Shadows of War [Paperback]

Robert Gandt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2004

Brick Maxwell lost a friend when fellow pilot Raz Rasmussen was shot down in the first Gulf War. Years after he is declared KIA, Raz's now-remarried widow receives a call claiming he is alive, and she asks Maxwell to investigate. But while searcing for answers, Maxwell discovers the CIA is working its own shady agenda-and a shocking betrayal places him right in the kill zone.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gandt is as good an author as he is a pilot, and that's high praise. (Aviation Week) Reading a Gandt flying tale is the next best thing to being in the cockpit...this guy is good! (Stephen Coonts)

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Signet (November 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451213467
• ISBN-13: 978-0451213464
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Flying and Writing: These have been the dual passions of Bob Gandt's life. He published his first story at age sixteen - the same year he first soloed an airplane. Since then he has logged something over 25,000 hours, written thirteen books and published countless articles.

As a U. S. Navy pilot, he logged over 300 carrier landings and nearly 2,000 hours in the A-4 Skyhawk. In his 1997 deja vu work, Bogeys and Bandits (Viking Penguin), he joins a Navy F/A-18 training squadron at the same base where he had trained years before.

For 26 years he flew as a pilot with Pan American World Airways, domiciled in Berlin, Hong Kong, New York, and San Francisco. His 1995 classic, Skygods (Wm. Morrow & Co.), recounts the meteoric descent and crash of the once-great Pan Am.

In 1985 Gandt and his partners, Harry Shepard and Carl Pascarell, formed the Redhawk Aerobatic Team. Flying their Siai-Marchetti fighter-trainers (rescued from a military boneyard in the Congo), they performed their formation aerobatic routine for over three million air show spectators.

Gandt's first book, Season of Storms, grew from his acclaimed series in the Far Eastern newspaper, South China Morning Post, about the WWII battle for Hong Kong. His long association with Pan Am and its romantic history inspired the book, China Clipper (Naval Institute Press, 1991 and 2010), which relives the mystique of the great commercial flying boats. His fascination with warbirds and the high-adrenalin world of unlimited air racing provides the background for Fly Low, Fly Fast (Viking Penguin), the inside account of the battle for the unlimited air racing championship at Reno, Nevada.

Gandt's first novel, With Hostile Intent (Penguin Putnam) was followed by Acts of Vengeance, Black Star, Shadows of War, The Killing Sky, and Black Star Rising.

In 1998 he made his screenwriting debut in 1998 on the CBS series Pensacola: Wings Of Gold, adapted from his book Bogeys and Bandits. He worked as writer and technical consultant for the twenty-two-episodes of the show, which starred James Brolin as the commander of a Marine F/A-18 training squadron.

Gandt's book Intrepid, co-authored by Bill White, with a foreword by former naval aviator Senator John McCain, was published by Random House in the autumn of 2008. The Twilight Warriors, his account of the sea and air battle for Okinawa (Random House) is the 2011 winner of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.

Gandt and his wife, Anne, make their home at the Spruce Creek Fly-In in Daytona Beach, Florida, where Anne heads up the real estate firm, Country Club Properties of Spruce Creek.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poor Brick, he missed out on the second Iraq war, January 31, 2005

By 

Rennie Petersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadows of War (Paperback)

"Shadows of War" is the fourth book in Robert Gandt's great military action series featuring Sam "Brick" Maxwell, U.S. Navy pilot and squadron commander, flying an F/A-18 Super Hornet off the USS Ronald Reagan.

Here's a quick summary of the four books.

2001: "With Hostile Intent", dogfights over Iraq, spying in Iraq, bad eggs in the U.S. Navy.

2002: "Acts of Vengeance", dogfights over Yemen, ground battle in Yemen, submarine attack in the Gulf of Aden.

2003: "Black Star", dogfights over China and Taiwan, commando raid in China, naval battles around Taiwan.

2004: "Shadows of War", dogfights and dodging missiles over Iran, POW exchange and ground operations in the Iran/Iraq border area.

All four of these books are very exciting, and if you're a fan of military action stories then I'm sure you'll like them.

"Shadows of War" is set in the aftermath of the 2003 war in Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein. There is no mention of Brick having participated in that war, so I guess he missed it because of his tour of duty in the China area. :-)

(It must be difficult to be the author of military action books. The audience wants stories based in real-life situations, but reality sometimes changes too fast to allow the fictitious hero to keep up.)

