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The Dragon Factory [Paperback]

Jonathan Maberry
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 2, 2010

Joe Ledger and the DMS (Department of Military Sciences) go up against two competing groups of geneticists.  One side is creating exotic transgenic monsters and genetically enhanced mercenary armies; the other is using 21st century technology to continue the Nazi Master Race program begun by Josef Mengele.  Both sides want to see the DMS destroyed, and they've drawn first blood.  Neither side is prepared for Joe Ledger as he leads Echo Team to war under a black flag.


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The Dragon Factory + The King of Plagues: A Joe Ledger Novel (Joe Ledger Novels) + Assassin's Code: A Joe Ledger Novel
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Stoker-winner Maberry's wild second Joe Ledger novel (after Patient Zero), Joe and his comrades from the Department of Military Science (DMS) take on enough villains and their world-threatening plots to fill half a dozen ordinary thrillers. The dangers Joe and his Echo Team warriors confront include evil boy-girl albino twins born on Christmas, each child marked with a star like the Star of Bethlehem; weaponized genetic diseases; the Cabal, whose goal is worldwide ethnic cleansing; Nazi clones; a race of slaves called New Men; a wide array of mythical beasts (unicorns, centaurs, dragons, elves, etc.); and morphogenetic monsters such as tiger/dogs and insect/humans. Joe battles these horrors with his usual ferocity, but by the end, even this superhero is reduced to despair by the toll the job exacts. While Joe has announced his retirement, eager readers can look forward to one more volume in this humorous, over-the-top cross-genre trilogy. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Maberry’s follow-up to Patient Zero (2009) brings Joe Ledger and his team back with an even more intense story. A scientist with visions of changing the world begins genetic experiments on both animals and humans with the hope of finishing the work started by Josef Mengele during World War II. He uses connections in various world governments to try to destroy the DMS and Ledger. With no backup available, Ledger must try to eliminate the threat while staying one step ahead of his pursuers. This is like a video game on steroids mixed with The Island of Dr. Moreau. Maberry has done an excellent job of ratcheting up the action while downplaying the ick factor that sometimes runs through his earlier books. Expect this straight-ahead thriller to hook action-crazed readers and inspire them both to seek out the first Ledger book and eagerly anticipate the next installment. --Jeff Ayers

Product Details

  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1 edition (March 2, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312382499
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312382490
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and thriller author, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. His books have been sold to more than a dozen countries.

He writes in several genres. His young adult fiction includes ROT & RUIN (2011; now in development for film; named in Booklist's Ten Best Horror Novels for Young Adults, a Bram Stoker and Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading winner; nominee for several state Teen Book Awards; winner of the Cybils Award, the Eva Perry Mock Printz medal, Dead Letter Best Novel Award, and four Melinda Awards); DUST & DECAY (winner of the 2011 Bram Stoker Award; FLESH & BONE (September 11, 2012; and FIRE & ASH (2013). His thrillers include The Joe Ledger Thrillers from St. Martin's Griffin (PATIENT ZERO, 2009, winner of the Black Quill and a Bram Stoker Award finalist for Best Novel; THE DRAGON FACTORY, 2010; HE KING OF PLAGUES, 2011; ASSASSIN'S CODE, 2011; EXTINCTION MACHINE, 2013; CODE ZER0, 2014, and JOE LEDGER: THE MISSING FILES, 2011 from Blackstone Audio.

His horror novels include The Pine Deep Trilogy from Pinnacle Books (GHOST ROAD BLUES, 2006, winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel; DEAD MAN'S SONG, 2007; and BAD MOON RISING, 2008), as well as DEAD OF NIGHT, 2011 and its forthcoming sequel, FALL OF NIGHT, 2014. And the movie novelization, THE WOLFMAN, 2010, winner of the Scribe Award for Best Adaptation.

He is also editor and co-author of V-WARS, a shared-world vampire anthology from IDW.

Jonathan was an expert on the History Channel documentary, ZOMBIES: A Living History. He will also be featured in That $#(!'ll Rot Your Brain: How the Monster Kids Transformed Popular Culture, a forthcoming documentary on horror movies directed by Robert Tinnell.

