Buccaneer: The Provocative Odyssey of Jack Reed, Adventurer, Drug Smuggler and Pilot Extraordinaire

Just finished reading BUCCANEER and I must convey what an amazing job MayCay did putting the manuscript all together. I knew Jack as a young man. I have been searching to see what ever happened to Jack as I had lost contact with him just after he was freed from the counterfeiting sentence; plus, I knew that he was in some sort of mess as a result of the smuggling issue from an LA Times article published in 1987. I only knew Jack for about 4 years before he disappeared from the So Cal scene and wondered all through my adult life what actually happened to Jack. After reading this book that question was answered and much more of an insight as to what made Jack so special comes out “loud and clear.” As a young man I saw these amazing qualities in Jack which did include the lust factor. It was fascinating to read Jack’s own words about how he discovered who he really was and how he made the sacrifices to achieve “his freedom” from society’s shackles. Yes, Jack did transport drugs, which was an unlawful act. And as the book stated the penalty for such would have been about an 8 year sentence. As I read the book I came to the conclusion the real story that comes blaring out is how Jack reconciled his role on this earth and what had troubled him in the early stages of life. He was able to come to grips with that during his 20 plus years behind bars. Just think how many of us have had similar thoughts about our lives and how so many never are able to really grasp the full meaning of their time on this earth. Readers will love the adventure aspect of this book and then be surprised to learn that Jack Reed was very much a true philosopher and an open and honest autobiographer. MayCay’s epilog is touching and real and gave Jack something very special to think about during his last days here on earth. A great read! Steve Lewis

Interesting story but I wish she would have edited his story better. Sometimes it was hard to read with the jumping around and grammar errors. Also, I just don't feel we are hearing the real truth. I kept thinking that we would because this was meant to be released after he passed. But I think this was fluffed up and a feeble attempt at a love story. I did like reading about the life in Panama. It sounds great to get away from it all. I wish he had spoken more about the money and how much he had and lived on, etc. Next thing you know, he is indigent for his trial. I would have liked the gaps filled in!

Most people my age remember the trial, one of the longest if not THE longest drug trial in our lifetimes and the magnetic man that stood in the center of the fray. Jack Carlton Reed. The book is told primarily through his own words fleshed with detailed notes by award-winning author MayCay Beeler. They bonded through flight, hers a career as a professional pilot and his life, a private pilot who moved drugs to support a lifestyle that was initially very self-centered and later evolved into a reflective life off the grid. At first I didn’t like his character, the bragging, his penchant for teen girls, his casual attitude about what drugs can do to society, but slowly, due to the writer’s skill, I started to see a deeper picture to him. Whether you like him or hate him, you can’t help but be impressed that he had a fierce personal code regarding life and friendship and he would not stray from it. The trial is told with enough explanatory actions that the reader understands the nuances of it and how the outcome was going to play out, a non-violent offender getting two life sentences when violent rapists can see only a year or two in prison. The epilogue is a stunning piece of writing and reveals a man deeply changed by what others would perceive as mistakes, things to him were simply a part of the journey to the unbroken spirit he became.

very interesting life story, although it could have been described in richer details e.g. as to flight maneuvers, the arrest and also prison time.

My reading is usually an escape from the real world into nether worlds of dark fantasy where my imagination can become unbound by constraints of reality, and so therefore highly unusual for me to feel any passion for another person's life story. Call me self-centered, or say it's "all about me". "Buccaneer" sat on my dresser for almost a week after arrival before I finally looked past the cover! Something unique with the organization of this book quickly drew me further in, and within a very few minutes thereafter found myself hooked ! Most of us know of drug smuggling only from our exposure to the media. This brilliant read takes us into the heart and soul of a true smuggler...and a true human being endowed with a heart and a soul. I'll be the first to admit that I found myself a bit envious to some (not all) elements of this man's lifestyle, and guessing most of us may feel that same yearn. This candid biography, was only made possible by a very special connection that somehow drew our smuggler and his selected biographer together! Brilliantly researched, organized, and written, MayCay Beeler has achieved what no other person could have possibly done without the dedication, tireless work, and most importantly...the personal chemistry required to produce such a fine read !

