Chuck Dugan is AWOL — Eric Chase Anderson
Chronicle Books
2005
Rating:


Eric Chase Anderson, brother of celebrated director Wes, has created his own "Life Aquatic," where danger and mayhem are lurking around every corner. A junior-league James Bond, 18-year-old Chuck Dugan leaves the Naval Academy when he learns that his mother Fraunces is about to marry the nefarious Admiral, a man Chuck's murdered father arrested years ago. Like a proactive, accident-prone Hamlet, Chuck attempts to prevent the marriage while searching for his father's lost buried treasure and a sunken World War II-era submarine, but he's set upon by the Admiral's three illegitimate children — a Hawaiian, a Cockney and a Russian — an octopus and buccaneers along the way. Elaborately detailed and briskly paced, "Chuck Dugan is AWOL" contains a refreshing air of innocence and a back-to-basics approach to the spy genre. Chuck generally doesn't depend on gadgets (the one gadget he uses, called a popcycle, nearly kills him) or trot around the globe. He doesn't even fire a gun. Humorously, Chuck more often relies upon his supposed mastery of disguise, a running joke since all of his costumes still involve the distinctive eye patch he wears over his repeatedly ill-fated left eye. With its illustrations and teenaged protagonist, "Chuck Dugan is AWOL" appears to be a children's story, but its vibrant sense of whimsy is infectious, enabling it to transcend age boundaries.

Posted Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Link to this review:
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