β Scribed by Huston, James W
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Mining the ever-popular mother lode of military techno-thrillers, Huston's fourth novel (after Flashpoint) is a lukewarm effort with more spills than chills and even less plot credibility. Huston is himself a former navy "Topgun" jet fighter pilot, and this novel relies heavily on aviation jargon and modern aerial combat. Navy Lt. Luke Henry, a hotshot Topgun instructor, is forced out of the navy after being blamed for a deadly aircraft accident that was not his fault. Resolved to keep flying, he starts a private, commercial Topgun school in the Nevada desert. Almost immediately, he draws lucrative military contracts to train fighter pilots; a sneaky government official even provides him with Russian MiG-29 jets for training. But hopelessly naβΉve Luke is being set up. The terrorist bad guys play him like a cheap fiddle, bribing and blackmailing their way into the school. Aided by the Russian mafia, they hope to incite a nuclear war between Pakistan and India, but first they want to orchestrate the most devastating terrorist attack ever on American soil. Several exciting jet dogfights provide the action as Luke and his squadron pals battle the terrorists at high altitude, with air-to-air missiles zooming all over the sky. The aviation scenes are best, but back on the ground, Huston's characters and plot devices do not hold up. The only character of substance is a disgraced Russian pilot who has infiltrated Luke's school with an agenda of his own. Even the bad guys are corny caricatures of thugs and zealots, and Luke is left with nothing to do but shoot down nearly everybody in sight.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
First comes an assault at the Israeli border, then an attack on a bus within Israel that leaves four adults dead. It is clear that a new terrorist group is operating in the Middle East, and navy pilot Sean Woods wants someone to do something about it; one of the people killed on the bus was a fellow navy pilot. Sean is angry because no one in the United States seems to care, but then Sean is always angry with someone. While this anger can work if the character develops as the book progresses, Sean does not. When he makes mistakes, his arrogant response is simply "oh well," and he is on to the next self-centered assumption. Worse, there aren't any other characters to like because they all simply serve as foils for Sean. The author's background as a lawyer and former navy pilot is evident in his writing; whether his pilots are running operations off an aircraft carrier or coming up with constitutional legal solutions, the details are all thereAand they are nicely handled. If you have readers who love the technical stuff, this new work by Huston (The Price of Power) is for them. Otherwise, this is not a priority purchase.AJane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
They say the past repeats itself. But does the past repeat, or is it a continuing story? The Reid and Toles families are settling into their roles at the White House. President Candace Reid is grateful to have the counsel and support of close friends Alex and Cassidy Toles. Alex assumes a posi
What if the bomb had actually been dropped? What if your family was the only one with a shelter? In the summer of 1962, the possibility of nuclear war is all anyone talks about. But Scott's dad is the only one in the neighborhood who actually prepares for the worst. As the neighbors scoff, he builds