Brimming with twists, turns and non-stop drama, Nesly Clerge’s When The Dragon Roars is an ideal thriller for any fan of prison noir.

As The Dragon Roars opens with the protagonist, Frederick Stark, aka The Dragon, at the lowest point of his life. Having been betrayed by his ex-wife Kayla, a life full of opportunity is now extremely limited. He’s in jail, serving a long sentence for putting the man who cuckolded him in a coma. But Starks isn’t one to let life get him down so easily: using the insight he’s gained as CEO, boldly but subtly, he begins an attempt to climb the prison hierarchy. But things start to go sour when the prison COs suspect him as part of the two inmate murderers, on whom he had a heavy hand in the execution.

On the outside, he turns to his private investigator Michael Parker to manage his finances, and that need for a link to the real world becomes even greater as suspicions grow about his deadly activities behind bars. A medical scare only increases his desire to rise to the top and get his affairs in order. But he also seems to make it bolder, as he’s capable of stabbing some of the nastier prison gang members with a poisoned leg, as an act of retaliation for killing a follower prisoner.

With the help of his cellmate Jackson, Starks begins recruiting his own gang members: Pete, Tommy, Stinky, and Tank. But hostility from the gangs escalates rapidly, and after a fight, Starks is sent to the SHU, where he has time to contemplate: how he got to prison in the first place, the women in his life, the plans for the future. Also, while in the SHU, Stark realizes that his situation is becoming more precarious as he loses the protection of the guards. To gain a further advantage, he and his team turn to the prison’s black market and begin trading cell phones.

A few days later, Starks meets the elderly Gabe Bianchi, who has also lost wealth, family, and professional reputation. He’s drawn to Bianchi, but Bianchi is bad news: the former head of an infamous crime family with a reputation for cruelty. He’s a dangerous friend to make, but one who could also prove useful.

Meanwhile, Kane, Starks’ new nineteen-year-old inmate, comes under his wing and asks him to be his new cellmate. But Kane may not be quite who he seems.

All this time, Starks’ health has only been deteriorating. He goes to the hospital and discovers that he has a dangerously low hemoglobin level and is severely anemic. In the process of finding a donor, he discovers that his eldest son, Blake, is not his biological son. Looks like the punches keep coming from his ex-wife Kayla.

From there, gang fights and family secrets emerge from every corner, keeping Starks on his toes and the reader turning the pages.

While a bit hackneyed and predictable at times, When The Dragon Roars will prove to be an enjoyable read for devoted fans of the genre.