Special District: Harbin

It's 1929 and Borya Melnikov is only a lowly mixed-race patrolman in Harbin Manchuria's Special District police until fate pairs him with one of the city's premier detectives to help solve the grisly murder of a foreign businessman.

It's 1929 and Borya Melnikov is only a lowly mixed-race patrolman in Harbin Manchuria's Special District police until fate pairs him with one of the city's premier detectives to help solve the grisly murder of a foreign businessman. Along the way they must deal with the city's local power struggles and prejudices, a Red terror campaign, and even treachery. And if that wasn't enough, a brewing border war with the Soviet Union threatens their very lives.

Tim Stickel is retired from the aerospace industry, but has had a lifetime passion for history. In addition to business degrees he has a Bachelor of Arts in Far Eastern History from the University of Washington.