In Asia, all hell is breaking out. The People's Republic of China finally flexes its muscles, striking at Taiwan, and dealing the United States a stunning setback when she comes to Taiwan's aid. Emboldened, China begins to scoop up territory in Asia and sets in motion a plan to immobilize the United States. Patrick McLanahan, an aerial strike warfare expert, and John Masters, a genius aerospace engineer, have been working to develop the EB-52 Megafortress, but it's not quite ready - and they don't have enough of them. Now is not the time to hesitate. They must go with what they have and pray that, with ingenuity, technology, brains and guts, it's enough.
"Fast-paced and exciting. His knowledge of actual weapon systems and great imagination make for a great read." (Amazon.com)
In this all-too-predictable tale, a reconfigured B-52 bomber and its doughty crew try to prevent a war between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. Dastardly politicians and greedy military careerists attempt to thwart our friends in the skies, but, aided by hawkish President Martindale, strike-warfare expert Patrick McLanahan and his buddies put their prototype aircraft through its paces while flirting with their own capture or destruction. Unfortunately, Brown here fails to live up to the thought-provoking substance of his previous books, notably Shadows of Steel (LJ 6/15/96). The major characters from those earlier works reappear (accompanied by turgid recapitulations of past escapes) and seize the opportunity to weigh in on the side of the good guys. Despite battle scenes and lots of shouted dialog, the pace is leaden and the characterizations dull. Only for comprehensive Brown or aviation-fiction collections. -?Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Information Svcs., Inc., China Lake, Cal. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The Old Dog (an airplane, as Brown regulars know) learns yet more new tricks in Brown's latest technothriller. The EB-52 Megafortresses (improved descendants of the Old Dog) are about to be scrapped, the rest of the U.S. heavy bomber force radically downsized. Then the Chinese seriously try to conquer Taiwan, and President Martindale wants to defend it equally seriously, despite U.S. military weakness, interservice rivalry, and political opposition. Led by Brad Elliott and Patrick McLanahan, the reunited Old Dog crew flies one official mission against the Chinese--and then is faced with arrest for exceeding orders. The next mission--unofficial--becomes justly compared with the exploits of the Flying Tigers of World War II and precipitates a decisive U.S. bomber counteroffensive that defeats the Chinese. Longer on well-handled action and hardware than on characterization (virtually all the navy personnel in it are caricatures), the yarn is another consistent page-turner from Brown, anyway, and won't disappoint his numerous readers. Roland Green--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the superstar author of 21 action-adventure "techno-thriller" novels: FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG (1987), SILVER TOWER (1988), DAY OF THE CHEETAH (1989), HAMMERHEADS (1990), SKY MASTERS (1991), NIGHT OF THE HAWK (1992), CHAINS OF COMMAND (1993), STORMING HEAVEN (1994), SHADOWS OF STEEL (1996), FATAL TERRAIN (1997), THE TIN MAN (1998), BATTLE BORN, (1999), WARRIOR CLASS (2001), WINGS OF FIRE (2002), AIR BATTLE FORCE (2003), PLAN OF ATTACK (2004), ACT OF WAR (2005), EDGE OF BATTLE (2006), STRIKE FORCE (May 2007), SHADOW COMMAND (2008) ROGUE FORCES (2009), EXECUTIVE INTENT (2010) and A TIME FOR PATRIOTS (May 2011). Fourteen of his novels have been New York Times best-sellers. He is also the co-author of the best-selling DREAMLAND techno-thriller series and writer and technical consultant of the Act of War PC real-time strategy game published by Atari Interactive and the Megafortress PC flight simulator by Three-Sixty Pacific. Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. Worldwide sales of his novels, audiobooks and computer games exceed 12 million copies.
Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course. He was also an Air Force instructor on aircrew life support and combat survival, evasion, resistance, and escape.
Dale supports a number of organizations to promote law enforcement, education, and literacy. He is a Life Member of the Air Force Association, U.S. Naval Institute, and National Rifle Association. He is a command pilot for Angel Flight West (www.angelflightwest.org), a group that donate their time, skills, and aircraft to fly medical patients free of charge. He is also a mission pilot with the Civil Air Patrol, flying a variety of missions in support of the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his Piper Aztec-E airplane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, scuba diving, and soccer. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
This is fairly typical Dale Brown fare. Start with some global tension, add a sprinkling of improbably stealthy B52 bombers, throw in some political intrigue, a dash of air combat, and you have a fairly standard techno-thriller.
The basic premise is that Taiwan declares independence. Mainland China tries to invade. Zany antics, of course, ensue.
The ubiquitous megafortresses (nuclear weapon capable strategic bombers that somehow a private company has modified to become stealthy) are sent to Taiwan because the US routinely makes a habit of sending privately owned experimental modifications of obsolete aircraft to hotspots around the world. Bad things happen. Our heroes are blamed. Our heroes defy the government. Our heroes save the day. Our heroes are not sent to Leavenworth, since the President thinks "Boys will be boys".
Politically improbable - Taiwan independence is a complex issue. Taiwan is more likely to erupt into civil war than declare independence.
Technologically unlikely - While refitting B52's with air to air missiles is certainly possible, making them stealthy is pretty unlikely.
Fiscally impossible - The idea that a private corporation could somehow rebuild, finance and run a fleet of B52 bombers is ludicrous. Most small nations would find it a strain on their defense budget.
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Despite the liberal posters and armchair military experts, I loved this book! Sure, many of the weapons and situations are fictional (as far as I know). The excessive military jargon was almost humorous and actually fun to read. Brown makes sure you know what all the acronyms mean. The situations and flight duals with jets and missiles were great. The plot had some great twists. It had me looking up all the different aircraft used. A fun and hard to put down book, I would highly recommend it!
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Two retired US Generals, the President of the US, the entire Chinese Communist leadership, and dozens if not hundreds of career military officers go bonkers, break discipline, disobey orders and international law to start a nuclear war over minor perturbations in a 50 year old standoff.
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