The Dragonhead - John Sack's True Tale of Johnny Kon, Chinese Godfather
Written: Mar 07 '07 (Updated Mar 08 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Energetic true-life look at Asian organized crime
Cons: Zero
The Bottom Line: John Sack was a forceful, outstanding, enthusiastic writer, and The Dragonhead is no exception.
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| teamfreak16's Full Review: The Dragonhead |
That status symbol among discriminating gentlemen, the Rolex watch. Jade necklaces, diamond earrings, gold rings, all procured through Hong Kong-area jewelry store heists. Smuggled into Tokyo and Vietnam, where purchased by Euro tourists and American GI's. Rabbit and weasel furs sold legitimately (sometimes) in China. Dog fur (the "fun fur" fad of the 1980's) sold to young American and German girls. Such was the world of Johnny Kon, leader of a Chinese organized crime gang called The Big Circle. Ohhhh and there was also that little matter of a half-ton of heroin smuggled into the United States under Kon's direction.
Author John Sack (An Eye For An Eye, Company C) spent twelve years compiling the research for The Dragonhead: The True Story of the Godfather of Chinese Crime-His Rise and Fall, often enlisting Kon as a fact checker from inside various prisons. The result is a fascinating page-turner as Sack traces Johnny Kon's life from poor teenager hauling mud on his shoulders for the good of the Republic, to his very logical steps as furrier, fence, and ultimately, drug lord.
As Sack wanders through Kon's tale with the enthusiastic flair found in his wartime works, he introduces a cast of colorful characters vital to Kon's daily operations. The reader meets interesting crooks with nicknames like Michael Jackson (fond of dancing to the music of the Gloved One,) The Professor (a religious reader of Chairman Mao,) and Fat @ss. The Dragonhead is graced with world-class, expert smugglers such as The Ghost, a man holding passports from twelve countries, and able to pass as a citizen of all twelve; or Four Eyes, the ultra-polite courier who always insisted on paying the import tax on his "samples."
The Dragonhead is chock-full of standard mob-fare, enough to satisfy most any reader of organized crime journalism - money, murder, more money, double crossing, still more money, but mostly, loyalty. Daily, Kon prayed to Kuan Kung, the God of Loyalty, and demanded loyalty from his brothers in crime, but also from him to them. Double-crossed by one of his men, it's painfully obvious that the only logical solution is to order that man's death, yet the loyal Kon put the decision to a vote rather than sentence the traitor to die.
Finally, Sack takes the already fast-paced tale into whirlwind status as Kon, his empire crumbling around him, attempts to figure out the identity of the DEA informant within his organization.
John Sack wrote with a special, brilliant, zesty gusto. Here, he wrote up a very wise, likable man, leading a very likable cast of characters. These likable Asian chaps just happened to flood the United States with a half-ton of smack. How they did it is actually quite fascinating, a can't-put-it-down type of read. If your taste runs toward organized crime, especially Asian organized crime, The Dragonhead should be right up your alley.
Recommended:
Yes
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