Neon Dragon

To be published March 2010

Oceanview Publishing

First published in the UK in 2007, the book was acquired by Oceanview Publishing in 2009 and I got to design the new cover.

But not right away. Susan Hayes, the interior layout designer, did it instead. I visited the Oceanview website one day and saw it there and was surprised. I've designed the cover for each of their books, all 37 of them, and this was pretty strange. I totally respect Susan. She is very skilled, talented and professional. I love what she adds to Oceanview's books (all 37) with her choices for binding and endpaper colors, in addition to her fine layout and typesetting, not to mention proofreading. But this cover must be mine, that's all. So I offered to improve it at no charge. They happily accepted and told me that acquiring this tradepaper book required a tight production budget so Susan handled it along with the interior. She did a decent job, but I needed to take it the rest of the way.

She kindly gave me her photoshop file and I reworked it. The two versions will be joining the before-and-after examples on my website very soon.

Reviews from its previous publication:

“This debut novel by law professor Dobbyn marks the first long-form appearance of legal eagles Michael Knight and Lex Devlin, who’ve starred in several of the author’s short stories. Dobbyn, who knows his characters like the back of his hand, is an engaging writer, and readers who have followed the adventures of Knight and Devlin in short stories will give a small cheer that they’ve finally made the leap to the hardcover novel.”

— Booklist

“Readers of early John Grisham and Jeremiah Healy will enjoy Dobbyn’s debut for his insider knowledge of the legal system and the defense strategy his protagonists use in court.”

— Library Journal

“Fans of the film True Believer will best appreciate law professor Dobbyn’s debut.”

— Publishers Weekly

Dobbyn also has a new thriller to be released in March, Frame-Up.

Enjoy.