From Publishers Weekly
Originally published last year in a paperback edition, which quickly became the favorite book of pilots and air traffic controllers (although probably not of nervous airplane travelers), McElroy's fascinating, frightening saga of the events surrounding a horrific midair collision is being reissued in a "Commemorative Edition" in hardcover to mark the 20th anniversary of the disastrous Professional Air Traffic Controllers' strike the one the Reagan administration settled by firing everyone. Journalist McElroy's novel is, as he admits in a new afterword, largely a work of nonfiction lots of solid reporting, with some fictional elements added. It's also a very persuasive argument against the giant computer early warning system called TCAS (Traffic-Alert/Collision Avoidance System), which is supposed to take over automatically when planes get too close. As McElroy's hero traffic controller extraordinaire Ryan Kelly, the cool-as-a-cucumber whiz who works the titular underground room where most of the heavy lifting gets done knows, TCAS can't be relied on. Nor should we trust the FAA and the politicians who grease their own runways with that agency's bounty. McElroy surrounds Kelly with a vivid cast of seasoned controllers (and one newbie who sees the job as being akin to "tending a group of wind-up toys, all buzzing in different directions") and journalists, one the daughter of a powerful, devious senator who has his own reasons for keeping the facts about the midair crash out of the papers. This is great page-turning fun with the added punch of social and economic importance. (Aug. 3)Forecast: As a commemorative hardcover edition, this thriller will likely appeal most to air traffic controllers and aviation buffs (many of whom may already have picked it up in paperback). If word gets out to general readers, however, the market may broaden. McElroy will appear at a few major aviation events, as well as at Seattle's Bookfest Northwest.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From the Publisher
THE HARDCOVER COMMEMORATIVE EDITION OF TRACON IS NOW AVAILABLE
** Limited FIRST RUN of commemorative hardcover -- only 1000 copies printed for the 20th anniversary of the PATCO strike.
“There has never been a better, more accurate novel about the air traffic control profession. So before you turn the page, I recommend you fasten your seat belt, and keep your tray table in its upright and locked position. You’ve just signed up for one hell of a ride.” — JOHN S. CARR, PRESIDENT OF THE
NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION
Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the air traffic controllers’ strike in August 2001, the commemorative hardcover edition of 'TRACON' contains nonfiction content about aviation’s unsung heroes, their past struggles and emerging concerns. In the Foreword, John S. Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association — the successor to PATCO — discusses the aftereffects of the strike, paints a colorful description of the personality profiles of controllers, and outlines pitfalls and suggested solutions to gridlock in the skies. The Afterword, comprised of a compendium of essays, begins with Paul McElroy’s discussion of current and emerging problems facing our nation’s air traffic control system and a candid look at solutions. Rebecca Pels Lust, a labor management scholar, offers a critical assessment of the causes behind the PATCO strike.
