Forced to resign after being wrongly scapegoated for a tragic midair disaster, former Navy TOPGUN instructor Luke Henry has opened a private aerial combat training school in the Nevada desert -- with the aid of a cadre former aces and full support of the government. But the Defense Department's contract comes with strings attached: Luke must train a handpicked group of pilots from the Pakistani Air Force in Russian MiG-29s that the U.S. has supplied. These suspicious foreign nationals are being placed at the controls of one of the world's most potent aerial weapons, and it's Luke job to make them proficient. But the strangers may have a secret agenda that strikes directly at the vulnerable heart of their American benefactors, a nightmarish scenario of devastating terror that Luke Henry must expose and combat -- in the skies above his nation, if necessary.
James W. Huston grew up in West Lafayette, Indiana and attended the University of South Carolina on a Navy ROTC scholarship. He majored in History with a minor in English. During his senior summer he did an exchange cruise with the French Navy then attended the University of Warwick in England to study English Reformation history and English literature.
After college he received his Navy wings as a Naval Flight Officer and was assigned to VF-84, the Jolly Rogers on the USS Nimitz. With others in VF-84, he participated in making the movie, The Final Countdown, including flying in numerous scenes and filming and directing others. While with the Jolly Rogers he was selected to attend TOPGUN.
After leaving active duty he attended the University of Virginia School of Law. He moved to San Diego to join a firm and began flying in the Navy Reserves. After a few years he transferred his reserve duty to Naval Intelligence.
He started writing in the early 90s by writing op/ed pieces for the San Diego Union-Tribune. After a couple of years of writing for the paper, he decided to try fiction. Like many aspiring writers, neither his first novel nor his second was accepted for publication. But his third was different. It combined all his experience into a compelling story -- military action, political intrigue, and Constitutional Law. He found a clause in the U.S. Constitution that hadn't been used since 1812. He posed the simple question: "What if it was used today? What would happen?"
His other novels have built on the same themes. Politics. Law. Military action. Some have more of one area than the others, but they remain true to his style and ask compelling questions while providing a thrilling read. His eighth novel, FALCON SEVEN, is due to be released on May 11, 2010.
James W. Huston is a partner in the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster and works in the San Diego office. For additional information on his books visit his website: www.JamesWHuston.com.
