The China Connection

Rating:
Summary: Meaty but Overly Ambitious
Review: After reading Anthony Sacco's The China Connection, I came away not only fulfilled from a great read, but it is evident that Sacco did his homework. He has taken hard, in-depth facts surrounding the dangers of poltical agendas, and has woven a fast-moving thriller around those facts. The credibility of the situations make his characters even more interesting and real. You will not only find yourself emotionally pulling for Dawson, but you will soon realize that you are wrapped into the circumstances and reasoning of those responsible for a snowball of power, greed and deception. Very powerful. I highly reccommend it!

Rating:
Summary: Engaging political thriller with unusual depth
Review: For a novel with such depth, this is one quick read. The writing is tight, riveting and graphic.

Sacco's first novel gives just enough plot line interspersed with exposition that you'll find you're always saying "just one more page." This first time I read it, I got through about 30 "just one more pages." The pace is fast, but there's tons of depth along the way. One clever aspect of the novel is its careful interspersing and overlapping of the internal struggles of the main character, Dawson, with his external struggles. The unusual thing is that Dawson isn't a flat, cookie-cutter protagonist, but a complex man struggling with some past issues as he's more or less thrust into a position that doesn't seem terribly unusual at first, but evolves into a major political and military scandal.

I like the fact that Dawson has a past, that he's trying to be a good ex-husband, father, and boyfriend despite some past failures. Sacco isn't afraid to create a protagonist with religious conviction (all-too easy to dismiss in modern literature). This protagonist actually goes to church and contemplates the moral justification for his actions, both personally and professionally as an investigator. Sacco cleverly connects Dawson's personal experiences with the larger political problem of relativism. He accuses the moral climate of a thinly veiled version of the Clinton administration for allowing and even instigating political scandals that-if the truth ever came out-would shock us all.

Sacco's fictitious president is a thin disguise for Clinton, providing a convenient hedonistic antagonist who personifies all that Dawson is trying not to be: self-serving, focused on immediate-gratification, and morally bankrupt. The novel revolves around the administration's failure to restrict powerful weapons technology from getting into the hands of Chinese leaders in exchange for money and political influence. The fictional account closely parallels the true events of Clinton's administration and policies with regard to China, weaving it within a fictional main plot that takes the reader through the contrastingly principled Dawson's personal struggles with past mistakes and a budding romantic interest.

Sacco is able to fictionalize and clarify an extremely complex series of backdoor political shenanigans. I was impressed with his ability to string together so many and disparate events and show how they were all effects of a misguided political agenda. Although he takes some artistic liberties with dates, events and people, his account is remarkably accurate and comprehensible. Many characters are composites, and other extenuating circumstances are conveniently omitted (that's the privilege of fiction, it allows us to focus on only what is of consequence and ignore all the tangential daily clutter that may or may not be relevant). He comes down hard on the administration and exposes it for what it was: a lot of self-indulgent, shortsighted opportunists who raided the system for their political, monetary ... gain. The book is scathing in its rebuke of what Sacco sees as the moral relativism of the administration, and its implication that character does count when you are at the helm of the world's greatest super power.

Really, it's one of the most enjoyable novels I've read in the past couple years. There's just enough action to keep you intrigued and just enough political subtext to keep you outraged. One warning: you'll need to think-about the character of those who we elect to high office, about self-serving political agendas, about moral relativism-but not so much that it ruins the adventure along the way.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting novel by a great new writer.
Review: I liked this novel because it is a good read. The pace is fast, the transitions well-done, and the story exciting.
Sacco's descriptions of places in the book are interesting. I felt like I was there with the characters on their travels. His character development is excellent. The protagonist, Matt Dawson is a complex person, dealing with issues from his past while resolutely moving ahead with his mission; to find Johnny Chou and return him to the U.S. to testify before a Congressional Investigative Committee. The minor characters are developed just enough to give weight and credence to the major ones.
I heartily recommend this political thriller to anyone looking for a relaxing but informative novel, and look forward to Sacco's next book, if there is to be one.

