Customer Reviews

Macallister's Run

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Sgt MacAllister (aka Torkareva) is now in Bosnia taking out snipers from both sides when she is recognised by an ex collegue from the KGB, hence putting her life in extreme danger. General Bowmaker then has to organise air cover using the November squadron to cover her extraction. The book is completely compelling from beginning to end, with 'Mac' being hunted by local milita and special forces (belonging to a group of dissident russian KGB and Military leaders) while the rescue operation is planned, with one of the pilots becoming increasingly angered by the UN's lack of action in Bosnia. The flying and combat sequences are fantastic with the last 5 chapters flying through. The ending is a surprise but it seems to be the way of the author of late. This is the best author on the planet and this is why I have purchased all of his books at considerable cost(£250 or$400). The only problems are that the planes have stealth paint(plane blends into the background) and this is only at the testing stage at the moment and the Wing Commander belongs in WW2. Still, it's a fantastic book.

This will sound confusing, but please understand I can't be much less confusing than this book which ambles around unsure what it's supposed to be about. For one thing, it's about the November Aces, a multi-national team of fighter pilots zipping around in the Tornado jet fighter. Most of November's Tornadoes are GR3, the lumbering ground attack version, but some are the sexier ADV version (or "variant"). Though meant to keep the peace in Europe, the November pilots - who know that they're the best of the best - can only watch helplessly from their multi-million dollar planes as civilians are ground up in Yugoslavia. Two of their pilots decide to do something about it. Meanwhile (and there are a lot of those in this book), the MacAllister of the title has been lying low in Bosnia targeting snipers when she's spotted and recognized by Russian peacekeepers. Meanwhile, a Russian general in Moscow puts the pieces together and becomes obsessed with the lone MacAllister - insuring that Russian warplanes will be around to meet the rogue Tornado jet. Meanwhile, November's beleagured commander faces pressure from his pilots and his own bureaucratic commanders. Before long, it's clear that this isn't so much a novel - with a beginning, middle and end - as it is a printed episode of a series dealing with November flight. There's no character development, and the author doesn't spend much time fleshing out the complexities of flight or the dazzling technologies involved. I can't belive somebody thought this was the best aviation book they've seen - I've read other books that didn't knock me off my feet but were still more fun than this.