Search and Destroy [Mass Market Paperback]

Dean Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 2008

RICK WARD WANTS TO GO TO WAR.

And he's not sure why. Maybe he's running from his dad and his crazy temper. Maybe he's running from his girl, who seems to think he's more of a joke than a man. Or maybe he's just running -- to find himself.

But after Rick ventures into the Vietnam jungle, he discovers that no one -- not protestors, politicians, or writers -- has got a clue. War is far bigger, scarier, and more complicated than anything he ever could have imagined.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–Rick, a recent high school graduate, has no direction. He and his girlfriend break up as she prepares to start college, and an argument with his boss leads Rick to quit his job. After a fight with his father, he decides to join the army, realizing that he needs some discipline. He is selected to join the Special Forces and attend jump school in preparation for going to Vietnam. There, Rick is challenged by the heat, the smell of burning sewage, and jungle training. He volunteers for a unit that goes out on long-range jungle patrols and almost loses his life rescuing a comrade. He also discovers that many of his fellow soldiers do not really believe they are accomplishing anything. This is an involving story about the Vietnam War from the viewpoint of a young soldier. Hughes captures the danger, tension, pain, and small triumphs of the conflict. While this book could be easily read by many middle school students, it is more appropriate for high school collections because of its graphic battle scenes and descriptions of serious injuries and death. A well-written, realistic, and engrossing book.–Jane G. Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. Rick Ward, a recent high-school graduate, is uncertain about everything in his life except his desire to escape his unhappy home life and his bullying father. He enlists in the army and requests a combat assignment in Vietnam. After training, he volunteers for a special combat unit that goes on deep reconnaissance missions to hunt and kill the enemy. Hughes is especially effective in conveying the brutality and horrors of combat, and Rick's conflict between his sense of duty to his country and the compassion and responsibility he feels for the ruined lives of so many Vietnamese. After being wounded during an act of heroism, Rick has a homecoming similar to that of many other Vietnam veterans. He comes back feeling the war was a senseless waste, and tortured by recurring nightmares, he finds it difficult to adjust normal life. The story ends with his future uncertain but hopeful. This is a compelling, insightful story about the emotional, physical, and psychological scars that wars leave upon soldiers. Ed Sullivan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (January 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141695371X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416953715
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #69 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Fiction > Military & Wars

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reprinted from the Aug 2006 "The Historical Novels Review", August 25, 2006

By 

Ken Kreckel "author" (Casper, Wy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Search and Destroy (Hardcover)

Rick Ward, a confused boy from Long Beach just out of high school, drifts into the army. He may be running away from an overbearing father, a pointless existence of beach parties, or perhaps he just needs to do something meaningful. In that spirit he goes to Vietnam and volunteers for the Charlie Rangers, an elite group who infiltrate the jungle to beat the enemy at their own game. He wants to be tested, to experience life like his heroes, Ernest Hemingway and Joseph Conrad. Most of all, he longs to be a man.

He discovers that nothing about war is what he or others had thought. He finds himself in a restricted world of just he and his team, trying to survive in a jungle hell, where the highest honor is not fighting for his country, or even just surviving, but helping a buddy to stay alive, to make it back to `the world.'

This is a powerful story about how war profoundly changes a man. The ugliness of war screams off the pages--its horror, hypocrisy, and utter futility. The author does a marvelous job of blending this with the larger realities of the Vietnam era, not shrinking from the controversies but not taking a stand either. The truth is too complex, too overwhelming for any one individual to understand. In the end, it is the individual's humanity that counts.

This skillfully written book is highly recommended for teens and adults.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gritty, January 11, 2007

By 

Bruce Bothwell "Bookhound" (Iowa, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Search and Destroy (Hardcover)

Although the book was presented as a book for adolescents, it was targeted more for early adult. It follows some of the more disturbing parts of the Vietnamese war through the eyes of a late teen who has little clue of what he wants out of life. He learns that war is indeed hell. I would recommend this as reading for any late teen considering joining the military.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Search and Destroy Review by Arthur Harris, December 23, 2010

By 

BookReview - See all my reviews

This review is from: Search and Destroy (Mass Market Paperback)

Search and Destroy by Dean Hughes is a fantastic book about the Vietnam War. This book is about a recent high school graduate named Rick Ward. Rick wants to be a writer but never puts forth the effort needed to do this task. Rick is also having problems with his dad. He is afraid if he leaves, his father will start beating his mom. Rick decides that he needs to become a man and that the Army will help him be that. Rick wants to be in the Special Forces. His unit lays out ambushes for the NVA and the Viet Cong to walk into. On Rick's first patrol a man in his unit named Sparks is hit, and Rick begins to regret coming to Vietnam. While in Vietnam, Rick makes a friend when he meets Kent, who the others call Preacher. Kent and Rick talk to each other about why they enlisted in the Army. Throughout this story Rick and Kent fight alongside each other facing many dangers. Overall, I give this book a 9.5 out of 10.