Customer Reviews

Black Star

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found the plot of "Black Star" pretty unrealistic, but it was audacious enough that I'm giving the book four stars.

The story starts a bit slow, but the last half of the book makes up for it, with many exciting descriptions of military conflicts. Character development is not all that great, but above average for a techno-thriller.

The best parts of the book are the fantastic descriptions of aerial dogfights and naval battles. Surprisingly, I thought that some of the battle scenes between various Taiwanese and Chinese naval vessels were more exciting than the aerial shoot-outs. Robert Gandt is good at making both kinds of combat scenes come alive.

My criticism about the lack of realism in the plot concerns the mission launched by the U.S. and Taiwanese military to steal an advanced Chinese stealth fighter. This sounds pretty crazy to me - I'm sure that in a real wartime situation that the allied forces would decide to simply destroy this aircraft. After all, the Chinese built this airplane using plans (stolen from the USA) for a corresponding American airplane. Why risk major loses trying to steal military "secrets" that you already have?

Still, it's an audacious undertaking and the story of how the mission works out is very exciting.

Another plus point is that there is some humor in the story. For example, there's an Air Force Major who fills the role of providing comic relief.

On the other hand, an additional minus point is that a totally unnecessary extra conflict takes place in the last chapter.

If you like military techno-thrillers about naval warfare in general and especially about naval aviation then I'd like to recommend this book.

Rennie Petersen

Reviewer: Bill Vitale, fellow Marchetti pilot and avid Brick Maxwell fan
In his latest novel, Gandt's alter ego, Brick Maxwell, once again enthralls the reader with his hair-raising exploits as an F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea. An implacable malcontent has stolen the highly-classified plans for a Super Stealth fighter from the skunk works in Groom Lake, Nevada and has delivered them into the evil hands of The People's Republic Of China. In a desperate attempt to prevent an all-out war with Taiwan, Maxwell's mission is to defuse an imminent holocaust by slipping behind the enemy lines with a beautiful Chinese defector to search, seize and destroy. A bit far-fetched, perhaps, but nonetheless a well-told story by a master of intrigue. I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to Gandt's next episode.

Open this book and it does not take long to figure out that Robert Gandt really knows his stuff. He has a "been there, done that" style you just can't fake. Mr. Gandt manages to be both thrilling yet technically accurate in his depictions of carrier operations, hairball dogfights and yes...trying to figure out the opposite sex. His latest in the "Brick" Maxwell series is also the deepest in terms of scenario and intrigue that introduces an interesting twist to a real potential threat. Gandt puts you front and center in the action. He had me sitting on the edge of my ejection seat. I highly recommend Black Star and look forward to his next book.

Gandt has stuck gold again in this "Brick" Maxwell novel about a conflict between Taiwan and China. It is an action-packed treasure of an adventure, with a great plot and lifelike characters.
The measure of a technothriller author is his ability to write a work of fiction that reeks with realism. Gandt has done this for the third time. His experience in the Navy as a fighter pilot allows him to describe aspects of combat and life aboard ship that a bestselling accountant (you know who I'm talking about) can never seem to get right. For example, the first scene actually feels like you are there, landing a jet on the back of an aircraft carrier, and keeping your eye on the "meatball." And speaking of combat, there is plenty of it in this novel, some personal, some naval, most in the air, but thrilling and realistic. Gandt does not let up until the last page.
If you are a fan of Coonts, Huston, Brown, or any other air combat author, this is a novel for you... and by the way, even though this is the third "Brick" Maxwell novel in the series, Gandt tactfully avoids giving away plots of previous novels, so they can be read out of order.
Sadly, Gandt did not mention in the bio at the end of the novel if he is working on another novel...like he did in previous ones...so I'm hoping he'll keep writing...

This is the first Gandt book that I have read. I was a bit skeptical because most of the time the authors of these type of books get overly technical. However, I took the advice of a fellow Amazon reviewer and I am glad I did. The book is about a stolen defense contractor's plans for a ultra-stealthy plane that is invisible. The Chinese have developed the plane and use it to attack the Tiawanese president's plane, thus igniting a war. The U.S. Aircraft Carrier in the area gets involved to try and frustrate the Chinese' efforts. I found this an interesting, fast moving book and Brick Maxwell is a believable, yet swash-buckling hero.

