Mayday [Import] [Hardcover]

Thomas H Block (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Warner; 2 r.e. edition (November 1997)
• ISBN-10: 0751590266
• ISBN-13: 978-0751590265
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (114 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taut, tense and terrific., September 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mayday (Mass Market Paperback)

I was coerced into buying this book because of an interest in flying and action/adventure novels. But once I started reading it I didn't remember why I needed coersion. It simply a terrific read from begginning to end. I thought that it would be similar to books like Arthur Hailey's 'Airport' which I had read years ago and quite enjoyed but I wondered how DeMille was going to do anything new with the genre. Although a big fan of the 'X-Files' and the like I was just about "conspiracied" out. But DeMille makes the missile tragedy and cover-up very believable. The attention to detail (as he acknowledged, Thomas Block's aeronautical knowledge was vital)is excellent but he never lets the technicalities (either the problems experienced at the altitude or the militaria) bog the story down. You find yourself in the cockpit right next to John Berry with your heart pounding.

Interestingly the romantic sub plot was barely touched on and was refreshing in this age of sex/sexual tension influencing everything. Rightly, the protaganists put this to one side to concentrate on the more important issues at hand. This leads to the sexual tension being there, just in the periphery. 'Mayday' is brilliantly written and while originally published in the late 1970s, the version that I bought was updated for the 1990s (in much the same way the Stephen King updated 'The Stand') and I can honestly say it's an excellent book. I bought 'Mayday' about 3 months ago and quickly got my hands on and read 'Spencerville' and 'The General's Daughter' by DeMille (both of which are excellent) and we also now have 'Gold Coast', 'Plum Island' 'Word of Honour', 'The Talbot Odyssey' and 'By the Rivers of Babylon' in our bookcase.

For fans of the action side of the story, I can also recommend Clive Cussler, whose earlier books resemble 'Mayday', including coincidentally one called 'Mayday', although I think its American title was 'The Mediterranean Caper'.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Early, underwritten work by great action author, September 24, 2001

By 

Peter Lorenzi (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mayday (Mass Market Paperback)

Nelson DeMille is one of my three or four favorite authors. He passed Tom Clancy and John Grisham some time ago.

DeMille writes with an almost frantic pace, using regular guy heroes who emerge from the ruins of tragedy or terror. "Mayday", about a jet airliner accidentally damaged by a missle over the Pacific, offered DeMille an early chance to develop his style. Placing almost al of the action in the fuselage of the damaged plane limits his stage. The details of decompression at high altitude are not pretty. The male and female leads are heroic. The victimized pilot of the fighter that fired the deadly shot is a good, if side story.

The conclusions are somewhat predictable. I finished with small disappointment, having read much of his later work earlier.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DeMilles best, January 13, 2000

By 

David A. Spearman (Harbor Beach, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mayday (Mass Market Paperback)

From the first page to the last, the action carrys you in the cockpit with all the fear and excitement possible. As with all his books he does not leave much time for anything else until you are done and then want another. I have read all his books and only wait for his next to make my day.