Ambush of the Dragon

Anthony "Patch" Pacino Series, Book 3

De: Michael DiMercurio

Narrado por: Joseph Robert Courtemanche

There is only one way to reunite a country that has been split by two bloody civil wars in thirty years, one of them nuclear: savage their external enemies and leave them so weak they cannot interfere with the union until stability is achieved. The newly reconstituted China–now the Federated States of the New Middle Kingdom–has a strike plan that will leave both the Russians and Americans bleeding and desperate to survive.

For there to be any hope of American and Russian vengeance, old allies, resurrected schemes from decades ago, and a plan as innovative as the 1942 Doolittle raid on Tokyo must all be put in motion. A cast of both new and favorite characters, driven by decorated submarine combat veteran Lieutenant Anthony Pacino, is forced to fight for not only his beloved submarine Vermont and the lives of his shipmates, but the fate of the Western world in an epic battle of undersea warfare.

©2025 Michael DiMercurio (P)2025 David N. Wilson

Surprises at every turn!

This is a well written story that goes in depth on technical things, but is not boring. The narration is well done and interesting. If you’re looking for something different, give this a read or listen!

Anthony “Pach” Pacino

There is no question, that this book is the Best work you’ve produced to date. Hats off to you. Pach is a real person, not made up. All your characters are REAL; they act like people that I’ve served with in both the Marine Corps and Coast Guard. I really Like your work. Please keep on…

Best one yet!

This is the third book I have read by the author and it is by far the best one by a wide margin. The plot was very good and the action never stopped but gave the reader time to catch his breath nicely.

When an author can make a reader (or listener I suppose) feel emotions based on the plot points he has exceeded their expectations. Michael DiMercurio did this multiple times throughout the book. This made it stand out from his previous two works which were both excellent.

That Prologue - WOW

You know the last 20 minutes of a movie when the thriller reaches peak tension? Ambush of the Dragon starts this way and then keeps it up - a roller coaster of thrills, intrigue and tension.

New to the Pacino (Michael or Anthony) series of books from Mr DiMercurio? Each of the books are self contained, I have yet to read them all and I’ve jumped far ahead to this book so you can start the series here without losing any important plot or character details,

Consider the audio version, Mr Courtemanche does a masterful job narrating the scores of characters with a wide range and strong differentiation between characters. His narration is a joy to listen to in spite of the torturous names and places Mr DiMercurio has created in his world.

It’s an entertaining listen!

I’m a fan of the entire series and I own all of them, maybe I’m slightly biased. To me this one keeps you thinking, its flow is different and it works very well. It comes across as easy for someone new to the series not to be lost, yet provides exactly what a fan of the series likes. The slight 4th wall breaks are entertaining. This one is definitely better than a tom Clancy book. Pick it up, enjoy it, then spend your money on all the others.

Fantastically Spum Yarn

I have to commend all involved in this story. From MD's writing, to JC editing and reading for the audiobook ,,, and Supersonic Readhead for threading her way into the storyline and keeping the aforementioned crew in check.

The story is well written on the foundations of the previous book. While it spins a great modern-day naval / political yarn, it does so in a manner that makes it believable. Details about characters, events and places are described in detail enough to make the listener / reader want to continue. Characters are well developed with enough information the consumer to “know” the person and adequately put them in the proper “like or hate bin.” Truly a completely enjoyable story.

I appreciate the craftsmanship that DiMercurio put into the writing and Courtemanche translated with his voice.

Definitely one that goes in the naval stories shelf for future re-reading.

No actual dragons were ambushed in this book

Story:
The positives,
That prologue. The first part of the book grabs you and doesn't let go. Lots of action from start to finish. There are some really emotional and touching moments in the book as well. The protagonists really think through problems and find solutions; so there is lots of "smart" action in the book in addition to the gripping guns blazing style action.

The negatives,
Without getting in to spoilers I did find the disproportionate response by the US against China (nope, not calling it the MKFS) strained credulity with the possibility that it could have turned out far worse than it did. But I'm letting it slide as I feel that in these books the politics are more a vehicle for the action than the other way around.

I also felt there should have been more conflict between the crew of the USS Vermont and the secret gov't agency that ends up conscripting them. Again I'm letting that slide, I'm not holding something the author decided not to do against the book.

The comments (things that are neither positive or negative),
I do hope the author doesn't use the cyber attack plot device to knock out everything but the enemy's submarines in a future book. It was in the first Patch Pacino book, and its here again. That's enough. I do want to know what happens between Short Hull Cooper and the crew of the Vermont crew given the events in the climax of the book.

The protagonists do go down a much darker path than in the previous two Patch Pacino books, which ends up harming lots of innocents. I don't like that they went down that path so easily, which in turn makes me like Ambush of the Dragon less than Dark Transit and Panic Switch. However judging Ambush of the Dragon on its own I give it a higher rating than I did with Dark Transit (don't think I wrote a review for Panic Switch) because it's a much bolder and exciting book than the previous two were.


Narrator:
Joseph Courtemanche with his smooth radio voice is fantastic as always. He's wonderful at giving every character a unique voice. If you see his name on an audiobook snap it up. His version of Bullfrog Quinnivan is a hoot.

Enjoy the story line of Patch and the crazy tales

Great sea story as sea stories go!! And as a sailor we love our sea stories

very well written,no dull moments

Great read awsome story author has a way of keeping you glued to the book hopefully there is a book 4

Poor entry in an outstanding series

I love the author and the series but this entry felt phoned in. The plot was cobbled together and implausible, and the over-the-top parodies of liberal politicians—while probably cathartic for the author to write—felt strained and irrelevant to the plot, such as it was. The trope of seeing dead people who five advice and encouragement would have had more impact of not used on at least three separate occasions. All in all, it felt like the author wrote some prompts and let AI write the book.