Serpent's Doom (The Zodiac Mysteries)

AS SAN FRANCISCO’S CHINATOWN prepares for the Lunar New Year festivities in the fogbound month of February, astrologer Julia Bonatti finds herself with three new clients, all in desperate straits who don’t seem to heed her advice. Tracy is the victim of a brutal husband with nowhere to run, and Jeanette is worried sick about her son, whom she suspects has fallen in with a bad lot. BUT MOST FRIGHTENING OF ALL to Julia is Frankie Chang’s dilemma. Frankie’s only eleven years old, and he’s terrified. His mother is missing, and no one will help him. Julia’s heart goes out to him, but her hands are tied. Frankie won’t let her talk to the police and neither will his family. JULIA EVENTUALLY DISCOVERS that the three worlds of her clients intertwine. Those lives inevitably collide exposing a dangerous smuggling cabal. Julia knows too much and becomes a victim of both a ruthless environmental group and criminals who will stop at nothing—including murder.