Customer Reviews

The Intruders (SoundValue)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"The Intruders" is one of the 10 books in Stephen Coonts' very good series of thrillers about Jake Grafton of the U.S. Navy.

Exactly where "The Intruders" fits into the Jake Grafton series depends on how you look at it. Judged by the year when the story takes place, "The Intruders" is book number two, following "Flight of the Intruder", Stephen Coonts' first book.

But Stephen Coonts did not write this book immediately following "Flight of the Intruder", published in 1986. Instead, "The Intruders" was published in 1994 following the publishing of four other Jake Grafton books: "Final Flight" (1988), "The Minotaur" (1989), "Under Siege" (1990) and "The Red Horseman" (1993).

"Flight of the Intruder" was set in 1972 during the last part of the Vietnam War, while "The Intruders" is set in 1973, shortly after the end of the Vietnam War. (All of the remaining Jake Grafton books are set in contemporary time, i.e., around the time when they were published.)

So what we have here is a young Jake Grafton who has done his stint in the Vietnam War and is still in the U.S. Navy. He's very unsure about what he should do with his life. He's courting Callie McKenzie (mostly by writing letters to her), but fears that he will not win her hand. He feels that he is not in control of his life, that the Navy is making all the decisions for him.

Unlike all of the other Jake Grafton books (except to some extent "Flight of the Intruder") this book does not have any real story. A lot of things happen, but they are isolated episodes spanning an eight-month period, not a single continuous plot.

Actually, the main story in this book is simply the story of Jake Grafton finding himself and making decisions about his life. Plus the story about his relationship with Callie, with its ups and downs.

One of the things I liked best about "The Intruders" were the many descriptions of how naval aviation works. Flying high-performance planes from the deck of an aircraft carrier is a very exciting and dangerous endeavor, and Stephen Coonts describes it all in detail. The only slightly negative point is that these descriptions are somewhat dated now, since the aircraft have changed since 1973, and presumably the procedures too, to some extent.

Stephen Coonts writes with wit and intelligence, and some parts of the book, where Jake and his buddies talk about life and death, are quite philosophical. There are also touching passages about what love really is, and interesting insights into the concept of leadership.

Highly recommended. The lack of the fifth star is due to the silly adventure in the last five chapters, presumably added because the author or the editor or the publisher didn't think the rest of the book was exciting enough to be a Jake Grafton story.

Rennie Petersen

If you are into NavAir, read this book. Carrier AirOps are described in detail. I am a pilot, so I loved those parts of the book. That's why I gave it 3 stars

As a Story, I found this book lacking. I get the feeling that Mr. Coonts wrote some high detailed, fast paced, adrenilin pumping flying scenes and then said, "I need a story to put them in."

The climax of the story came out of left field and left me Asking, "How did we get here?"

Read it for the NavAir Blue Water Ops. Just don't expect much of a story. If it was a video, I'd buy a copy, but I'd be doing a lot of fast forwarding

In this book Coonts concentrates on action on an aircraft carrier with plenty of naval aviation action. Naval Air being the long arm of American Foreign Policy is depicted here in action. Jake Grafton the main character is interesting and at times reflects upon himself to see whether or not to get out of the navy of not, marriage with his sweetheart Callie is on his mind. Flap Le beau his Bombardier/Nav. puts a bit of fun and flare into the story. Although I'm not a pilot but an enthusiast, Coonts puts a lot of emphasis on what the pilots are thinking of while in the cockpit, no matter at night or during the day, as a reader you get to feel what the pilot and his Navigator are really feeling at the time.

THIS STORY WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE about the life for an aviator living on an aircraft carrier, we have enough movies about the grunts on the ground,here is a chance to make a movie about aviators on aircraft carriers as they are America's long arm of Foreign Policy.

I got suckered into buying this book at a huge clearance sale. The picture of aircraft carrier and the blurb on the back attracted me. I like a good air war story once in a while (Blue Max or Piece of Cake remaining up there at the top). I quit reading after 160p of no plot, one dimensional characters, and boring simplistic conversation. I rate the book one star for its knowledgeable descriptions of airplane handling on an aircraft carrier.

Being a veteran of the 1st Cavalry Division in 1972, I was in Vietnam when Stephen Coonts was flying missions off carriers. Many times the Navy was there to help our missions.

I like reading Stephen's novels, because he tells it like it is, and like it was. Too many have misperceptions about our war. We were just young, American kids who answered our country's call, as in every war that we have ever fought. Stephen takes the reader right into the cockpits, and the minds of the fliers. I am forever in his debt.

