This is the kind of historical fiction that is set in a China most Western readers have never encountered, written with the grain of the period rather than against it. As exacting on its period as Patrick O’Brian, with the moral weight of Graham Greene and the scale of James Clavell. The characters, men and women alike, are drawn from the inside out, not fitted to a trope. If you read for place, moral ambiguity, and detail that respects your intelligence, you’re in the right place.
The Dragon Gate Conspiracy
Wuhan, 1926. Civil war has reached the Yangtze. Foreign gunboats ride at anchor off the Hankow bund, and inside the concessions the great powers watch one another across the river.
Jack Gaines, a young Marine officer, came to guard a few square miles of foreign ground, not to involve himself in other men's secrets. Then he meets Natalya Rosenberg, an American reporter with a sharp tongue, leftist sympathies, and a past she keeps to herself. Together they begin to pull apart a blackmail scheme far larger than it first appears, one that runs through the city's gangsters, Japanese and Soviet intelligence, and the upper reaches of the diplomatic world.
It turns on the Dragon Gate Teahouse, and on a locked safe holding photographs and ledgers that more than one government would rather see burned. As the warlord regime collapses and old alliances come apart, Jack and Natalya have to take what is in that safe before the men hunting it reach them, and before the city falls around them.
Historical espionage set in a China most Western readers have never encountered: as exacting on its period as Patrick O'Brian, told with the moral weight of Graham Greene, and built on the scale of James Clavell.
Reviews
"J.R. Kendall has written a double winner! His Dragon Gate Conspiracy is an accurate historical portrait of the U.S. Navy in China in the 1920s. It is backed-up by an intriguing mystery plot that captures the domestic and international puzzles of revolutionary China. This well-written novel is strongly recommended for historians and mystery fans."
- Professor B.D. Cole, Capt., USN (Ret.), author of Gunboats and Marines: The U.S. Navy in China
"I read a lot of historical fiction and even quite a few historical thrillers like this one but rarely have I come across one that is as well depicted as this one. The amount of detail that was provided to set the scene was immense... I can only imagine the amount of research the author had to conduct in order to set the scene so well..."
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About the Author
J. R. Kendall is the author of<The Dragon Gate Conspiracy, a historical thriller set in 1920s China. He is a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and served in many operational roles around the world as an artillery officer. Additionally, as an East Asia Foreign Area Officer (FAO), he served as a liaison officer with the Japan Defense Agency and Japan Self Defense Forces; for two tours at the Pentagon; and as a military advisor to the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
With a deep interest in military history and international affairs, Kendall brings an insider’s understanding of command, discipline, and the lived realities of men operating under pressure. His writing is grounded in extensive historical research and professional military experience, combining real events and locations with authentic depictions of military culture, intelligence work, and high-stakes decision-making.
Kendall holds a B.A. in English from the Virginia Military Institute and an M.A. in Asian Studies from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He is also a graduate of the Defense Language Institute’s Japanese course in Monterey, California; the Foreign Service Institute in Yokohama; and the Japan National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo.
He lives in Northern Virginia with his family and is currently working on a second novel set in the same world.