The Jewel Dragon — Frank Smith

The Jewel Dragon is an epic adventure aimed at the 7-adult age group, set in 1932, long before the age of mobile phones and TV, a time when great adventures took place.  The book tells how main characters Ben and his two partners in the White Hand Gang, Max and Joe (Josephine) discover the skeleton of a pirate in a secret cave. Their quest to find the pirates' missing treasure gets them trapped in the mountain lair of an army of trolls lost in time. Their plight is further deepened or so they think, when they stumble into the presence of a bewitched dragon. The Jewel Dragon is a story best read by torchlight under the bedclothes. “My story telling really began back in 1990-something,” explains Frank. “My daughter was a nurse at the time, and worked nights, so I was roped in to do some babysitting for my grandson Ryan. “All the books in his bedroom had been read to him many times by his mum, so to keep him amused I made up a new story every night; this was how the White Hand Gang adventures were born. “My grandson is now a grown man, but about a year ago, when he came for a visit, we were reminiscing about his childhood and he said how much he used to enjoy the adventure stories and that I really ought to join them all up together to make a proper book.” And here is that book. Frank says he has enough stories for another three or four books. The Jewel Dragon, though, is where the adventures all begin.