Customer Reviews

Hellcats: A Novel of War in the Pacific

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

 

 

The intended sequel to "Hellcats" was to be "Sabrejet," completing the Rogers/Sakaida trilogy begun in "Dauntless." The publisher of "Hellcats" lapsed from the military fiction market shortly after publication, but since then has resumed interest in the field. I hope to pursue the Korean War saga and will try to notify this site accordingly.
Thanks to everyone who's expressed interest in "Sabrejet" over the years.
(I'd not bother with a rating of my own book if I could post otherwise!)

Mr. Tillman represents one of the best of the breed of historical novelists; he is well-versed in the historical facts and technological details of his subject matter, yet also has the artistic gift of being able to engage the reader by creating interesting characters caught up in the consequences of tremendously important global events.

Both Dauntless! and Hellcats are superb fictional treatments of what it might have been like to fight and survive the Pacific War as a young US Naval aviator.

I hope that the final episode of the trilogy, Sabrejets, will actually be finished and published; I'll be the first in line to purchase it. (And no, I'm not putting my own hard copies of either Dauntless or Hellcats up for sale on E-bay---they'll stay on my bookshelf for years to come.)

Mr. Tillman, you please keep at it! (and by the way, your non-fiction dissertations on the various aircraft used in the Pacific War are superb as well.)

I read both the Dauntless and Hellcat twice because I couldnt put them down, I even ran up a late fee on hellcat at my library, The book (Hellcat) is full of everything you could expect from an aireol based world war II book. my favorite thing about the book is that it showed the war form the prospective of both an american side and a japanese side all the way up and through their meeting in combat over the south pacific and over the american characters ship, that was really cool! I also like how my hometown of Bremerton is mentioned in the book it was a real wake up call as to what great roll as a carrier and other ship base it played. I also lived in the tri-cities near hanford too! (Benton City)Go Kiona Benton Bears

All I can say about sabrejet is:

GIMME GIMME GIMME I would really like to read that book and dont like how they're keeping me hanging with the characters and me wondering what to do next! If anyone has any kind of pull to get sabrejet published please try to help! I waiting to see what happens!

Just wanted to recomend not only Hellcats but Dauntless also. Both books are excellent in historical accuracy and reading fun . Mr Tillman is a great story teller. A great way to learn about U.S. and Japanese aviation in WW II. I highly recomend these two books to anyone interested in U.S. history and our struggle to wrestle away Japanese control in the Pacific.

A great read for anyone with an interest in World War II aviation. Tillman certainly knows his stuff... Exciting and well written.

I only gave the first book in the trilogy, "Dauntless, the Novel" 4 stars, but "Hellcats" is a full 5 star read. Now, if someone would only publish the third book, "Sabrejets, the Novel" and follow his fascinating main characters into Korea.

I read Tillman's Warriors and Dauntless, and both were good, interesting, exciting reads. Hellcats is a labor to get through. There is not enough development of the characters, and some actually are introduced for a very short time then never again. This book seemed as it were almost an "insiders" book with your personal expercience as a World War II USN aviator filling in the missing emotions and visual impact of flying in the Pacific combat area. There was nothing that really grabbed me. The characters are flat and one-dimensional. It is an okay book; not bad not good.

Barrett Tillman's Hellcats and Dauntless were both very enjoyable. Characterization of pilots and description of both planes and combat were very good. Good novels like this one about air combat in WW2 and the Korean War are both few and hard to find. I look forward to his next: Sabrejets.

The auther of Hellcat did an excellent job in both Dauntless and hellcat and I hope his other book saberjet is put on the market because I look forward to it