Rating:
Summary: Exposition of the technology transfer to China- 1990s
Review: Tony Sacco has brought to real life through his fictional characters the grestes giveaway the U.S. has ever made by the technology transfers of the Clinton Administration. His characters tell the story in a most dramatic way of how missile technology was given to the Chinese for indirect funding to the Administration's war chest. The story is dramatic and told so very well by the book's hero, Matt Dawson, and so called heroine. There are plots and inner plots that show how the Clinton Administration provided the incentive for some of the U.S. defense contractors to secretly provide the technology over a period of eight years to the Chinese. The action is fast moving, much in the style of Tom Clancy which catches the reader into the large web of Chinese intrigue. Tony Sacco has a thriller and should be a MUST for all readers of novels.

Rating:
Summary: Exposition of the technology transfer to China- 1990s
Review: Tony Sacco has brought to real life through his fictional characters the grestes giveaway the U.S. has ever made by the technology transfers of the Clinton Administration. His characters tell the story in a most dramatic way of how missile technology was given to the Chinese for indirect funding to the Administration's war chest. The story is dramatic and told so very well by the book's hero, Matt Dawson, and so called heroine. There are plots and inner plots that show how the Clinton Administration provided the incentive for some of the U.S. defense contractors to secretly provide the technology over a period of eight years to the Chinese. The action is fast moving, much in the style of Tom Clancy which catches the reader into the large web of Chinese intrigue. Tony Sacco has a thriller and should be a MUST for all readers of novels.

Rating:
Summary: Matt Dawson, a great new hero!
Review: Tony Sacco has skillfully combined the political situations of the ninties, dealings with China, national security and the like, with an awsome sub-plot of a true American hero who is true to life, and moral too! This author has proven that a man in these times can be heroic, and real, and make moral choices given tough situations. The book is worth reading just for this!! Matt, recently divorced, feels compelled to express himself sexually with his new girlfriend, like any man would, but he chooses to respect her and himself, and abstain. Matt uses his gun to protect himself and others, but he feels a sense of loss when he kills someone, as he is very pro-life. He does not just travel the world shooting everyone just because he can. Matt Dawson is no "chior boy", he's not perfect, just a man who takes the high road when he can, and looks to God for guidence when he feels he can't. Matt Dawson is a great new American hero that would be great for our kids to look up to. I think it should be a movie or even a new drama series! Ladies, you are gonna' love Matt Dawson!!! This is a MUST READ!! Anyone who liked "Magnum, PI", will love Matt Dawson! ENJOY!

Rating:
Summary: A Novel of Suspense and Intrigue
Review: Writer Anthony Sacco has effectively combined fictionalized events which chillingly parallel developments in US-Chinese relations during the 1990s with a cast of fascinating but believable characters to produce a first-rate novel of technological espionage and suspense. Bent on acquiring US satellite technology, the Chinese military utilizes every means at its disposal, including planted agents and political intrigue aimed directly at the highest office in the United States. When Chinese-American Johnny Chou disappears after idictment on campaign finance violations following a series of high-stakes political deals, private investigator Matt Dawson is hired by the FBI as a low-profile operative whose task is to locate Chou before Chinese agents can kill him to prevent disclosure of everything he knows. Author Sacco takes the reader on a fasinating journey from the highest levels of the growing Chinese satellite program to the Oval Office, and in between to locations ranging from rural China to suburban Maryland. Set against the backdrop Chinese-American espionage are an array of compelling individuals from main character Dawson,to US President Warren Jenkins Carswell,and Chan Chu-hua, a Chinese agent operating US who ultimately discovers Christianity as she seeks to unravel the tangled web of her life. Readers will enjoy the unmistakeable paralells with events in the Clinton White House concerning Chinese technological espionage.