With Hostile Intent [Paperback]

Robert Gandt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2001

In the Persian Gulf, peace is kept by a narrow margin-a margin called the No-Fly Zone. So when an Iraqi MiG crosses the line, chaos breaks out on both sides, hostile intentions give way to action-and peace is the last thing on anyone's mind...

"Gandt understands not only airplanes but the people who fly them." (Air & Space)

"Gandt has a way with words that will send the reader soaring." (News Chief)

"His writing is for fans of air racing and warships and lovers of extreme sports." (Publishers Weekly)

"Robert Gandt is a former Pan Am pilot who also happens to have the pen of a poet." (Christian Science Monitor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Several years after the Gulf War, Commander Sam "Killer" DeLancey, navy fighter pilot and self-centered hotshot, shoots down an Iraqi plane that has wandered into the no-fly zone bordering Saudi Arabia and Iraq and ignites an international incident that results in even more dangerous dogfights. DeLancey's hotheaded heroics are balanced by the cool calm of Commander "Brick" Maxwell, whose rivalry with DeLancey is based on his knowledge of DeLancey's cowardice during the Gulf War. With two tough-as-nails female fighter pilots, a possible Iraqi spy, various love triangles and aerial fight scenes that are more thrilling than a back-to-back showing of Top Gun and Iron Eagle, this red-hot piece of military fiction is certain to keep readers riveted. Like most books in this genre, the weakest parts are the love scenes, which are cliched ("Killer DeLancey made love... like he flew fighters. Fast, furious, without preliminaries.") but mercifully brief. What this book adds to the genre is an intelligent subplot addressing issues related to the presence of women in the formerly all-male fighter club. Gandt (Fly Low, Fly Fast) weaves in subtle but intelligent observations on harassment and chain-of-command issues while crafting some of the most suspenseful battle scenes in recent military fiction. (Oct. 9)Forecast: Ex-fighter pilot Gandt has written military nonfiction titles, and his fans will undoubtedly pick up this testosterone-drenched fiction debut.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Signet (October 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451204867
• ISBN-13: 978-0451204868
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Flying and Writing: These have been the dual passions of Bob Gandt's life. He published his first story at age sixteen - the same year he first soloed an airplane. Since then he has logged something over 25,000 hours, written thirteen books and published countless articles.

As a U. S. Navy pilot, he logged over 300 carrier landings and nearly 2,000 hours in the A-4 Skyhawk. In his 1997 deja vu work, Bogeys and Bandits (Viking Penguin), he joins a Navy F/A-18 training squadron at the same base where he had trained years before.

For 26 years he flew as a pilot with Pan American World Airways, domiciled in Berlin, Hong Kong, New York, and San Francisco. His 1995 classic, Skygods (Wm. Morrow & Co.), recounts the meteoric descent and crash of the once-great Pan Am.

In 1985 Gandt and his partners, Harry Shepard and Carl Pascarell, formed the Redhawk Aerobatic Team. Flying their Siai-Marchetti fighter-trainers (rescued from a military boneyard in the Congo), they performed their formation aerobatic routine for over three million air show spectators.

Gandt's first book, Season of Storms, grew from his acclaimed series in the Far Eastern newspaper, South China Morning Post, about the WWII battle for Hong Kong. His long association with Pan Am and its romantic history inspired the book, China Clipper (Naval Institute Press, 1991 and 2010), which relives the mystique of the great commercial flying boats. His fascination with warbirds and the high-adrenalin world of unlimited air racing provides the background for Fly Low, Fly Fast (Viking Penguin), the inside account of the battle for the unlimited air racing championship at Reno, Nevada.

Gandt's first novel, With Hostile Intent (Penguin Putnam) was followed by Acts of Vengeance, Black Star, Shadows of War, The Killing Sky, and Black Star Rising.

In 1998 he made his screenwriting debut in 1998 on the CBS series Pensacola: Wings Of Gold, adapted from his book Bogeys and Bandits. He worked as writer and technical consultant for the twenty-two-episodes of the show, which starred James Brolin as the commander of a Marine F/A-18 training squadron.

Gandt's book Intrepid, co-authored by Bill White, with a foreword by former naval aviator Senator John McCain, was published by Random House in the autumn of 2008. The Twilight Warriors, his account of the sea and air battle for Okinawa (Random House) is the 2011 winner of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.

