by Diane Rapp
Summary ~ HOWL OF THE WOLF, Heirs to the Throne, Book 1
Drako is a planet suitable for human colonization, but a society of telepathic wolves already occupies the world. When a colonist ship lands, the wolves fail to communicate with the “two-legs” and conclude the creatures are not intelligent. They keep watch as humans develop Drako into a recreation planet for wealthy tourists. Settlers became feudal lords, desert sheiks, oriental samurai, and ordinary peasants depending on their level of investment. Eventually the population revolts against technology and closes Drako to off world visitors. Distaste for technology mutates into superstitious hatred.
In civilized space a team of scientists invents Transfer, a process controlled by the Institute. Jarrack is given secret assassination orders to kill the scientists, who learn about their peril and flee. Jarrack infiltrated the crew of the Zebulon intent on murder just before their exodus.
Faced with superstitious hatred for spacers, the Zebulon’s crew must adapt to a feudal society without using modern tools or weapons. Fortunately Transfer increased their natural talents to give them an advantage. Donovan learns he is the king’s heir and competes for the crown to protect his crew. He meets, Kriegen, a wolf-pack leader who helps him avoid a lethal trap set by Jarrack. Kriegen is assigned to guard Donovan’s pack and gather evidence about human intelligence.
When Donovan is crowned king, he marries Krystal, but the lords insist on an heir. Krystal can’t get pregnant. Dr. Alexander implants “cloned” embryos to help her give birth to three girls the same day an Institute battle drone attacks Drako. The antique planetary defense system destroys the ship, but Donovan worries that another ship might find them. Left with a damaged defense system, Jarrack’s army at the border, and difficult hereditary lords, King Donovan reluctantly governs the backward planet. Click this link to buy the book: HOWL OF THE WOLF
Preview ~ DRAGON DEFENSE, Heirs to the Throne, Book 3
Donovan doesn’t enjoy his reunited family for long. Hereditary Lords swarm Havenshire with handsome suitors, eager to snare a princess bride or negotiate a match with another family of good breeding. Donovan bristles at the influx. Afraid he’ll lose his daughters too soon, he asks Chella to form a new school to keep the youngsters busy. While Donovan and Krystal take journeys into the countryside, an Institute warship arrives in Drako’s orbit with orders to capture the renegades.
Before the Zebulon’s desperate exodus from Institute-controlled space, Dr. Alexander and his team of scientists deleted important records about Transfer, believing they’d disappear before the Institute discovered the sabotage. They were wrong! Fremont, the Institute spy who was humiliated by the escape, won’t rest until he’s extracted a painful revenge. Faced with the possibility of planetary destruction, Donovan’s team trains eager teenagers to use technology.
Donovan’s daughters tackle other dangerous problems. Lauryn travels with Dr. Alexander to Asbohar, disguised as a boy, searching for a dangerous radiation leak near the desert stronghold. Tessa and the wolves try to confine Jarrack, who hides inside the mind of a vulnerable young son. Felesia works with dragons to help captives escape from a desert riders’ prison.
Shariel, one of Jarrack’s daughters, inherited the power of mind control. She’s afraid of using her “talent” but needs to perfect the skill to help her siblings escape from a desert rider prison. Shariel’s telepathic siblings eagerly learn to ride wild dragons and form a strange air force.
As the clock ticks toward an explosive deadline, humans, dragons, and wolves execute a dramatic defense of planet Drako. Courage and ingenuity are the best weapons to prevent disaster and forge a new direction for the backward planet. Can a “dragon defense” tip the balance in their favor? You can buy the book by clicking this link: DRAGON DEFENSE
About the Author
Diane Rapp became an entrepreneur when she started her own dog grooming salon in Santa Barbara, California. She spent the next thirty years as a small business owner; she sold real estate, started an office supply/copy center, and performed free-lance advertising design. During all those years Diane wrote stories as a cure for insomnia. She wrote short stories about dogs for a local German Shepherd Dog Club newsletter, and then expanded to full length novels. After Diane and her daughter Laura co-authored a travel guidebook entitled Cruising the Eastern Caribbean (four editions were published by Hunter Publishing) Laura gave Diane the idea of writing a mystery set on cruise ships in the Caribbean. Murder Caribbean-Style is the first novel of a High Seas Mystery series. Howl of the Wolf and the Havenshire Resistance are the first two books of the Heirs to the Throne series. Dragon Defense is the third book of the trilogy.
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