Carrier #20: Hellfire: Hellfire [Kindle Edition]

Keith Douglass (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

While testing a top-secret missile defense system in the middle of the Pacific, the U.S.S. "Jefferson" accidentally targets the Russians. Their retaliation is swift and they have no interest in diplomacy. Now the Carrier Battle Group Fourteen must defend itself without provoking a full-blown war.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 509 KB
• Print Length: 276 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0515133485
• Publisher: Jove (July 30, 2002)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000O76OI6
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,300 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What happened to the ending? Bad editing or just lazy?, August 18, 2002

By 

Kevin Ross (Carnation, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hellfire (Carrier, No. 20) (Paperback)

I read this book over the weekend. The storyline was ok, though I think this series may have run its course. The editing was terrible.

I was really disappointed at the end of this book. I am wondering if they had published a draft version instead of the final version. One page has a 'Insert Techno' sentence, meaning they intended to describe some tech information, but never put it in.

There were also several starts at storylines that just ended. Several hints that Tomboy was on the russian carrier for some reason didn't go anywhere.

The worst part was that the end of the book as two badly conflicting sections. In one section, Tombstone lands on the ship after being shot up. In the other section, he sees Tomboy's russian bomber shotdown. It was very confusing. I think he was trying to work the Tomboy character into the book, then left for vacation without finishing.

Not his best work.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A real waste of time and money!, August 27, 2004

By 

wingman11 (Flushing, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellfire (Carrier, No. 20) (Paperback)

I've been reading both of Keith Douglass' series since their inception so obviously I'm a fan. But there's one thing I hate when reading a book: a bad ending. And this one was probably the worst I've ever read.

I was actually intrigued with the bulk of the story. Who's missile actually hit the cruise ship? What will Ambassador Wexler do about about United Nations resolution against the United States? Will Pamela Drake get the upper hand against Cary Winston?

But as the other reviewers stated, the last part of the book makes little sense. It seemed that after Chapter 17, another author took over but apparently used the wrong outline to complete it and the plot just went out into left field.

The story is supposed to take place in the Pacific between California and Hawaii where the Russian's have a battle group centered around an amphibious transport that only carries vertical take-off aircraft and helicopters. Yet, in the final battle, the Russian fighters not only outnumber the American jets, they also have Backfire bombers!

The improbable event that precipitated this battle was having Pamela Drake, an internationally known news personality, steal a piece of hardware from a top-secret Russian laser weapon! With the help of her cameraman, no less! And in the ensuing escape, her helicopter is shot down and Pamela ends up in the water with the two chopper pilots. Her cameraman just disappeared from the story!

I'm not one of those sticklers that have to apply logic to a fictional story. I go with the flow and enjoy it for what it is: entertainment. But when the story changes abruptly from one page to the next, adding in plots that just don't make sense and not even trying to tie up the plotlines that were started in the beginning of the book . . . well that just ticks me off!

Keith, I like reading your books but you messed up on this one!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars getting back on track but not there yet., April 15, 2003

By 

JohnnyE "Texas Progressive" (College Station, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellfire (Carrier, No. 20) (Paperback)

It's definitely better than the last 2 or 3. The editing isn't as sloppy although it still needs improvement. Like the last few in the series there are some important plot lines that never got resolved (did they discover the bug in the fire control computer, whose missile hit the cruise liner, what's a sponge, what happened in the UN, what happened to the trigger happy Russian commander?) and it ended sort of abruptly. The air battle started on cue but for no apparent reason and the character development was superficial this time. The Tomboy bit was confusing. But it was still fun to read.