This book doesn't have that much plot, but great character development keeps it moving. That's why I ended up liking it even better than the first novel in the Grafton series, "Flight of the Intruder", which dragged at times.

At the outset, Jake Grafton is stationed stateside in 1973, a few months after the events described in the previous book. The aftertaste of the Vietnam War is still bitter in veterans' mouths. A barroom brawl earns Grafton reposting to a carrier, in the (to squids) undesirable company of jarheads (Marine pilots) whom Grafton must teach the fine and dangerous art of carrier takeoffs and landings.

Grafton's copilot is the obnoxious, jive-talking Flap LeBeau, an African-American with a serious attitude. But Grafton learns the surface is deceptive and there is far more to LeBeau, also a combat vet.

Grafton endures the monotony of carrier life while agonizing over his future with Callie McKenzie. He is about to propose, but leaves for the sea on awkward terms following a tiff with her antiwar father. The long ensuing silence forces him to reexamine his life and goals.

The action climax of the book is more realistic than that of the first book. There, Grafton's unauthorized bombing run over North Vietnam strained plausibility. This one doesn't. And the book still has all the harrowing realism of a carrier pilot's dangerous existence. It's well worth your time. I got into the Grafton series through the later books based on espionage and spookery, but must say I enjoy Jake Grafton's character much more in these earlier books.

The Intruders was a very enjoyable read. This book took an unexpected direction in the life of pilots on a carrier and the internal and external struggles that Jake Grafton faces after the Vietnam War. The book moves very smoothly with action through the book and I did not want to put it down. I recommend this book but I would read Flight of the Intruder first.

Being a veteran of two WestPac cruises on an aircraft carrier during peace time, I found this book to reflect my experiences aboard ship, albeit with a LOT more spice. Stephen Coonts tells it like it really is during flight operations and doesn't leave much out. The only difference is that he relates just about every mishap that could ever happen to a naval pilot and his BN all happening within an eight month deployment - quite unrealistic, but definitely an engaging read. If everything in this book happened to a real pilot during a twenty year career, much less one eight month deployment, he'd likely lose his mind. If this is what peacetime is like on a carrier, I'd say bring back the war. It was much less dangerous in "Flight of the Intruder".

"Intruders", another of Coonts' books based on the misadventures of naval aviator Jake Grafton, takes place right after Grafton's debut in "Flight of the Intruder".

Finding himself stateside in the immediate aftermath of the war in Vietnam, Grafton feels a growing malaise, hamstrung to win the hand of Callie Mackenzie. (Though Grafton fans know the romance turns out okay, Coonts shows us how far from certain the romance was). As punishment for getting into a bar fight, Grafton is shipped to sea so he can tutor a new generation of aviators in flying the new generation of Intruder, the A-6E. Though he'd jump at the chance to fly the new plane, the fliers themselves are Marines - considered ham-handed apes not up to flying complex hardware. To add to the mix is Grafton's new commander, an ernest type hungry for action. With no airstrikes to keep them occupied, the new CAG spends his time planning attacks against soviet ships (Coonts makes the point that air-launched anti-ship missiles have not yet made it to American inventories, requiring planners and fliers to fall back on more reckless tactics). Is the new CAG in control or does he have an itchy trigger finger? And can Grafton get his cadets up to speed?

Unfortunately, while episodic takes that drive "Intruders" worked on "Flight of the Intruder", there isn't a central story to bring it together as that older book had. Planes crash, men die, carrier ops is just the most damgerous job in the world. Also, the green marines are cardboard characters who are not only less capable at flying then the characters of "Flight of the Intruder", but simply less interesting as well - like Razor, Boxman (who died in that older book), Cole and Cowboy (who lost his life years later in "Final Flight"). Even the postwar setting seems to work more against the novel then for it - there's no war to add to the dynamism of the situation. But at sea, there isn't any sense of the relief or shame or anything for the sacrifices of the war and its perceived results. Coonts wraps things up with an completely implausible tale involving a showdown with modern day pirates. This really kills the book which had started out as a return to the seeming homespun honesty (for a technothriller) of the first book - eschewing the villains, plots and schemes, and hidden agendas of Dale Brown, Clive Cussler and the latter Grafton books. Still closer to that spirit of the original "Flight" than Coonts' other books, and still well ahead of any competitors.

Boring, boring, boring...unless you are into fighter pilots or flying planes. After reading half of the book I could probably fly a plane. There is little plot, the description of planes, is the bulk of the tale. I could not force myself to finish the book.

I feel cheated, in that the description does not match the actual writing ( what the book is really about...flying planes). I was excited thinking I had found a new series to read, how very dismal reality was.