First, let me congratulate A. Fletcher for sussing out the essence of Jack Reed (charmer). I met Jack in 1962. We remained close friends until 1976, when he moved from Southern California to Utah (at the time, he was down on his luck, and living in a house I had rented for him, near my home in Lake Arrowhead). I'm a general aviation pilot - also a bush pilot - and Jack and I often flew together. He was, indeed, a fine pilot. Now, about the book: it consists mainly of what I assume are selected excerpts from Jack's writings (journals) while in prison. I say "selected" because there is no connective narrative; it is episodic. Another assumption is that Jack's narrative is unedited, either for content, or grammar and syntax. As noted in another review, the could-have-been should-have-been tale of the dope smuggling adventures of a "pilot extraordinaire" never materializes. We get instead a humdrum tale of a man who opted out of the humdrum of an ordinary life for a more adventurous life - which he consistently refers to as a higher quality of life - without any of the details or specifics of this adventurous life. Jack's tale is not the tale of a pilot. Jack's tale is Jack clearly attempting to cloak his involvement with Pablo Escobar, the most violent and vicious Columbia's drug lords, as some kind of quest for freedom. Jack was always a con man, and as most are, a charming one, and I am sure he conned himself into believing his story. Unfortunately, Ms. Beeler fell for it. She wasn't the first. I hope, as Jack wrote, that in his later years, he did indeed, find inner peace.

and, as Glenn Frey (The Eagles) wrote, "It's the politics of contraband, It's the smuggler's blues"! Jack Reed sought a lifestyle. He tells his own story in this crisp and easy read that gives you great insight into the easy money smuggling can produce, the lure of the lifestyle and an insiders view of how a lot of the violence attributed to "cartels" just did not exist, at least not in the transportation services side of the business Jack was involved with. The book delivers this first hand insight and reveals how even our legal system can, in a sense, form its own cartels in its zeal to force and coerce "smaller fish" to "rat out" the bigger fish with the harshest of penalties if you don't. But this is more than an exciting adventure story...it is a love story...a surprising love story that is not, and could not be, revealed/explained until the very end. I bought this book with the intent of reading it while on flights for the many business trips I take...I ended up reading it in three settings over the weekend...it was that good a story!

It's and Interesting book but about an interesting character but I don't quite understand the main character, Jack Reed's decision not to testify against his friend Carlos Lehrer. There was no way Carlos Lehder was not going to not get a life sentence, whether Reed testified or not. As a result of not "rating" the government came down unfairly hard on Jack Reed got two concurrent life sentence for flying vast quartiles of cocaine into the United States, a non violent crime that he should have gotten 15 years at most. Reed was a model prisoner and served twenty years and only got released a few days before he passed away at 78. At the end of the book it takes an interesting turn that I wouldn't spoil but it involves the co-writer getting very close with her subject:-) The section where Reed "living back to nature in Panama on $500 a year is the best part of the book. He's a bit reticent about what happened on Norman's Cay, which is why I bought the book in the first place. This section begs the question. He says he got $200,000 for each round trip smuggling run from Colombia, Norman Cay and then the USA and it did this for at least two years on a weekly basis. Where did all the money go?

MayCay Beeler has written a thought provoking and honest account of the life of Jack Reed. "Buccaneer" brought back great memories for us, as we enjoyed Jack's company almost weekly for a year and a half before his final trip out of Canada. During this time Jack shared his many interests with us, racing, flying, showed us albums and pictures. Jack was a visitor to our home and had us visit his home on Norman's Cay. We all know now, how Jack made his living, but our memories are of a soft spoken man who certainly had a great appreciation for nature and the places and people around him. We knew he had a great deal of money at his disposal, but it wasn't all about money with him. It wasn't look what I have see what I can do. We always felt he thought life was a big game, money the necessary evil, its acquisition the sport. The reality is Jack was a drug smuggler, enjoyed life on ill gotten gains, did go to jail, and he did pay for his crimes. But for whatever reason he chose his life's path, he was to us a very special person, extremely intelligent and talented. Ms. Beeler, brought our memories to life again, and now, as then, we are still intrigued with the man.

Very informative read.