His many nonfiction works include VAMPIRE UNIVERSE (Citadel Press, 2006); THE CRYPTOPEDIA (Citadel, 2007 -winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction; co-authored by David F. Kramer); ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Winner of the Hinzman and Black Quill Awards and finalist for a Stoker Award; 2008); THEY BITE! (2009 co-authored by David F. Kramer); WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE (2010; Bram Stoker finalist; co-authored by Janice Gable Bashman); THE VAMPIRE SLAYERS FIELD GUIDE TO THE UNDEAD (2001, written under the pen name of Shane MacDougall); ULTIMATE JUJUTSU (Strider Nolan, 2001); ULTIMATE SPARRING (Strider Nolan, 2000); JUDO AND YOU (Kendall Hunt 1991); and many others.

He writes a variety of projects for Marvel Comics involving CAPTAIN AMERICA, BLACK PANTHER, DOOMWAR, WOLVERINE, DEADPOOL, THE X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, the NY Times bestselling MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN, MARVEL UNIVERSE vs THE PUNISHER. MARVEL UNIVERSE vs WOLVERINE and the upcoming MARVEL UNIVERSE vs THE AVENGERS. All of Jonathan's comic book collections are released as Graphic Novel collections within a month or two of individual comic publication.

Recent short stories include "A Footnote in the Black Budget" (MADNESS OF CTHULHU, 2013), "Pegleg and Paddy Save the World" (HISTORY IS DEAD, Permuted Press 2007), "Doctor Nine" (KILLERS, Swimming Kangaroo Press, 2008; and reprinted in THE STORIES (in) BETWEEN Edited by Greg Schauer, Jeanne B. Benzel, and W.H. Horner. Fantasist Enterprises, 2009), "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Greenbrier Ghost" (LEGENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN STATE 2, Bloodletting Books, 2008), "Clean Sweeps" (AND SO IT BEGINS, Dark Quest Books, 2008), "Family Business" (THE NEW DEAD, St. Martin's Press, 2010), "Like Part of the Family" (NEW BLOOD edited by Patrick Thomas and Diane Raetz, Padwolf Press, 2010), "Zero Tolerance" (THE LIVING DEAD 2, Night Shade Books), "Flint and Steel" (GI JOE: COBRA WARS, 2011), "Saint John" (THE MONSTER'S CORNER, 2011, St. Martin's), "Spellcaster 2.0" (An Apple for the Creature, Ace Books, 2012), "Jack and Jill" (21st Century Dead, St. Martin's Griffin,2012), "The Death Song of Dwar Guntha" (Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, 2012, Simon & Schuster), "The Wind Through the Fence" (an original e-story available for all e-readers), "Property Condemned" (scheduled for the premier issue of NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE), "Chokepoint" (included in THE UNINVITED, Vol 2), and many others. His essay, "Take Me To Your Leader" is included in the nonfiction book, TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD: Robert Kirkman's Zombie Epic on Page and Screen edited by James Lowder (BenBella Books/Smart Pop, 2011).

In 2012 Blackstone Audio released two collections of Jonathan's short stories: Tales from the Fire Zone and Hungry Tales.

All of Jonathan's novels are available on audio, including the audio-only collection, JOE LEDGER: THE MISSING FILES (Blackstone), which includes the short stories "Countdown", "Zero Tolerance", "Deep Dark", "Material Witness" and "Dog Days". Another Joe Ledger short, "Mad Science", will appear in the audio anthology LIAR LIAR from The Liars Club.

Jonathan is the co-creator (with Laura Schrock) of ON THE SLAB, an entertainment news show in development by Stage 9 for ABC Disney / Stage 9. He was also a 'blog correspondent' on Sony's zombie-themed web show 'WOKE UP DEAD'; and was a recurring character on Laura Schrock's 'IT'S TODD'S SHOW'.

Jonathan's Big Scary Blog (www.jonathanmaberry.com) focuses on the publishing industry. Jonathan's interviews include Sandra Brown, Gayle Lynds, Alafair Burke, Charlaine Harris, James Rollins, Harlan Coben, Jeff Abbott, John Saul, Jonathan Kellerman, Barry Eisler, CJ Box, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jack Ketchum, Tom Piccarilli, Dale Brown, Kevin J. Anderson, Joe Lansdale, Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, Carrie Ryan, and many other best-selling authors.

