ALFRED COPPEL - THE DRAGON (SOFTCOVER) IN SOUTH AFRICA

The book is old, and the pages may be browned. There are creases on the spine and corners, and worn around the edges. The book is still very readable, but has seen some wear. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many different people from various walks of life have found cause for celebration. Many, that is, except for those writers who saw in the demise of communism a loss of a worthy mine for stories that pitted the democratic West against the tyrannical communist bear. The grinning villains of the KGB and the sadistic officers of the GRU can now be found only in novels like THE DRAGON. Alfred Coppel's 1977 novel is typical of the military, techno-thriller genre so popular of that time. THE DRAGON is better than most of its ilk in that it has a full rogue's gallery of believable bad guys, many of whom battle each other as much as they do the hated democracies.