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

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. I’m only on Chapter 11 so far and it is a roller coaster of thrills & intrigue.

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, In fact, if you’re new, I’m recommending you start here as I’m enjoying this book (I’m listening to the audio book) that much.

Speaking of the audio version, Mr Courtemanche does a masterful job narrating the scores of characters I’ve heard so far with a wide range and strong differentiation between characters. His narration is a joy to listen to.

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.

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