Mr. Gandt knows how to write a book. He keeps the technical jargon to a minimum and when he uses it he lets the readers know what he means by it. Great combat scenes carry the book along with the reader being able to get inside the character's minds. The only drawback of this book is that the crew of USS Ronald Reagan is not in it as much as the previous two books. Other than that, an exceptional book that you will for sure want to read (but do not miss the first two books of the "Brick" Maxwell series). Mr. Gandt I am anxiously awaiting the next book and many more in this series.

Acts of Vengence and Hostile Intent were great, but I really loved Black Star. The realism and characters were super. I can't wait for the next book (assuming there is a next one). I have nothing to read now.

Bob Gandt has done it again! He takes us flying by the seat of our pants into another hair-raising thriller. This time he introduces us into stealth technology and what it feels like to fly a supersonic stealth fighter--to be visible one moment and invisible the next. It changes our whole concept of the aerial dog-fight. And again he develops a plot that is entirely possible in a world whose values are turning upside down between terrorism and the race for global power. Just as it happens in "Black Star," when Taiwan pre-empts another world war with its retaliation against the threat of a Chinese invasion, a small power could trigger a colossal 'nuclear showdown.' It's a fair question to ask: Has China ever stopped being the West's enemy or is it just more insidious in hiding its expansionist ambitions toward Taiwan and the Pacific Rim while it gains economical strength and global status? Our economies woo China just as North American industrials wooed Nazi Germany prior to World War II. Are we playing into China's hands and will Gandt's book become a preview of what our next generation of top guns will be fighting?

It's the reality of the plot that makes Gandt's book so chilling at the same time as it showcases Brad Maxwell and his fighter team of F/A-18 Super Hornets. Again Gandt takes us inside Maxwell's cockpit to feel the maximum pull of gravity as 'we' maneuver in fight-to-the-death aerial combat. The thrill of the story and the plausibility of the plot are not Gandt's greatest strengths, however. It is his ability to carry readers inside the heads and experiences of what our fighting forces are currently experiencing in battles against the war on terrorism all over the world. He helps us understand why our military people put their lives on the line every day, and he brings home a sense of patriotism that, for North Americans, decades of complacency, political cynicism and living on the fast track lost. And he does this with page-turning urgency.

Bob Gandt has established himself as the Robert Ludlum of the military thriller, and I look forward to a prolific succession of Gandt books in the years to come.

Robert Gandt's "Black Star" is an average, at best, highly implausible tale surrounding a military conflict between Taiwan and the Peoples Republic of China. A jet transporting the President of Taiwan and escorted by 4 U.S. Navy Super Hornet fighter jets is shot down by an undetected enemy source. The escort lead by U.S. Navy wing commander, former astronaut and Gandt hero Sam "Brick" Maxwell is baffled by the inexplicable disaster. Unfortunately the action leads to a shooting war between the PRC and Taiwan. The U.S. military has officially been ordered to remain neutral but secretly is supporting Taiwan.

It is soon revealed that the Chinese have stolen sensitive stealth technology courtesy of the traitorous Raymond Lutz, disgruntled former Navy man and Maxwell rival. Through Lutz's treason, the Chinese have developed the Black Star, an invisible fighter jet responsible for the death of the Taiwanese president. The Black Star is now inflicting massive damage to both the Taiwanese Navy and Air Force and tipping the scales of battle toward the PRC.

Maxwell, a test pilot who has flown the U.S. version of the Black Star, is recruited by Taiwan's special forces to penetrate the defenses of PRC to either steal or destroy the Chinese plane.

Gandt, a former Navy aviator obviously possesses vast technical knowledge but presents a scripted, cookie cutter novel. The book contains the standard handsome, straight toothed hero, the obligatory love story and comes off as the result of a "how to write a novel" assignment. The book was a bit of a struggle to get through.

It's nice to see Bob Gandt continue his tradition of fast moving realistic action in Black Star. In my opinion, and it's just my opinion, this book starts out slightly slower than his first two, but whoa baby, when it takes off, it does so like a Hornet from a catapult! Once again as with his first two books, don't start unless you have nothing else to do for the next couple of days because you can not put it down no matter how hard you try. Seems every time you get to the end of an action scene and decide to mark the page, something else starts right up and there you go again. In fact, I can't even see using a bookmark on Bob Gandt's books because you can't stop reading it anyway! Was the plot believable? Hey, in this world anything is possible! Another great adventure. Thanks Bob.