He is a frequent keynote speaker, guest of honor and workshop leader at genre cons, libraries, writers conferences and publishing industry events, including KeyCon, ThrillerFest, Zombie Fest, Heather Graham's The Writers for New Orleans, Central Coast Writers Conference, NeCon, NY Comic Con, Texas Library Association Annual Conference, Sisters in Crime, BackSpace, PennWriters, Dragon*Con, PhilCon, Horror-Realm, Boucher Con, HorrorFind, Monster Mania, Philadelphia Writers Conference, Balticon, Romance Writers of America, American Library Association, The Write Stuff, Hypericon, AnthoCon, KillerCon, NAIBA, LunaCon, and many others.

Jonathan has sold more than 1,200 feature articles and 3,000 columns; as well as greeting cards, song lyrics, poetry, technical manuals, call-floor scripts, and two plays, including Tales from the Fire Zone. He is developing a psychological thriller novel based on that play.

Jonathan is a Contributing Editor for The Big Thrill (the newsletter of the International Thriller Writers), and is a member of SFWA, IAMTW, MWA, SCBWI, SFWA and HWA, as well as a jurist for the Edgar and Stoker Awards.

Jonathan was the Executive Director of the Writers Room of Bucks County (2005-06) and co-owner of the Writers Corner USA (2006-2009). Jonathan regularly visits local middle schools, high schools and colleges to talk about books, reading, publishing and the writing life. He is a board member of the River Union Stage, a professional equity theater based in Stockton, New Jersey.

Jonathan is a founding member of The Liars Club, a group of networking publishing professionals that includes celebrated authors Merry Jones, Gregory Frost, Jon McGoran, Ed Pettit, Dennis Tafoya, Keith Strunk, Don Lafferty, Kelly Simmons, Marie Lamba, Solomon Jones, Stephen Susco, Chuck Wendig, Sara Shepard, William Lashner, and Laura Schrock. The Liars Club works to support booksellers, raise awareness and support for public libraries, and cultivate a joy of reading and books. The late NY Times bestseller L. A. Banks was a founding member of the Liars Club.

On the last Sunday of every month Jonathan hosts the Writers Coffeehouse, a free three-hour open-agenda networking and discussion session for writers of all genres and levels of skill. The event is held at the Barnes & Noble in Willow Grove Pennsylvania. The Liars Club has begun launching additional Writers Coffeehouses throughout the region.

Jonathan has been a popular writing teacher and career counselor for writers for the last two decades. He teaches a highly regard series of classes and workshops including Write Your Novel in Nine Months, Act Like a Writer, Revise & Sell, Experimental Writing for Teens, and others. Many of his students have gone on to obtain representation and/or publish in short and novel-length fiction, magazine feature writing, nonfiction books, TV, film, and comics.

In 2004 Jonathan was inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame largely because of his extensive writings in that field.

Jonathan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Sara Jo, to whom he dedicates all of his published works, and their dog, Rosie. His stepson, Sam West-Mensch, serves a general manager of Jonathan's writing business.

Visit his website/blog and sign up for his free newsletter at www.jonathanmaberry.com
www.facebook.com/jonathanmaberry, www.twitter.com/jonathanmaberry

Customer Reviews

The good guys and the many, many bad guys face off in the battle against right and wrong. Felicia A. Sullivan  |  10 reviewers made a similar statement
I am looking foward to the next installment of the Joe Ledger series... William Barritt  |  7 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Nonstop Fun! January 16, 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
You can read my review here: [...]

The second novel in Maberry's Joe Ledger series starts very soon after Patient Zero left off, with Joe visiting the gravesite of one of his oldest and dearest friends. The problem is, he's a wanted man, and the man that wants him is none other than the Vice President of the United States. He's sent his goon squad to pick up Joe, but Joe has other plans...

Taking off like lightning and never letting up, The Dragon Factory is a cross-genre, gritty, fun, roller coaster of a ride! I loved Patient Zero, and The Dragon Factory doesn't disappoint, in fact, I think I loved it more! Told in first person POV of Joe Ledger, my favorite tough, snarky ex-cop, (with frequent forays into third person with one of the book's star psychos, Cyrus Jacoby) it grabs you by the throat, and doesn't let you go until the last page! What's not to love? Joe and Echo Team have to deal with everything from psychotic Nazi clones, to an organization called the Cabal, which is out to achieve ethnic cleansing on a worldwide scale. Add to that DNA manipulated beasts, a race of slaves called the New Men, bio-terror on an epic scale, a pair of the creepiest, ickiest (yes, icky), twisted (had to throw that in there), albino (yes, albino) twins, and a boy hero that will break your heart and reaffirm your belief in the power of the human spirit.