Gandt and his wife, Anne, make their home at the Spruce Creek Fly-In in Daytona Beach, Florida, where Anne heads up the real estate firm, Country Club Properties of Spruce Creek.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A spell-binding, " real-life" account of naval flying..., February 17, 2002

By 

J. Gernetzke-Hays - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: With Hostile Intent (Paperback)

Robert Gandt takes us into the bowels of the USS Ronald Reagan where some of the ugliest of battles are played out between the best and worst of fellow Naval Aviators. Killer Delancey typifies the hotshot, blowhard pilot who ruthlessly works the promotion system and dares anyone to stand in his way. Spam Parker is like the unwanted, unsolicited piece of e-mail crammed into your mailbox, only she is the Navy's Poster Girl for Political Correctness post -Tailhook and she is not going to let anyone forget it! Gandt sets the stage perfectly for the reader to hate these black hats. An absolutely riveting account of air combat in the Persian Gulf and a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of fighter pilots. The lead-in for #2 in the series is palpable! Can't wait!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read! Highly recommended for all lovers of aviation!, October 20, 2001

By 

Doug Hensley (Kennedy Space Center, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Hostile Intent (Paperback)

Wow! After reading all of Gandt's previous non-fiction works, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was releasing a novel to complement his preceding books.

This book is set aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ronald Regan. Tensions are high after an Iraqi Mig-29 is splashed by an F/A-18E Super Hornet while approaching the no-fly zone. The Mig-29 pilot just happens to be the nephew of an infamous tyrannical leader......and the battle is just about to begin.

Enter the lead character "Brick" Maxwell. Brick is privy to certain information about the engagement that the United States Government would rather remain unknown. His commanding officer, "Killer" Delancey is somewhat of a loose cannon when under pressure, and will do damn near anything to become the first "Ace" since Vietnam.

Without ruining the rest of the book, lets just say that it is quite action packed, with great character development, and real-world fighter pilot tactics.

Pilots and non-pilots alike will appreciate the exceptional authenticity that can only be provided by an experienced Pilot (30,000+ hours of flight time, 300+ carrier landings, trained F/A-18 pilot, aerobatic pilot, and retired Airline Captain) like Gandt. In the words of another reviewer, Gandt also happens to possess the "...pen of a poet".

I absolutely can't wait to read the next "Brick" Maxwell adventure!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great first novel in the "Top Gun" tradition, May 28, 2004

By 

Rennie Petersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: With Hostile Intent (Paperback)

Robert Gandt's first fictional book is very good, and I'm looking forward to reading the other books about "Brick" Maxwell, the U.S. Navy pilot who is the hero of "With Hostile Intent". I'm a sucker for techno-thrillers that focus on naval aviation, and Robert Gandt does a great job of writing about life on an aircraft carrier and what it's like to be a pilot of an F/A-18 Hornet.

The story takes place in the Middle East, with the U.S. Navy (and U.S. and British Air Forces) enforcing the "no fly zone" over southern Iraq. The year is 2000, 10 years after Desert Storm but before the Iraq war in 2003, so Saddam Hussein is still in power and playing the role of super bad guy.

The major conflicts in "With Hostile Intent" are, however, not the ones between the U.S. and Iraqi forces. Instead, we have several members of the U.S. forces who are so egotistical and ruthless that they provide the greatest threat to the "good guys". (I don't know how realistic this is - for the sake of the U.S. Navy I would hope that people like that would be weeded out very early in their naval career.)

One of the things I liked best about this book were the descriptions of aerial dogfights between the F/A-18 Hornets and MiG-29 Fulcrums. Sidewinders are flying, high G turns being done to evade missiles, chaff and flares being ejected and there's lots of excited chatter between the pilots. "Fox two!" "Bandit on your six!" "Splash one!" Great stuff for us armchair warriors!

So why the lack of a fifth star?

Mostly because the plot is a bit too contrived and thus not very plausible. In order to maximize the conflict between "Brick" Maxwell and "Killer" DeLancey it's necessary for Brick to refuse to reveal something he knows about Killer, but without a reasonable ground for this refusal. Then at the end of the book there's an even more contrived situation, which I'll refrain from talking about here.

Also, the characterizations of the people in the book are rather "wooden", especially in the first part of the book.

Still, I'm definitely looking forward to following "Brick" Maxwell in his further adventures, as chronicled by Robert Gandt.

Rennie Petersen