Plan of Attack [Mass Market Paperback]

Dale Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

The destruction of a Russian air base by robotic U.S. warplanes has reawakenedthe bear -- and America must pay a terrible price. In retaliation, Russia's leader launches the most devastating military sneak attack since Pearl Harbor, decimating America's strategic air forces. Now an embattled U.S. president must choose between two horrific scenarios: a cease-fire on the enemy's terms ... or respond with every weapon in the nation's arsenal, possibly triggering global thermonuclear war.

Disgraced and demoted to a desk job, aerial warfare expert Brigadier General Patrick McLanahan saw the nightmare coming -- and only he can stop the relentless Russian war machine. But the fight for the future must take place in the blazing skies, a battlefield off-limits to the discredited former commander of Air Battle Force ... unless McLanahan takes matters into his own hands.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Longtime series hero Maj. Gen. Patrick McLanahan takes to the air again in this rousing-as-usual techno-military thriller by veteran Brown. Always the loose cannon, the general has been demoted and reassigned after sending his unmanned robo-planes against a Russian missile battery without permission. As narrated in Brown's last book, Air Battle Force, the Taliban military, chased out of Afghanistan by American troops, has invaded Turkmenistan. The Russian Federation, reacting to the invasion and overthrow of the Russian-backed government, sends an occupying force. The Americans are part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission when the Security Council issues orders for all parties to halt military activity. The first third of the book relates the backstory and ramps up readers on all the new military hardware. Each weapons system is minutely described, and the characteristics of its employment lovingly detailed. But this minutiae fades into the background as Brown kicks on the after-burners when the nefarious president of the Russian Federation, Gen. Anatoliy Gryzlov, plans a long-range bomber attack on the U.S. mainland. The disgraced but unbowed McLanahan must convince the government and the armed services to follow his ingenious and daring plan to halt the Russian assault. The resulting battles, both in the air and on the ground, are riveting, as they are in all of Brown's books, proving once again that he is the grand master of his genre. Readers who are new to the series would be advised to dive in several novels back (The Tin Man; Battle Born; Warrior Class), while those who are already up to speed can look forward to another pulse-pounding, fact-filled read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Brown, the author of a string of technothrillers, returns with another in the Patrick McLanahan series. The novel follows on the heels of last year's Air Battle Force, which established that McLanahan, the aerial warfare expert, is now commanding a unit of commandoes who employ robotic attack planes to carry out top-secret missions. Now McLanahan is trying to defend the U.S. from attack while redeeming himself in the eyes of his military superiors (who recently demoted him for bending the rules). It's typical Brown, with plenty of technological bafflegab, rough-and-tough dialogue, and tough-as-nails characters. By this point, McLanahan has been through it all: he's been caught up in a power struggle in the Middle East, put his neck on the line in Korea, risked it all in the Persian Gulf, and hunted down a KGB mole. And yet, probably because he believes so passionately in what he's writing about, Brown somehow manages to keep this series from becoming, well . . . ludicrous. For fans of over-the-top, gut-wrenching thrillers, this one's a winner. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Harper (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060502924
• ISBN-13: 978-0060502928
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the superstar author of 21 action-adventure "techno-thriller" novels: FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG (1987), SILVER TOWER (1988), DAY OF THE CHEETAH (1989), HAMMERHEADS (1990), SKY MASTERS (1991), NIGHT OF THE HAWK (1992), CHAINS OF COMMAND (1993), STORMING HEAVEN (1994), SHADOWS OF STEEL (1996), FATAL TERRAIN (1997), THE TIN MAN (1998), BATTLE BORN, (1999), WARRIOR CLASS (2001), WINGS OF FIRE (2002), AIR BATTLE FORCE (2003), PLAN OF ATTACK (2004), ACT OF WAR (2005), EDGE OF BATTLE (2006), STRIKE FORCE (May 2007), SHADOW COMMAND (2008) ROGUE FORCES (2009), EXECUTIVE INTENT (2010) and A TIME FOR PATRIOTS (May 2011). Fourteen of his novels have been New York Times best-sellers. He is also the co-author of the best-selling DREAMLAND techno-thriller series and writer and technical consultant of the Act of War PC real-time strategy game published by Atari Interactive and the Megafortress PC flight simulator by Three-Sixty Pacific. Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. Worldwide sales of his novels, audiobooks and computer games exceed 12 million copies.

Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course. He was also an Air Force instructor on aircrew life support and combat survival, evasion, resistance, and escape.

Dale supports a number of organizations to promote law enforcement, education, and literacy. He is a Life Member of the Air Force Association, U.S. Naval Institute, and National Rifle Association. He is a command pilot for Angel Flight West (www.angelflightwest.org), a group that donate their time, skills, and aircraft to fly medical patients free of charge. He is also a mission pilot with the Civil Air Patrol, flying a variety of missions in support of the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his Piper Aztec-E airplane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, scuba diving, and soccer. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A SUITABLY SUSPENSEFUL READING, July 17, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plan of Attack CD (Audio CD)

Dale Brown, master of the techno-thriller, presents one of his most frightening scenarios in "Plan Of Attack" - nuclear destruction so devastating that the mere thought of its scope causes tremors of fear. It would be the end of our country as we know it.

Voice performer J. K. Simmons imbues his reading with a somber sincerity which makes this threat plausible whether it's through the vengeful voice of Russian President General Anatolly Gryzlov or determined hero Major General Patrick McLanahan.

When it comes to aerial warfare, McLanahan knows it best. But, he's no longer in charge - demoted to a job pushing papers at a desk. However, that doesn't mean he doesn't know what's going on, and he's fully aware that Russia's bomber bases are very active. Getting the higher-ups to pay attention to this is another story.

Gryzlov is relentless; he'll not be satisfied until he makes McLanahan pay for bombing a Russian base. His first move is a sneak attack. McLanahan knows what's going on, but what can he do about it?

Therein lies a terrific tale of techno-terrorism. Hang on to the seats of your chairs when you listen to this one!

- Gail Cooke

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Brown's Best Work, May 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Plan of Attack: A Novel (Brown, Dale) (Hardcover)

After reading PLAN OF ATTACK, I felt that Dale Brown loaded this novel with entirely too many characters and technical jargon. Entire paragraphs were consumed by weighty and unnecessary acronyms; describing a seemingly endless array of conventional and unconventional weapnry and aircraft.

The story arc, too, seemed sketchy and jumpy; taking the reader from the USA to the Middle East and to Russia without ever fleshing out the details of the events unfolding in those regions.

I was also disappointed by the fact that the climax didn't occur until the last one-hundred pages. Far too much time is spent on the shenanigans of the Air Force brass and the games of intrigue they play with Patrick McLanahan's career.

Dale Brown is, in my opinion, the best military-adventure writer in the genre today. Compared, however, to one of Brown's earlier masterpieces like FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG or STORMING HEAVEN, PLAN OF ATTACK seems sub-par. If Dale Brown had confined the technical aspect of the story to a back-of-the-book index, (charts of Western Russia would have been nice, too) he could have fleshed out the story alot better.

I rated this book "Three Stars," because:
+1) It is an entertaining book.
+1) It is obviously the prequel to a new series.
+1) McLanahan (Brown) doesn't pull ANY punches here.
-1) It could have and should have been better.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a "can't put it down", but good nonetheless..., June 26, 2004

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plan of Attack: A Novel (Brown, Dale) (Hardcover)

I think this will catch me up on my book reviews over the last week... :-)

For some recreational reading, I picked up Dale Brown's Plan Of Attack. This is one of those military war thrillers involving the use of hi-tech weaponry to defeat the enemy. Overall, a pretty good read.

In the latest episode of Patrick McLanahan's adventures, he's been demoted a rank for once again skirting a direct order given to him for defending a certain area by having and using some offensive weapons when they are attacked. He ends up tucked away at a desk top with strict orders to mind his own business and just do his job. But he ends up getting intel that points to Russia preparations to launch a full-scale nuclear attack on the US. His direct superiors won' t listen to what appears to be an outlandish conclusion, so he goes over their heads and ends up facing a court martial. But of course, he's right and the attack takes place. His small group of hi-tech commandos are one of the few resources left to counter-attack, and he has to once again disobey some orders in order to make his plan happen.

Since this book uses characters that have appeared in other Dale Brown novels, there is not a lot of background character development. If you haven't read the previous novels, you might be a little lost as to why McLanahan is viewed in such a negative light. The story moves along at a decent pace, and the different weaponry is interesting to think about. While I didn't see it as a "can't put it down" book, I did enjoy the read.