Maberry throws all of this at you with his usual perfect pacing and style, and the depth of detail and research put into this book is, as always, impeccable. One thing that Maberry does in his novels is something that you don't see a lot of in books that are this action oriented. In the midst of all this chaos and adrenaline, in Joe Ledger he's created a character that not only kicks ass, but he has a heart and soul, and it comes across in nearly every scene that he's in. In Joe, he gives us a hero to root for, if for no other reason than he is intrinsically good. Joe is not superhuman, and he doesn't have supernatural abilities. He's an everyman with, admittedly, rather unique talents that we can all identify with in some way. In The Dragon Factory, Maberry takes topics that are complex and sometimes terrifying, and delivers them with humanity and sometimes humor. There were moments during this book (in particular one) that brought me to tears, as with Patient Zero, and Maberry shows us that humanity does not have to be sacrificed for the sake of an exciting read!

This series is absolutely not to be missed, and I recommend it to anyone that loves thrillers, horror, suspense, espionage, fantasy, and all of the above! I am breathlessly anticipating the third book in the Joe Ledger Series, The King of Plagues, due out March 29th!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A great continuation of the series!!! February 1, 2013
Format:Paperback
I really enjoy living vicariously through Joe Ledger. Mayberry creates characters that are not only flawed, but somehow accessible.

The intensity was high and had me completely on the edge of my seat throughout. I kind of felt what was coming towards the end of the book and when it happened it was a soul crusher. I'm sure it was a way for the author to endear Ledger to the reader even more - I was thinking this the whole time until it happened. Well, it worked.

Couldn't put this one down and I really loved this story, even though I have an emotional hangover. Well done Mr. Mayberry!!! Thank you for Joe Ledger. I need a nap.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Book 2 of the Joe Ledger Series January 31, 2013
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first discovered Jonathan Maberry in Patient Zero, the first in the Joe Ledger series. I grabbed that book because I love the zombie genre. I soon discovered this series would go far far beyond just zombies. I was hooked, if you want an unbiased review, stop reading now... In my opinion Dragon Factory is the best of the series. Madmen, genetics, nazis, monsters, mutants everything bad rolled up into one book! I hate to say it because book to movies are always terrible, but all I kept thinking while reading Dragon Factory was, why is this not a movie or HBO series? Take 24 and mix in X-Files.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Love Love Love
as with all Maberry Joe Ledge stories I can't get enough - already read twice. This is a series I get ASAP when new books are available.
Published 4 days ago by crashdisturbed
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
I enjoyed it, though not as much as Patient Zero. I found it to drag a bit at certain points but, overall, it was a good read for anyone who is a fan of the Joe Ledger character.
Published 4 days ago by John
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Love the series, action packed, can't seem to put it down.picked up the first book cause I like zombie novels, it was a semi-zombie book. But then I was hooked. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Joshua P. Sutherland
5.0 out of 5 stars Evil in pairs
Love the villains, especially when in pairs. Maberry has such an evil mind that you sometimes you wonder what his real life is like. I like that in my authors. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Dax
5.0 out of 5 stars review
Love it! Anything to do with zombies is cool by me! It is part of a trilogy, so had to get all of them.
Published 1 month ago by Judy B
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved 'Patient Zero'!
This arrived in a timely manner and in perfect condition. The book thus far is phenomenal, just as I expected it to be, and I have absolutely no problems at all with the quality of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by BCoydog
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent lightning quick thriller!
Ledger and Echo are back and this battle is with insane cold war villains using cutting edge gene technology to threaten the world population. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Hes
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Action Great Book.
Again I loved this book. It had all the action I was looking for and more. Sometimes the telling of science facts bored me but it was just a few pages long so I didn't mind.
Published 2 months ago by dusty
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
I absolutely loved this book. It was one of those that you are reading well past bed time because it is so good. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Emily Lynn
5.0 out of 5 stars READ THIS BOOK
Better than the first book! I am definitely picking up the third book as soon as possible
! Share with a friend!
Published 4 months ago by LightoftheDawn
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Ohhh man...so dissappointing
Did you read Patient Zero? It was great. Very fast paced and exciting. I love the Pine Deep trilogy. It was a great haunted town story. If you loved the Pine Deep stories so much than you should definitely check out the Joe Ledger series. It is off to an awesome start and I can't wait for Dragon... Read more
Sep 25, 2009 by Pyro66 |  See all 4 posts
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