Synopsis: The Dragon Protocol is a high-stakes international suspense thriller following Dr. John Savino, a seasoned FBI operative and surgeon assigned to infiltrate the Eastern California College of Medicine (ECCM)-a prestigious institution masking one of the most sophisticated money- laundering operations in the world.
ECCM, founded by Peter Chang and the late Bo Chen, functions as a financial conduit for billions in illicit Triad capital, disguised through academic grants, medical exchanges, and international research funding. What appears to be an elite medical school is, in reality, a carefully engineered machine of corruption, political influence, and enforced silence.
Savino's investigation begins after a series of anonymous tips, financial irregularities, and missing federal personnel point to ECCM. Operating undercover as Dean of Research, he quickly uncovers a tightly controlled ecosystem of fear enforced by Chang's elite security unit-the "Praetorians"-who eliminate threats and maintain institutional obedience.
As Savino penetrates deeper, he exposes a vast network of offshore accounts, shell corporations, and global financial pipelines extending from California to Macau, Singapore, and China. The investigation escalates when an FBI agent is kidnapped overseas, forcing Savino into a covert international extraction mission that leads him into direct conflict with Triad forces.
Returning to the United States, Savino closes in on Chang, uncovering not only systemic financial crimes but evidence of murder, including the execution of Bo Chen-Chang's former partner and the father of one of his own operatives.
Using carefully constructed pressure tactics, internal fractures within Chang's organization, and a wire operation, Savino forces a final confrontation that results in Chang's confession and the collapse of ECCM's criminal infrastructure.
Yet even after the arrests, Savino realizes the Dragon Protocol was never a single system-it was a network designed to adapt, disperse, and survive.
The fall of ECCM marks an ending.
But not the end.
Autobiography: Dr. Eldo Frezza is an award-winning surgeon, physician executive, and storyteller who immigrated to the United States from Venice, Italy, in 1992. Combining decades of medical expertise with a passion for suspenseful storytelling, he crafts novels that explore the shadowed intersections of power, corruption, and human ambition.
He is the author of Chasing Hemingway: Between the Sea and the Story, the haunting The Death of Venice, and Drowned on Fire, as well as the acclaimed Twisted Needle series featuring Dr. John Savino, a fictional physician and FBI medical detective.
In The Dragon Protocol, Frezza delves into the murky world of international crime, academic corruption, and political intrigue-blending meticulous research, high-stakes action, and complex characters into a story that is both intelligent and relentlessly suspenseful.
