Shadow Command [Mass Market Paperback]

Dale Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2009

Based on the Armstrong Space Station orbiting the earth, the Black Stallion spaceplanes of General Patrick McLanahan's Aerospace Battle Force can attack any target on the planet within hours—and its powerful network of satellites can invade any computer network as easily as making a phone call. Western-educated Russian president Leonid Zevitin, one of the ABF's most dangerous adversaries, is determined to destroy all support for the space program by using a potent combination of top-secret anti-spacecraft weaponry, fear-mongering, and a new U.S. president's own egotism.

But McLanahan and his forces will not allow the Russian aggression to stand. Sensing deep-seated treachery, the general ignores directives from the White House and Pentagon and dispatches the ABF to attack secret Russian bases in Iran—which results in a presidential order for his immediate arrest. But before they can throw Patrick McLanahan in prison, the government will have to figure out how to retrieve him from his stronghold in space.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The U.S. is still recovering from the American Holocaust, a Russian air strike that killed and wounded thousands in 2004, at the start of this clunky techno-thriller from bestseller Brown (Strike Force). In 2009, Lieutenant General McLanahan, commander of the High Technology Aerospace Weapons Center, fears the Russians are covertly arming Iran, now known as the Democratic Republic of Persia. An immoral and weak U.S. president, Joseph Gardner, doesn't help the situation. Full of technical prose (Skybolt was powered by a MHDG, or magnetohydrodynamic generator, which used two small nuclear reactors to rapidly shoot a slug of molten metal back and forth through a magnetic field to produce the enormous amount of power required by the laser) and broadly drawn characters, from Gardner, who can't keep his pants on even during a global crisis, to Senate majority leader Stacy Anne Barbeau, who wields her cleavage in the interests of her constituents as well as national security, this novel will appeal to readers who care more about advanced weaponry than a plausible plot. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The new Patrick McLanahan miltary thriller pits the U.S. Air Force lieutenant-general against his archenemy, Russian air force chief of staff General Andrei Darzov. At stake is military supremacy in earth’s orbit and, by extension, supremacy over earth itself. Brown’s fans have come to expect certain things from his novels, and he delivers them here with gusto: larger-than-life characters; a high-tech story; narrative passages full of (a cynic might say clogged with) military terminology; precise technical descriptions of hardware, such as aircraft and weaponry; and a pace that allows readers very little time to consider just how implausible the story actually is. Readers who are shopping around for elegant prose and graceful plotting might want to keep on looking, but fans of high-testosterone military techno-thrillers (like those of Tom Clancy, Stephen Coonts, or Patrick Robinson) will be well pleased. --David Pitt --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (February 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006117372X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061173721
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #842,164 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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shadow Command Review:, June 27, 2008

By 

Evo Dude (California City, Ca.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Shadow Command: A Novel (Hardcover)

I'm glad I didn't read the other reviews before I read this. I have to agree there is some cheesy sex parts in it that could have been left out. I'm not a prude or anything it just doesn't go so well with the flow of the book.

Other than that I did like it pretty well though. I like to use these kind of books as a bit of an escape from reality. On that front it does deliver big time. One person said that he hopes the officers in the military aren't like McLanahan. Personal opinion if we had stuff like is in the book and an officer like him in real life the conflict in Iran would have been solved a long time ago.

It is a bit over the top but still a good read if you are a fan of his writing. Maybe wait for it in paperback, but I don't regret the hard bound copy either.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where's the action?, May 30, 2008

By 

odyssey "odyssey" (waukesha wi) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Shadow Command: A Novel (Hardcover)

Silly characters aside, you can always count on Dale Brown to put you in the cockpit. Until now. Gone are intense and lengthy action sequences of flight. Instead we receive mundane politics set in a predictable mideast upheaval. I can't wait for his next novel. He must be rested and ready to get us all back into flightworthy action. There wasn't any here.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dale Brown, forever inconsistent, strikes out on this sequel, May 29, 2008

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shadow Command: A Novel (Hardcover)

Dale Brown is remarkably inconsistent: I prefaced my review of "Strike Force", the predecessor to "Shadow Command", with similar words and went on to give it a glowing review.

This time out, "Shadow Command" picks up where the earlier novel left off - and immediately falls flat on its face. Characters that we've grown familiar with, like General Patrick McLanahan, are now totally in orbit. Literally. The gadgetry and science and flying, always a part of Brown's novels are still there, but this time the descriptions are stretched beyond even science fiction.

The other characters are simply not believable. There's Captain Hunter "Boomer" Noble who is virtually a cartoon. Ace pilot, engineer, womanizer and never, ever makes a mistake. Navy Lt. Commander Lisette "Frenchy" Moulain is worse than a parody. She's the nominal commander of the fictional Spacebird. Brown has long had dueling instincts. He tries to integrate women into military and scientific roles in his novels - while, at the same time, making them sex objects. This time, the combination is disastrous in an utterly gratuitous, ridiculous sex scene early in the book. It is, unfortunately, only one of several throughout the book.

The other characters are no better. A scheming American-educated Russian President, Leonid Zevitin, belongs in a Marx Brothers movie along with the feckless American President, Joseph Gardner. Just about every character in this novel seems well suited to wearing a red clown nose and wig.

The plot grows both confusing and wearisome within the first hundred pages. There are others who may read "Shadow Command" and enjoy it: I don't want to ruin it for them, so I won't get into a lot of detail.

The Iranian revolution that began in "Strike Force" continues, with Russia and America influencing and being influence by events. Russian President Zevitin cunningly exploits American President Gardner - and guess who saves the day - but only after being (once again) unfairly treated.

"Strike Force" was good adventure. "Shadow Command", in my opinion, is not.

Jerry