Firefox [Paperback]

Craig Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1988

A thriller set in Russia and Britain, by the author of "Jade Tiger", "Rat Trap", "Sea Leopard", Wolfsbane" and "The Bear's Tears". A deadly Soviet warplane, codenamed Firefox by NATO, poses such a threat that British Intelligence and CIA decide the only answer is to hijack it.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Craig Thomas gained his MA at University College, Cardiff in 1967. He is the author of 17 bestselling novels.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Warner (January 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0751511382
• ISBN-13: 978-0751511383
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,850,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of its genre, September 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Firefox (Hardcover)

I read this book almost 20 years ago, if I remember correctly, and it's one of the few books which I literally couldn't put down until it was finished. I think I finally turned out the light at about 3AM, even though I had to go to work early the next morning. It is gripping, believable, and well written in every respect. If you like international spy techno-thrillers at all, this is one of the best ever written. PS - the Clint Eastwood movie based on this book was one of Eastwood's most mediocre efforts. If you saw it and were disappointed, don't let that stop you from reading the book. The book is FAR superior!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mach 5 Thriller delivers, November 14, 2000

By 

Rottenberg's rotten book review (nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Firefox (Mass Market Paperback)

"Firefox" is the code name for a new breed of Russian fighter, a plane that's invisible to radar, outruns missiles, and wields an arsenal guided by the pilot's thoughts. With nothing remotely capable of matching the super-jet on their drawing boards, British and American spymatsers hit on a seemingly impossible, virtually suicidal plan: send one of their pilots into Russia - into the Russians' high-security flight-test center - to find the super plane, and steal it. Complicating things is Mitchell Gant, the west's designated skyjacker, a burnt out Viet Nam vet who test flew captured Russian planes for the CIA. Scarred within after being shotdown, Gant's plods on, begging to be discovered and put out of his misery.

Like the plan, "Fireox" the novel seems like a no-brainer - Craig Thomas seems unsure of his hold on military technology, and by his prose, you'd never confuse him with other authors who've done the stuff they've written about (like fly planes and get shot at). Instead, Thomas' crisp prose, an almost constant state of tension and an almost supersonic pacing put "Firefox" ahead of just about any other aviation technothriller. Bets of all are the flying scenes. While other writers boast of being able to put the reader inside the cockpit of a high-performance fighter - only Thomas delivers. Unlike other authors, Thomas knows the tension, stark terror and gallons of adrenaline that a fighter pilot can be expected to go through while trapped in a dogfight. Then there's Thomas' hero - Gant. Thomas' conceit is that Gant's superiors were so ready to see there case fail, that they chose the one man least capable of pulling it off. Gant is unlike any technothriller writer you've ever read about - he begins the novel trapped in a chronic nervous breakdown. Yet he excels over the cardboard charachters of other books who just push buttons and read computer screens. Those charachters just register information - Gant actually experiences it as real people would. With the exception of "Flight ofthe Intruder", and Thomas' other Mitchell Gant novels, this is probably the best air-war thriller you'll read. Sequels included "Firefox Down", "Winterhawk" and "A Different War" - "Winterhawk" being my favorite story, but never outrunning the flying scenes of "Firefox".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FIREFOX FLIES!, February 12, 2006

By 

K. Jump (Corbin, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Firefox (Paperback)

Regrettably out of print, Craig Thomas's FIREFOX is an expertly-crafted military thriller that once begun is nearly impossible to set aside. The author creates a realistic Cold War atmosphere even as the eponymous MiG-31 Firefox pushes the envelope and infuses the story with an intensity and excitement rarely achieved. Nearly as interesting as the protagonist's bid to fly the Soviet Union's prize superfighter right out from under their noses is his struggle with his inner demons, a bitter duel whose outcome is open to doubt--like his near-suicide mission itself--up to the very last breathtaking page. Spawned the somewhat underrated motion picture starring a well-cast Clint Eastwood in the hero's role which is worth seeing on its own merits, but the book, as is so often the case, remains the frontrunner. Surely the novel will be re-issued sometime soon, but if not then I heartily recommend any used copy you can get ahold of. For breakneck thrills and aerial pyrotechnics, FIREFOX is a rarely equalled winner.