I liked the first half of this book a lot, and found myself reading page after page with great interest and anticipation. There are several interwoven story lines, including not just conflicts between the "good guys" and the "bad guys", but also serious internal feuding among both the good guys and the bad guys.

Unfortunately, in the last half of the book the plot becomes too contrived. A POW exchange is set up in a situation where the more logical solution would be to send in the special operations guys to rescue the American POW. Even more contrived is the way the POW exchange works out, and the consequences (or lack of consequences) for Brick Maxwell.

A major plus point in Robert Gandt's books is the level of detail and authenticity with which the flying scenes and combat operations are described. Mr. Gandt makes you feel that he really knows what he's talking about, and that makes his books very satisfying.

So here we have the unfortunate contradiction: Great realism in the action descriptions and not-so-great realism in the general story.

Another detraction (and contrived aspect) is the way the husband of Brick's girlfriend had a major role in the story, and especially the way he kept turning up every time Brick and the girlfriend had a date. The entire romance story is unnecessary in my opinion (this is a military action book - who needs romance?), and trying to add excitement to the romance story by having the husband pop up repeatedly struck me as silly.

Still, the pluses outweigh the minuses, and that's why I'm giving four stars to "Shadows of War", along with my recommendation.

Rennie Petersen

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Supersonic Storytelling, November 28, 2004

By 

Bonnie Toews "Heart Tugs ... at the crossroad... (Newcastle, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shadows of War (Paperback)

In "Shadows of War," Robert Gandt proves he is the top gun of military thriller writers. He is such a skilled storyteller that all elements of his novel writing weave seamlessly together creating characters and scenes that come alive so clearly that readers become locked in Brick Maxwell's world of international crises, combat flying and political betrayal. In this story, Brick's loyalties and integrity are stretched to their maximum, and the deceitfulness of the CIA almost gets him killed on a rescue mission to extract his former squadron mate from behind terrorist lines on the Iraqi-Iran border. Declared missing in action in the first Gulf War and then dead, his friend has been held as a secret prisoner of war for 13 years by the Iraquis, who now offer him up in exchange for a captured terrorist leader as influential as Bin Laden. Why was Brick's flying buddy held back when it was believed all American pilots were released at the end of the Gulf War? How does the POW's remarried wife deal with his return? Brick understands her dilemma because the CIA agent-husband of the woman he loves has also returned from the dead. What will she decide? Gandt draws on the yin-yang of love and war in a plot made even more credible with his panoramic perspective of the war on terror, the Western and Middle East players involved and the U.S. military's delicate role in containing catastrophic conflicts that threaten global stability. Enemies are human, and allies, flawed. It is the nature of warriors and war. It is also part of the terrible tragedy of war, and if readers have never spent a day in combat service, Gandt's characters open your eyes and heart to their unique dedication to service and each other as well as to the few who dishonor them. Above all, his descriptions of flying the various aircraft, but especially the Super Hornet, are so simple yet detailed that I, for one, feel that if I ever find myself in the cockpit of an F-18, I just may be able to land this majestic bird. At least I wouldn't be afraid to try. For me, Robert Gandt is in a class of his own, and readers can expect five-star entertainment from him every time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gandt at his best, March 9, 2005

By 

William J. Vitale, MD, USAAF (Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadows of War (Paperback)

As a lifelong student of science and technology, my tastes do not normally run to fiction. And, I am even less likely to sit down and write a book review. Aaargh!

Having discovered Robert Gandt's series of action novels some 5 years ago, however, I actually find myself looking forward to setting aside the likes of Hawkings, Azimov and Bryson and settling down to the pure enjoyment of a great read.

With his impeccable credentials across the entire spectrum of aviation, the author brings a refreshing realism rarely seen in military novels. Through his vast experience as a seasoned carrier pilot, Gandt recounts in vivid detail the ongoing saga of combat navy pilot, Sam "Brick" Maxwell, aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in the war-torn Middle East and the China Sea.

More to the point, perhaps, SHADOWS OF WAR is a well-crafted and compelling story of military and political intrigue, heroics, betrayal and, yes, even just the right touch of behind-the-scenes love and romance on the high seas. Enjoyed it immensely. Had to give it 5 stars. Try reading the first chapter - bet you can't put it down.