China Dolls

A cutthroat diva and a spunky grad student spar across continents and cultures. Each has her own agenda, one that includes a handsome Navy lieutenant blessed with both culinary and combat skills. When things go nuclear, the trio finds human rights, national pride, and millions of dollars hang in the balance. Fast, fun, and fact-based.

A terrorist threat is communicated to the U.S. Navy in Nushu, an old Chinese script understood only by women. Cody Cochrane, an American student, argues the threat is real. When the Navy encounters a radiation victim and a corpse is mutilated, Cochrane seems vindicated. Working with Lieutenant James Purdy, she implicates a Hong Kong movie star and businesswoman with ties to the Uighurs -- Muslim-Turkic rebels in western China. What if Purdy and Cochrane are wrong? Perhaps nothing is as it seems and the real threat is yet to be discovered.

Magazine writer, news reporter and former faculty member of Xi'ian International Studies University, Rob Wood worked in China during the past president's rise to power. He saw China surprise the world with its economic prowess, its graft, and its disdain for minorities. The story of one such minority, the Uighurs, drives the twists and turns of his picaresque re-imagining of recent history –China Dolls.