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Once a Ranger
Former Army Ranger David Craig, now a family man and successful Wall Street broker, finds his life shattered by tragedy when his son is kidnapped, and, with the help of his Ranger buddies, embarks on the most important mission of his life--to rescue his son. Original.
- GenresThriller
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 2, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
July 21, 2026
David Craig served in Vietnam as a highly skilled Ranger, made it home, and became an investment banker. It's him and his son, after the passing of his wife some time ago. David's life is pretty good... until. A crazed South American drug lord has decided to abduct children that catch his eye, and David's son Justin had that bad luck.
David is plunged into a whirlwind of chaos as his son is kidnapped, the drug lord's allies (including highly placed men in the US government) throw all manner of obstacles in David's way, leaving him on the run with no help but his former Ranger buddies and Jenny, the woman he's begun seeing who proves unexpectedly resourceful and brave.
From New York, through Mexico, and to Colombia, David and his crew face off against thugs with one mission: get the kidnapped kids back, no matter who stands in their way.
One thing this book did well is portraying the randomness and ugliness of gunfights. Innocents die or get seriously wounded, people on both sides fall with no big dramatic scene, leaving a big mess behind.
A few things that didn't land as well for me:
It's really helpful that almost every single one of David's former teammates is in a position to offer just what's needed by way of resources and/or skills. As I keep saying, magazines and clips are NOT the same thing. One sentence refers to taking the "Lincoln Memorial subway stop." The two things wrong with that are 1) such a stop doesn't exist and 2) everyone in DC calls it the Metro, not the subway. That's just basic research.
It was a decent story that reads like an action movie. I'm not sorry I read it, but I can't say I was hugely impressed.
David is plunged into a whirlwind of chaos as his son is kidnapped, the drug lord's allies (including highly placed men in the US government) throw all manner of obstacles in David's way, leaving him on the run with no help but his former Ranger buddies and Jenny, the woman he's begun seeing who proves unexpectedly resourceful and brave.
From New York, through Mexico, and to Colombia, David and his crew face off against thugs with one mission: get the kidnapped kids back, no matter who stands in their way.
One thing this book did well is portraying the randomness and ugliness of gunfights. Innocents die or get seriously wounded, people on both sides fall with no big dramatic scene, leaving a big mess behind.
A few things that didn't land as well for me:
It's really helpful that almost every single one of David's former teammates is in a position to offer just what's needed by way of resources and/or skills. As I keep saying, magazines and clips are NOT the same thing. One sentence refers to taking the "Lincoln Memorial subway stop." The two things wrong with that are 1) such a stop doesn't exist and 2) everyone in DC calls it the Metro, not the subway. That's just basic research.
It was a decent story that reads like an action movie. I'm not sorry I read it, but I can't say I was hugely impressed.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review