Customer Reviews

Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and His Band of Brothers

5 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been researching this drug ring for many years, but I did not know what the members were really like. Ron has brought them to life. Some of the detail that he provided finally made this whole subject make sense.

For example, when Sergeant Atkinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant and got into trouble playing poker with enlisted guys, he was demoted to a rank lower than the enlisted grade he had to begin with. Chances are that if he had been white, he probably would have been "reamed" by a colonel and that would have been the end of it. Almost all "mustangs," that is prior enlisted, screw up like that.

Although the playing field is a little more even in the military, it still is harder on black males. It is possible that Atkinson would have not gotten into the drug smuggling business if incidents like the above had not happened. When the rules don't work for you, you tend to role the dice, and I believe that that is exactly what Atkinson did. He started taking big chances to make it big.

Although Ron did an excellent job of researching his subject, I believe he could have done better on the "heroin smuggled in bodies" chapter. I was the Air Force staff sergeant that he was talking about at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. I can assure you that I did not make that case up. It is a matter of record. An investigation did take place concerning the smuggling of heroin in the bodies of Killed-In-Action at Kadena Air Base in December, 1972.

Sergeant Atkinson was not the subject of this investigation, but two other members of the ring were, one of which was wearing an Army sergeant's rank and insignia. This individual was not in the Army, and apparently never had been. Further, he was on forged, official orders from the 5th Army hospital in Thailand as a courier for human remains that were reported to have contained heroin. He was also wearing insignia indicating that he as a member of this unit. The outcome of this investigation was, to my knowledge, not make public and evidence in the case disappeared out of U.S. registered mail on its way to court.

It appeared to me that Ron was just a little too anxious to couch this whole incident as an absurdity and declare the "Case closed." Ron was too quick to point out small errors and question the entire credibility of investigators and witnesses. He also insinuated that some involved wanted to hype this incident to sell books. I for one want to know what happened over 38 years ago. I did not dream this incident up. I do, however, appreciate the light that Ron has shed on this. That is why I gave him five stars. He earned it!

He does not, however, have the right to discredit competent people and declare the case closed. It is not closed and will not be until we find out what actually happened, and there is evidence that something DID happen. There was sworn testimony from an investigator of indications that heroin was being smuggled in bodies in the Captain Jeffery MacDonald (Fatal Vision) case. What interested me in that case was that the name cited was the same name as the suspect in the above case that happened in Okinawa two years later. Was this a coincidence?

Ron has stated that inferences about smuggling heroin in bodies have caused harm to Leslie Atkinson and I am sure it has. My take on this is that Mr. Atkinson has been punished enough and it serves no purpose to punish him unfairly. He got into more than enough trouble all by himself. I do not recall any evidence that Mr. Atkinson was involved in anything to do with the above. Further, he has never been charged with anything to do with heroin smuggling using bodies, so the presumption of innocence should apply to this case in regards to Mr. Atkinson and I wish him the best.

Overall, great job Ron, and the book is an excellent read!

Ron Chepesiuk is a great true crime writer. His book gives and provides depth and texture while also letting the reader journey into the world he is writing about. Sergeant Smack is great. Check out the new Don Diva also with the Ike Atkinson interview and Ron's interview on the Gorilla Convict blog.

Great book! After reading the preview I immediately bought the book and waited impatiently for it to arrive. I read it cover to cover. Had this book came out before the movie American Gangster, Denzel would've been playing Ike and some unknown actor would've played Frank the American Prankster Lucas, if he was even written into the script. Hopefully Hollywood recognizes this story and we see it on the big screen.

Great book. If you're thinking of buying, think know more.

Before reading SERGEANT SMACK by writer Ron Chepesiuk I had heard very little about Ike Atkinson. After reading the book I have a clearer picture of a man who has been through the lows and highs of life and is now helping others to search out the truth from the lies and the importance of his live today.

What Chepesiuk does in this book is give the reader a clearer picture of the man, the world in which he grew up and lived and the real circumstances of the activities that made him such a notorious figure. While some would try to glamorize the renegade life that Atkinson has lived, the author simply gives us the facts as he has discovered them to be and let us make an informed decision from there.

