Publication Date: June 2003 | Series: Charles Paris Mysteries
On America's newest combat base, U.S. Air Force aerial warfare expert Major General Patrick McLanahan and his crew of daring engineers are devising the air combat unit of the future. Known as Air Battle Force, it can launch concentrated, stealthy, precision-guided firepower to any spot on the globe within hours. And soon McLanahan and his warriors will have their first target.
Chased out of Afghanistan, Taliban fighters are planning to invade the neighboring oil-rich Republic of Turkmenistan, an isolated and wealthy central Asian state. As alliances form and forces collide, the impending battle for control of the world's largest oil deposits threatens to tear apart the tenuous peace created by America's victories in Afghanistan. It's up to McLanahan and a handful of American commandos half a world away, aided by an untested and unproven force of robotic warplanes, to win a war in which everyone -- even "friendly" forces at home -- wants them to fail.
Performed by David McCallum.
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This absorbing techno-thriller follows the author's established pattern of fast action in the air and on the ground, its hard-driving protagonists equipped with an arsenal of futuristic hardware. Patrick McLanahan is back again, this time as air force major general in charge of the First Air Battle Force, a secret experimental unit with the controls to a jackpot of high-tech toys, among them air-retrievable bomb-carrying drones, venerable B-52s packing brand-new, high-powered lasers, and B-1s (called Vampires) capable of carrying out unmanned missions. Supporting McLanahan are a respectable company of the other continuing characters in the author's air force saga, which has acquired (like Clancy's Jack Ryan volumes) some of the attributes of an alternate history. These include Rebecca Furness, with her first star; maverick Daren Mace, still under a cloud and still in love with Rebecca; cigar-smoking acting Secretary of State Maureen Hershel; and charismatic ex-President Kevin Martindale. All collide when a Taliban raid into Turkmenistan leads to the overthrow of the Russian-backed Turkmen government. Eager to set things right, the Russian chief of staff engineers a military coup in Russia, pumping up the threat of war between Russia and the U.S. At the end, Brown (Wings of Fire, etc.) has deftly set up his next book, with Turkmenistan ruled by Jalaluddin Turabi, a former Taliban bandit and now a budding statesman, while the Russians bare their fangs over the not-unexpected destruction of their bombers by the Air Battle Force. Brown fans will declare this a page-turning delight. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Review
'Clancy's got serious company.' New York Daily News 'When a former pilot with years of experience turns his hand to writing thrillers you can take their authenticity for granted. His writing is exceptional and the dialogue, plots and characters are first-class... far too good to be missed.' Sunday Mirror 'Dale Brown is a superb storyteller.' Washington Post 'The best military adventure writer in the country.' Clive Cussler
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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.
I've read every single one of Mr. Brown's books and this one is by far the weakest. Still good though but not his best. It was nice to see old characters like General Furness and Colonel Mace. But Thorn has to go. Hopefully he gets ousted from office in the next book. The plot in this one is kinda a weak but it seems to set up the next book nicely. (A war with Russia?) The robot planes are totally unbelieveable though. It breaks my heart to see Mr. Brown, a former navigator himself, take the real heros out of the picture. Whats the fun in flying if your gonna do it from the ground? A lot seems to be missing from Air Battle Force. But hopefully its just a set up for the next one.
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Like many reviewers I have read all of Dale Brown's books. But these last few seem to be the same thing over and over. General Patrick McLanahan disregards orders and saves the day. I am just getting a little tired of the plot always involving The President and his administration threatening/demoting/giving McLanahan a cold cup of coffee or whatever.
I also agree with a previous reviewer that there really isn't much suspense at the end, you know the high tech weapons will easily save the day. Its hard to connect psychology with high tech weapons, the humans seem to play second fiddle. Finally I have a really hard time with a Taliban hero.
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and for his sake I hope he cuts the technical jargon down to a minimum. Other than the too much tech I enjoyed how he spent a lot of time on the Taliban. I found that enjoyable and refreshing for a change. The parts about the Russians were the same old story line on how they start every bad situation then denied it and blame the poor old USA.
Sometimes the writer goes overboard in making heroes out of his characters. This time I feel he does not go there because he spent so much time on the Taliban. I enjoyed how he progressed and degressed the 2 Taliban leaders.
The writer portrays Thorn as someone who has complete opposite ways of running the White House from all the others who precedeeded him. With our actual Presential race being contested next week I really take an interest at someone who is very different from his predecessors. The two canditates that are actually running this presendential year are the typical candidates. One will keep it the system the same (incumbent party) and the other will change it. Thorn may be fictional but at least he is portrated as his own man. Such as that he did not even attend his own swearing in ceremony because he was too busy. Can you see that being done in the real world? No, way!
Mr. Brown keep up the action and limit the technical trite.
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