is faced with a new, completely different threat. This time around there is no zombie plague but rather a planned extinction wave targeted to wipe out a specific large portion of the human population. With the concepts of eugenics, genetic manipulation, and disease weaponization all taken to mad scientist levels the DMS must beat the clock to figure out who is behind the threat and neutralize it before the Extinction Clock counts down to zero. The story is a bit more complex than the first book and therefore starts slower but it eventually comes together and builds to a satisfying crescendo.

Many of the major characters from Patient Zero return including Joe Ledger and the rest of Echo team, Mr. Church, Dr. Hu, Bug, Dr. Rudy Sanchez, and Major Grace Courtland. As the relationship between Joe Ledger and Major Courtland continues to grow they both need to work to prevent it from negatively impacting their ability to do their jobs. Grace and Joe both have their characters developed as more is revealed about the past events that shaped them into what they are today. The warrior, the modern man, and the detective make up the three personas that war within the mind of Joe Ledger and each struggles for dominance. The stress of life as a DMS agent while being in a relationship that tugs on the scars of his past is a constant threat to Ledger's self control and his ability to keep it all together.

With a whole new cast of bad guys the story takes quite a bit of time at the beginning to build up a tangled web of interconnected threads into a coherent plot. We learn quickly that the Jackoby twins are using genetic manipulation to create fantastical creatures straight out of mythology, including unicorns and dragons. Oddly enough this is what gets the attention of the DMS and leads them to unravel a much more threatening bigger picture with disturbing ties to the past. It is hard to get into too many details without giving away key plot points but the story goes from mythical creatures to a planned human extinction wave that ties back to the efforts of the Third Reich.

It all eventually comes down to a tense race against the clock for the DMS, with both Joe Ledger and Grace Courtland leading their teams into the field to try to save the day. While I felt that the story was not quite as good as the first book, it was still very enjoyable and the character building was well done. Ray Porter delivers another excellent narration and I found myself eager to move forward in the series when this one was all said and done.

Very enjoyable action novel

The narrator was excellent. The characters and the plot are typical of any good action thriller (think Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn). There is some good character development, but again, this is an action novel. Overall, extremely enjoyable and worth the credit.

didn't want it to end...

Jonathan Maberry is a sick & twisted writer, which makes his characters so deeply interesting. Maberry, incidentally, is some kind of martial arts expert & recently inducted into some martial arts hall of fame; his fight scenes are evident of his skills. Book 3 (Plagues) is next on my reading list.

Eugenics is BAD!!!

Where does The Dragon Factory rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Not really high. The other reviewers are right. The entire middle section of the book contains the following:Eugenics is bad?Is it?Yes it is! Boy oh BOY is eugenics BAD, and here is all of the history and theory, in case you didn't know that killing a certain kind of people to make society 'better' is bad....and on and on and on. Completely worth skipping. So is the angst over the romantic stuff.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jonathan Maberry again?

Yes! In general, I love Maberry's work.

Which character – as performed by Ray Porter – was your favorite?

Joe Ledger is the best.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No, not really. If I wanted a book that moved me, I wouldn't be reading this.

Who knew I would love this genre

OK, maybe I don't love this genre (what is it even? Military spy stuff?) Anyway, One has to go with the unrealistic technology and the all-knowing Church/Deacon/etc. However, Maberry sticks to his own reality and that's good enough for me. It's Ledger-world. It has basic rules and Maberry is true to them. It's consistent (which is a big plus for me--I hate an author who creates a fantasy and then changes the rules on what can and can't happen.)

I find that the characters are in many ways to good to be true. BUT I love them. One wants a world where Joe Ledger Kicks-blank and takes names. His moral compass is nice.

I generally read murder fiction (I avoid romance/murder--just want dead people). I prefer a mystery. In the Ledger novels (this is the second that I've "read" the bad guys are just put in front of you. Yet, I enjoy the plot which has a beginning middle and end, the end twist (which is a must in the modern novel...why? I don't know) is generally pretty well crafted, and the characters don't "do" stuff just to do it--there are reasons for their actions and we know what they are.

I enjoyed this book as much as the first. I am currently reading the third book and have given up pretending that this is not my style. Just like a well crafted wine or beer a well-crafted novel is fun for all.

I've enjoyed my Joe Ledger adventures so far. Probably not for those who dislike violence and want a hero that eschews it, but for the rest, I highly recommend it.

Nazis, Neanderthals, and unicorns

Would you listen to The Dragon Factory again? Why?

Probably not because most thriller novels are about the surprise.

What other book might you compare The Dragon Factory to and why?

I would compare this to a lot of the work of Larry Correia - a team of hyper competent warriors fighting unimagined evil. He does a lot of scene shifting like you saw in the early Tom Clancy novels.

What about Ray Porter’s performance did you like?

He does a great job of using accent and timbre to bring out the difference between the characters. His presentation of the female characters is surprisingly good.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Too long... but there are some time when you just can't turn it off.

Any additional comments?

Spoiler alert - The thriller genre, especially if you have a central hero in a series, requires that the hero be a "loner." Jack Reacher is probably the archetype for this protagonist. Of course, for obvious reasons, there has to be a love (or lust) interest, and that is more hazardous than being a red shirt on Star Trek. There is a love interest in this book. But Maberry gives you enough misdirections that you are never really sure how it will turn out. That said, I wish authors would just skip this part.

Is there a word for better than the best?

Wow. Just wow. I thought “Patient Zero” was amazing. But “The Dragon Factory” is possibly twice as amazing. DMS agent Joe Ledger is having an awful morning. He’s at a cemetery to pay respects to a departed friend when NSA agents attempt to detain him. Within minutes he is on the run with no backup. The entire DMS is being assaulted. A whole team has gone missing outside Denver and Joe’s team is the only one outside the NSA cordon. He’s one man down already, there are Russian mob guys after him in addition to the NSA, there is something worse than the Russian mob waiting for him, and all of this has happened before lunch. This is all before you get to the crazy geneticists that want to destroy the world as we know it. This mission tests Joe and his team beyond what they thought they could endure, and the people who lived through “Patient Zero” can endure a lot.

I really liked it, but....

I have to admit I really enjoyed this book, but probably not as much as Patient Zero. Being a bit nit-picky I would say that the villain's in the first novel were more grounded and believable, and the second act of this book seemed a little muddled, buy overall it came together into a great story with the same wonderful fight choreography I've come to expect. (Needed less fantastical bad guys and more Joe Ledger) A-

Ray Porter nails these books!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Dragon Factory to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print versions, but I think Ray Porter adds considerable dimension to the characters. I sometimes listen to a book and then buy the subsequent books in a series in print to read them myself. I would not do that with this series. The stories are great, but Ray Porter really knocks it out of the park.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Dragon Factory?

The fight scenes are fantastic.

What does Ray Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ray Porter does a fantastic job playing the characters in these books. I can almost see this as a movie just based on his narration. Top notch narrator!!!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Of course the scene near the end, I won't spoil it. It involves Grace.

fantastic

great story, great pacing, terrifyingly competent enemies and terrific narration. I can't wait to jump into the next book and see what else is in store for poor Joe Ledger