Rated of 5
by Sharon B. (Rome, GA) Nice Story of Healing and Redemption
The daughter of a Vietnam war veteran travels to Ho Chi Minh City to run a center for street children. She takes along a childhood friend who was disabled in the Iraqi war. Together they confront a language barrier, corrupt police and a host of unsavory characters to get the center up and running. It was a good read, although I was put off by the anti-American sentiments and some of the dialog was tedious. This is one of those rare books that will make a better movie.
Rated of 5
by Mary Lou F. (Naples, FL) Dragon House
This was a very well written book - characters were marvelous. It's a book you hate to see end and there is a very poignant message to be learned here.
Rated of 5
by Priscilla M. (Houston, TX) A Satisfying Story
When I first started reading Dragon House, I found the writing to be a bit uneven and stilted. I had trouble staying with the book and put it down several times before I finally got into the story. Iris Rhodes flies to Vietnam to see the children's home her father was building in Saigon before his death. The author never really explains why her father felt compelled to do this, but the reader can surmise it was motivated by guilt after his involvement in the Vietnam War, a guilt that kept him estranged from his family throughout all of Iris's life. Those of us who reached adulthood during this era can completely identify with his need to rebuild the city in some meaningful way. Iris is accompanied by a childhood friend, Noah, who brings with him physical, mental, and emotional scars from the war in Iraq.
Once Iris and Noah reach Saigon, the story starts to pick up momentum. The reader meets the various characters and in spite of my earlier misgivings about the writing, I became attached to them all. The process of healing for both Iris and Noah keeps the story moving toward a very satisfying conclusion. It is a feel good story, complete with a few teary moments.
Rated of 5
by Sandy C. (Houston, TX) A well written book that will sweep you away to another world Dragon House tells the story of two American friends, Iris and Noah, who travel to Vietnam to finish the work that Iris’s deceased father started to establish a center for street children in Saigon.
John Shors’s writing transports the reader to another world, from vivid descriptions of the gorgeous landscape beyond the walls of Saigon and Hanoi to the heartbreaking depictions of the squalor and cruelty of street life. I could see (and smell) the streets of Saigon as well as the shores of Nha Trang and Halong Bay. Shors also does a good job of developing the characters - from Noah, an Iraq war veteran who is battling back from a debilitating injury and struggling to find himself, to Mai and Mihn, two street children struggling each day to survive in a storyline a bit reminiscent of Slumdog Millionaire.
Dragon House also wraps in a love story and a plot filled with intrigue and suspense. I would definitely recommend this book to others. A real page turner.
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of 5
by Sharon B. (Rome, GA) 
of 5
by Mary Lou F. (Naples, FL) 
of 5
by Priscilla M. (Houston, TX) 
