Kwan's Last Mission by John Daniel: A Hong Kong Spy Thriller Set in August 1945

What is Kwan's Last Mission? John Daniel's historical spy novel, released July 29, 2026, is a historical spy novel set at one of the hinge points of modern Asian history. The book is the second in Daniel's Dragon Series and serves as a prequel to Follow the Dragon (2024). It is available in paperback, ebook, and audio formats (bookseller listing).

The setup

It is the summer of 1945. Commander M.T. Kwan, known as the Dragon, is a Chinese officer who has served with the British. He returns to his war-torn hometown of Guilin, hoping to gather his family and start over. Instead, Colonel Lindsay Ride, his former commandant from the British Army Aid Group, asks him to slip into Japanese-occupied Hong Kong and find out what every faction there intends: the Japanese, the Nationalists, the Communists and Hong Kong's own residents. Nobody knows when Japan will surrender, and Britain wants to know whether it can hold on to the colony.

Kwan takes the job partly for a private reason. Iris, the woman he once loved, was last known to be living in Hong Kong. The mission puts him on a collision course with old feelings and new loyalties at once, and the atomic bombings speed up the clock.

Real history in the background

The British Army Aid Group was a real wartime organization that helped prisoners escape from Hong Kong and gathered intelligence in South China, and Lindsay Ride, a University of Hong Kong professor who escaped internment, founded it. Japan's surrender in August 1945 set off a scramble over who would take back the colony, which Britain formally reclaimed that September. Daniel builds his plot inside that window.

Reviews and the author

Kirkus Reviews called it a gripping blend of thriller and history, praising the colorful cast and the frantic pace as Kwan works out who supports British rule and who does not. Kirkus also notes Daniel's background as a banking executive in London and Asia, including two postings in Hong Kong, which shapes the book's sense of place. More about the series is on the author's website.

Reading order

New readers can start here, since it is set before Follow the Dragon and explains how Kwan came to Hong Kong. Readers who already know the first book will get the backstory that it assumes.

Who it suits

Fans of wartime espionage, readers interested in Hong Kong and the end of empire in Asia, and anyone who likes thrillers anchored in real organizations and events.

Book details

• Title: Kwan's Last Mission
• Series: The Dragon Series, book 2 (prequel)
• Author: John Daniel
• Published: July 29, 2026
• Length: 296 pages
• ISBN: 9798990457409