Customer Reviews

Dead Air

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This novel is full of abbreviations and technical terms that are never explained and no regular civilian would be able to decipher.

The author does not seem to find it necessary to introduce his characters and the story is a pretentious and messy jumble of plots stacked upon an old story: big shot CEO against poor journalist trying to save the world.

I cannot fathom that somebody actually decided to publish this mess.

I found myself dying to get through this book so I could move on to something else. The book was hard to follow and corny at best. The writing was so ho hum that I wasn't sure if the characters cared to "save the world" or not.

Definitely pass on this book for the next bargain buy.

When most two-bit hacks write an adventure story, they write themselves as the dashing rogue, and live vicariously through their characters, submitting themselves to the intrigue and danger that they - in real life - have never faced. It's much the same for Jaco with "Dead Air," except here it's the other way around. He's lived through the excitement and now he wants to try his hand at being an author. As a result, he ends up just as much a hack; in his case, the facts are there, but the writing's not. The characters come off as stilted stereotypes instead of breathing, passionate people. Next time, Mr. Jaco, snag a ghost writer and let him or her put your experiences into a more appealing story.

For those curious about difficulties faced by grunts on the ground in Kuwait & Iraq, this novel provides fascinating insights while eschewing direct unit combat descriptions. In addition, it furnishes some technical information about the creation of TV news with its equipment. All of this data is background to a thin plot line that moves fast from place to place. The culmination of action contains a major surprise. Lead female character helps maintain a taunt pace. A pleasant beach read.

This is one of those books that reinforces the notion that any sort of name recognition is all that is necessary to get published. Not much of interest here.

It's hard to think of anything positive to say about this novel. I suppose that some of the technical military details the author worked into the story are mildly interesting. But the plot is silly, the characters are cartoonish, and the writing is absolutely amateurish. I'm shocked that something this bad is considered publishable. Ballantine Books should be ashamed of itself.

This was an engrossing book. Most of the time I was reading it I was wondering just how much of this "fiction" was actually true--Jaco makes it all so believeble. I'm sure his own experience reporting the Gulf War is to thank for that. Even though I selected and read the book for entertainment, I found it to be more than that. I found myself wondering if this was a real, true story disguised as fiction. I can't wait to read the sequel.

Charles Jaco was there during the Gulf War. And you can tell by reading this book. I must say I enjoyed it. Knowing he really was there, I kept wondering where the line between fact and this story is drawn. Charles Jaco's writing style is not perfect. I found some of it rather corny. But this guy experienced the Gulf War as a journalist, so I just had to believe Peter Dees. I also think this book raises some interesting questions about what realy went on during the war as opposed to what we were told.

For those of us born after 1964, the Vietnam War is a distant blur. Sure, we've heard stories about it, and some of us even vaguely remember a big round green table in Europe where Kissinger and company tried to settle the turmoil in Southeast Asia. Thoroughout the 70s and 80s, we LEARNED what happened in war, but we didn't LIVE it.

All of that changed in 1991. The Gulf War helped shape our view of international conflict and resolution...we saw war, we EXPERIENCED it firsthand. And in a couple of ways, we experienced it like no other generation before: First of all, this war was on TV 24 hours a day. And secondly, this war was won quickly with few American casualties. Aside from a few isolated incidents (the Challenger tragedy, the Iranian hostage crisis ending to name two), the war with Saddam probably represents the most important geopolitical event for the 20 to 30-something crowd.

Jaco has written a novel here that will please the occasional reader of historical fiction, especially one that falls, like I do, into the aforementioned category. The tale of a news reporter trying to uncover the truth, while not a new plot, is given a nice treatment as it moves from Haiti to Washington to the Middle East. One starts to wonder if Peter Dees, the gritty correspondent for GTV (read "CNN") will get to the bottom of chemical warfare shipments between the U.S. and Saddam Hussein. The book reads almost like a movie: I could almost see Bruce Willis as the reporter Dees, Alan Rickman as Dennis Kingen (the CIAesque contact, and Helen Hunt as Melinda, Dees' romantic interest. The main plot, while not always surprising, keeps the book moving. And even the minor characters Jaco introduces are interesting: an American-educated Iraqi stuck behind the lines, two GIs who work "psychological operations" against the enemy, and the mysterious Chairman of the Global Television Network to name a few. And who can't say they haven't known a Timothy Volga sometime in their lives--t! he boot-licking, brown-nosing enemy of Dees?

"Dead Air" is a fun read--entertaining and engaging. A fine novel for those of us for whom the Gulf War was our first, and hopefully our last. Bob Mendenall

From its opening scenes in Haiti to the very last word in Washington DC, Dead Air, captured my imagination. Jaco relays information in the same concise, accurate manner he covered the Gulf War for CNN and the many assignments he undertook for NBC and others. The story is well crafted, there's no long hiatus here between clues and denoument. Instead, you're carried swiftly along from the steamy sidewalks of Port-Au-Prince to the insufferable heat and dirt of the Kuwaiti-Iraq border. Authenticity pervades the book like desert dust and even more impressive is that the colloquial slang in Arabic is accurate!!

It's been a long time since I could honestly say I read all night and was genuinely sad the story was over - I can't wait for the next book!