Rogue Angel: Forbidden City by Alex Archer

Another installment in the adventures of Annja Creed. Annja is up to her neck in murder, mystery and mayhem again, this time from California's gold rush ghost town to the desert of Eastern China.

Annja is asked by Huangfu Cao to help find the remains of a Chinese immigrant who was murdered in Volcanoville, a gold rush shanty town in the hills around San Francisco.
Cao claims he is searching for the remains of an ancestor to return him home for burial. Annja agrees to help, because that ancestor happened to own an ancient plaque carved by the Scythian people thousands of years ago. When Annja finds the plaque she is targeted for murder by Cao. It seems no one is what they seem.
Huangfu Cao fails to kill her, leading to a chase through the forested hills. Annja'a knack for survival, not to mention the Sword of Joan of Arc, keep her alive an one step ahead of death. Annja escapes the killers and is rescued by park rangers.
The police try to protect her, but fail and she loses the plaque, but our girl is smart, she took pictures. Her investigation leads her to a local historian who knows something about the plaque and its curse.
No good Rogue Angel story is complete without Roux, who puts in an appearance. He wants the plaque also. The plaque is the key to an ancient city in China, the City of Thieves. The City of Thieves was home to a group of assassins that worked for the ancient Emperor of China, Qin. Qin fought and won wars and eventually forged the nation that is now China. He was a great warrior, who had the services of these assassins and their leader, Sha Wu Ying.
Sha Wu Ying betrayed Qin, but in doing so, led to his own destruction. His cabal of assassins died with him and the City of Thieves disappeared into history and mythology. Enough hints have survived that can lead back to the treasure of the thieves and Cao works for a ruthless Chinese crime lord, Ngai, that wants that treasure for himself. Roux wants the treasure also, but only to keep another mystic talisman from falling into Garin's hands. Garin aligns himself with Ngai and the hunt is on.
Another new character is Kelly Swan. Kelly is the daughter of a poor Chinese fisherman who is murdered by Ngai and she is out for revenge. Lucky for her, she is a CIA trained assassin who has the skills and drive to go for it. Her character is interesting. Interesting enough to warrant her own book or at least further appearances in the Rogue Angel series.
The only negative comment I have is the cover. It is spectacular artwork, but it shows Annja submerged in water, her head and sword barely peaking above the surface. But nowhere in the book is there a scene like that. As a matter of fact, the climax of the book is in a desert! Other than that one little thing, I loved the book. Good job,Alex.