What I did come away with at the end was the complicated man that Ike Atkinson has shown himself to be. Today he seems to be using his experiences in a twofold way: to set the record straight as to what he has done and what he hasn't as well as show the importance of the new opportunities he has a a free man.

Today he is able to walk among us, and like us he has choices that he can make. The challenge for him is the same challenges that we all face: what will you do with your freedom. He knows all too well how it can be taken away from you, and at the same time so can your peace of mind. Living with a purpose is his new motto, and it is one that all of us can learn from.

Raw yet powerful in its deliver, SERGEANT SMACK allows us into the mind of a man who has grown into his own worth, giving us a roadmap how we can do the same.

By Malice Intended

In the rush to break a huge story, normally dependable outlets don't do as much background checking as they should. For this reason the biggest braggarts and yarn spinners are often the first at the podium. The masses believe those who speak first and loudest; an unfortunate, inescapable fact of today's media saturated culture. Thankfully, the truth eventually comes to light, delivered by those who are a bit more patient and reserved.

Freelance author Ron Chepesiuk has been one of the premiere true crime authors of recent years, and this summer he unleashes his magnum opus. Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and His Band of Brothers tells an extraordinary and unusual tale of one man's rise to power through illegal means. The path it takes to that destination is at once very familiar and completely alien. It makes all the expected stops in a very unexpected way.

By any reasonable standard, Ike Atkinson has led an exceptional life. A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, Atkinson joined the armed forces and rose to the rank of Army Master Sergeant. He ran a number of scams and hustles that threatened to derail what had became a distinguished military career. In 1968, he entered into what would prove to be his most lucrative and infamous hustle yet: Heroin smuggling.

After establishing connections in Southeast Asia's famed "golden triangle", Atkinson began using a variety of ingenious means to smuggle heroin to the United States from his base of operations in Bangkok, Thailand. The chaos of the Vietnam provided the perfect cover, and Atkinson went on to become the possibly the largest African-American drug trafficker the world had ever seen.

Atkinson established and maintained his business without raising a hand in violence or firing a single bullet in anyone's direction. Charm and intelligence proved to be his most invaluable qualities. Despite the lack of a body count, author Ron Chepesiuk keeps the story moving along with a sure and steady momentum that sustains itself from the first page to the last. Massive amounts of intricate detail are relayed in a clear and concise manner. Embellishment and glorification are nowhere in sight. We get to know the members of Ike's organization intimately and we are made to understand exactly what lead to their inevitable downfall.

The famed "Cadaver Connection" is investigated and debunked in the space of a single chapter. It is here that Ron Chepesiuk's persistence and instincts as an investigative journalist really shine through. The mythology surrounding Ike's methods of smuggling heroin is soundly and systematically taken apart. Chepesiuk tells you the real story of how the potently pure "China White" made it to our shores, and then tells you exactly why it could not have gotten here by way of dead G.I.'s and coffins. Even the hardiest conspiracy theorist will have a hard time refuting the veritable mountain of evidence Ron Chepesiuk presents to support his conclusions.

Another chapter does the exact same thing to former heroin kingpin Frank Lucas, who rose to prominence by way of Ridley Scott's large scale "biopic" American Gangster. Lucas's fantastic tales are revealed to be embellishments at best, outright fabrications at worst. This chapter lays bare the problems that plague American journalism, and why myths and legends often get reported faster than hard, cold facts. Lucas took key elements of Ike Atkinson's life and passed them off as his own, and Hollywood swallowed it hook line and sinker.

Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and His Band of Brothers stands out from the rows and rows of poorly researched and romanticized tomes that claim to contain the "real story" behind America's drug trade. At a mammoth 396 pages, it reads as quickly as the thinnest of pulp novels, while providing much more in the way of sustenance then those could ever hope to. Readers with a gangster fetish will get their fix and emerged enlightened. Ron Chepesiuk has delivered a book that will change the way we view organized crime.

Click the following link to read the original review over at www.planetill.com: [...]

the publishers are getting real greedy. there are no printing or distribution costs so why are the prices so high.