Search for the Dragon

By Jack Lange

For adventure lovers who enjoy sharing the action, the danger and the hair-raising escapes from death of a well-plotted thriller, Search for the Dragon is a novel that satisfies readers' highest... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581510268
• ISBN13: 9781581510263
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Bookpartners
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Awesome, Tangled, Eye Opener, Extremely Gripping

It is a good thing I do not use a pacemaker. This extremely gripping story kept me awake until I was done reading it. I found myself, breathing heavy, zipping eyes across the words on the page, trying to gather more and more of the story to find out what is the next steps outcome. Initially I was only going to read the first few 5-10 pages, but by the fourth page, my imagination was hopelessy tangled and wanting to go on a trip of a life time. I am not a boat person, but the author made me comfortable with the water, the storms, the navigation and then he dropped me into South America and the many many pieces started to show themselves. It says I have a 1000 words to describe my thoughts of this book..... Honestly all I can say "Get A Copy" read it and prepare yourself for a wonderful trip that no movie house, video can give you. I guarentee you will be on the edge of your pillow (I read in bed) and obilivous to all else happening around you.... You will feel the "Fear", you will feel the "Lust", you will feel "Laughter" of the little boy and "Anticipation" of the meetings and the whole cast get themselves into... Go for it... Do not look back... It truly is a "Awesome" book and it "Opened My Eyes" to our government to and other aspects of drugs and taxes and more...

If you like a good adventure, this book is for you!

SEARCH FOR THE DRAGON involves three young Americans finding their futures in adventure. Benjie is their conscience while his girlfriend, Dynamite-unafraid to speak her mind or go after what she wants-still has some growing up to do. Josh is the daredevil goading them to exceed the limits of their conscience and daring. A chance encounter in a Florida marina with a man and his young son, runaways in a child custody battle, provides the boat they flee in to Colombia. There Josh's scheming involves them in a pot-smuggling caper which gains Dynamite's ready approval and eventually wears Benjie into acquiescence as well. Making a smooth transfer at sea of the contraband cargo, they gleefully set sail for Florida. Unaware they've been tricked by the Colombian capo or that they're the object of an underworld search, they are in for a series of surprises and deadly encounters. This is a well-written story, giving us a taste of the pleasures and perils of life at sea as well as the tantalizing lure of quick profits from drug smuggling. The characters epitomize the youthful assumption of invincibility until the stark realities of death and destruction confront them. An underlying theme is that our country's drug laws play a major part in the growth, diversification and sustenance of the drug trade. A spirited adventure, as thoughtful as it's entertaining.

A First Rate Sea Tale

When I picked up Search For The Dragon by Jack Lange I wasn't quite sure what to expect, nor even what I was expecting. I was sure it was a thriller, and I'd heard that it was a book with a message. And then there was the sexy/druggie/lost generation angle too. Anyway, I was attracted to it, picked it up, and read it. All three of the above elements were there, and plenty enough to satisfy. Yes, it thrilled. After all, weren't the right ingredients there, by God-action, gangsters, cops, PIs, hippies, thugs, smugglers, chases and storms and explosions at sea, femme fatales (a blonde named DYNA-MITE to be specific)? Yes, there was a message, and even for a purist like me who demonizes books with too obvious a message, this book by God worked. The message of the social wages of the sinful and foolish antiquated drug laws and the needless pains of their crimes against, and punishments of, society is indeed a heady one, a solid one and by God valuable one. But, this message did not in the least dilute the dramatic movement or authentic emotion of the novel. It, in fact, intensified it-which any message has to do in a work of fiction. It did not sermonize or coerce, but edified and educated. To oppose such a message artistically, (whether personally for or against), is to quibble. And yes, it sensationalized (I'm happy to say), but not overly so. The lost generation, drugs, and blonde bombshells appeals to an old and fat former hippie. BUT-forget the above. What I came away from and appreciated most in this novel was something else I wasn't expecting, by God: a first rate sea tale. Mr Lange's obvious knowledge of the sea and sailing, and his love for it in itself created a drama in the breast of this land lubber who's read more than his share of Melville and Conrad, believe me. I appreciated the chapters at sea and didn't want them to end. From the choppy waters off Colombia where the modern day pirates make the dope transfer in the treacherous delta tidal flood water to the serenity and beauty of a Bahama sunset to the hurricane's power and near disastrous consequences to the fantastic chase off the Florida coast, I was bloody well there, and scared, and thrilled, and touched-but most of all, bloody well impressed with Mr Lange's expertise at transmitting his knowledge and love of the sea with visceral and emotional authority and by God, power. Mr Lange knows the stem from the stern-that the reader expects. But of the love for the sea of sea people-of its power, glory, beauty and absolute power-to be communicated coherently and emotionally-that this reader didn't expect. And I got it. I'm a little closer now to understanding it all. And I thank Mr. Lange.