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The Chengdu Directive
Paperback
Series: Keith Barton's Travel Reads, Book 9
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Oct 25 2026
Pages: 214
Weight: 0.64
Height: 0.49 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
A devastating earthquake. A city in ruins. Two children fighting to survive a government that has turned disaster into absolute control.
When a powerful earthquake strikes Chengdu, China, twelve-year-old Xiaoyu and her nine-year-old brother, Haoran, find themselves separated from their parents in a city descending into chaos.
Buildings collapse. Streets disappear beneath floodwaters. Food and clean water become scarce. With communications failing and thousands of residents desperately searching for safety, the children must navigate a shattered city with little more than their determination, ingenuity, and the unbreakable bond between them.
But the earthquake is only the beginning.
As the Chinese government struggles to restore order, a powerful political leadership sees an opportunity. Under the authority of The Chengdu Directive, military checkpoints appear, freedom of movement disappears, and ordinary citizens face detention, forced labor, and increasingly severe punishment for violating emergency restrictions.
What began as a desperate search for their parents becomes a race to escape a system where obedience matters more than human life.
With danger around every corner, Xiaoyu must protect her younger brother while Haoran's resourcefulness provides their best chance of navigating the destruction. Together, they face flooded streets, dangerous wildlife, desperate survivors, and soldiers enforcing laws they barely understand.
How far can two children go when the greatest danger isn't the disaster, but the people who control what happens afterward?
The Chengdu Directive is a gripping survival thriller exploring courage, family, resilience, and the terrifying consequences of unchecked government power.
Some disasters destroy cities. Others reveal who really holds control.
Part of Keith Barton's Travel Reads(TM) series of standalone adventures.
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