Warrior Class [Hardcover]

Dale Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 2001

The master of the aerial technothriller tackles a story as cutting-edge as tomorrow's headlines.

The world is falling apart, and there are plenty of people willing to take advantage. One of them is Pavel Kazakov, a Russian oilman with close ties to organized crime, and an audacious idea: build a huge pipeline through the Balkans, get the Russian army to back him, and everybody gets rich. Sure, NATO will object, but the new American President's emphatic policy of isolationism guarantees no effective opposition. Russia will dominate Europe. Kazakov will dominate the oil supply.

But he hasn't reckoned with Patrick McLanahan. The young Air Force general leads a combat mission deep into Russia to rescue a spy on the ground, but when things start to spin out of control, McLanahan's intuition is to push the envelope even farther, to create whatever havoc he can. That puts him directly in opposition to the President himself, and pretty soon, McLanahan and his team find themselves faced with a dire choice. Which is the greater threat: the empire in front of them-or the President behind? Whichever way they choose, life as they know it will never be the same again.

Filled with all the explosive adventure and technology that his fans have come to expect, this is Dale Brown's most exciting novel yet.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Brown's raw enthusiasm for the nuts and bolts of military hardware still courses through his gung-ho renditions of the fictional air adventures of the U.S. armed forces (Battle Born; The Tin Man; etc.). Here, in Brown's 13th thriller, he offers up another flag-waving, jargon-heavy, air combat whopper starring daredevil pilot Patrick McLanahan. The Russian economy and military lie in ruins; the United States, now led by isolationist President Thomas Thorn, seems content to let Europe and the rest of the world go it alone. Seeing his opportunity, Russian drug lord and oilman Pavel Kazakov decides to build a huge new pipeline from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. The line will have to go through several countries that have already rejected the idea, but Kazakov has a secret weapon: a stealth war plane that he begins using to pick fights, bombing villages and shooting down opposing aircraft. His strategy is to provoke retaliation, thereby allowing the Russian army to invade countries that won't go along with his pipeline scheme. President Thorn may not care what Kazakov is up to, but McLanahan does and so do several of Brown's recurring characters, all rugged aviation patriots. They devise a counterstrategy to bring Kazakov's puppets face-to-face with the latest American military technology and fighting tactics. Though a captivating final dogfight over the Black Sea ups the drama level, Brown, a former air force captain, otherwise lets copious descriptions of military gadgets and procedures take precedence over action, which slows the plot to a crawl. For those who prefer their acronyms straight, this is the usual heady fare.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Brown gives us another tale of maverick Air Force general Patrick McLanahan. This time his supersecret unit is called in to extract a CIA agent in Moscow whose cover has been blown. During this operation old man Murphy decides that his law rules, and McLanahan's unit ends up locking horns with a really nasty, corrupt Russian oilman, Pavel Kazakov, who is building a Trans-Balkan pipeline. In the course of events, our hero has to go against his superiors, including a rather flaky president, to get the job done and take out Kazakov. While not great literature, this tale is a real barn-burner, filled with lots of action and technology. Some of this stuff does stretch credulity, but it is exciting and loads of fun. Veteran actor Stephen Lang is superb; his experienced voice brings out the personality of each character. Narrative portions are just as ably performed; Lang's only weakness is his Russian, which could use some practice. Public libraries should have at least one copy. Michael T. Fein, Central Virginia Community Coll., Lynchburg
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1St Edition edition (May 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399147144
• ISBN-13: 978-0399147142
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,466,911 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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DeedleDeeedleDeedle....Brown Locks On for Another Winner, September 6, 2001

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Warrior Class (Hardcover)

I like this guy better than Clancy. I have read every book he has written. The early books, starting with The Flight of the Old Dog were first rate and very believeable. As time has passed, the technology involved in his tales has started to stetch one's ability to believe, but one gets the impression that he really knows what he is talking about and he doesn't bore you to death with technocrat explanations.
In this book, the US has elected an isolationist President who is not a member of either major political party. The character is interesting, but he never could have been elected holding the beliefs that he does, so we have to fudge our way past that and just declare him elected. Once that is accomplished he skips his Innauguration, gets sworn in privately at Blair House and walks across the street to the White House and goes to work. He also decides not to do a State of the Union speech, which isn't a bad idea. When you think of it, maybe he could get elected after all.
In any event, the new president starts withdrawing US forces around the globe which leads to predictable instability in the geopolitical situation. Into the chaos walks Pavel Kazakov, a Russian gangster with a desire to build an oil pipeline to the Baltic, millions of dollars at his disposal and his very own stealth-bomber which was left over from the breakup of the USSR. He sets about to wreak havoc in the Balkans and to take advantage of the void in NATO's ability to respond to get the oil flowing to the Black Sea and millions of dollars a day flowing into his bank accounts.
Standing in the way of his plans are Patrick McClanahan and his usual support staff from Dreamland and Skymasters along with some very brave Turkish and Ukranian pilots. I thought the action was first rate and you really look forward to the final confrontation as the bad guys are about to get theirs. For no matter how difficult the assignment, or how many obstacles are thrown in the path of our heroes, you can take it to the bank that the bad guys will get theirs. How they do it if most of the fun.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Amalgam Of His Body Of Work To Date, May 24, 2001

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Warrior Class (Hardcover)

"Chains Of Command, Flight Of The Night Hawk, And The Tin Man", all lend past events and technology to Mr. Brown's newest work, "Warrior Class". The balance of the content is what I believe his readers have always enjoyed in his books, and further, this latest work also diverges a bit from those that came before. It adds uncertainty and questions the most fundamental reasons why the wizards from Nevada exist and what justifies their conduct. This book is a departure from previous works, not because the previous work had become stale, rather Mr. Brown appears to be giving a new direction and extending the life, legitimacy, and reader interest for the characters in his previous 12 Novels. I think the integrity he shows and the respect he demonstrates to his readers is something that many other Novelists who just turn out repetitive modifications of their previous work should take note of.

My personal issue with this book is the reappearance of, "Tin Man Technology". The original book was my least favorite, and this time all was well until they literally started jumping. The technology used in the book is fascinating, and fun even when it gets a bit outrageous, but the Tin Man stills really strains credulity. The same can be said for some of the other technology, however there performance is more plausible.

It would be interesting to know how far ahead Mr. Brown plans these books for they neither have continuity issues, nor do they resort to outrageous filler to make the stories work. The next book should be very interesting if it continues this time line, for as I mentioned Mr. Brown has radically altered some fundamental premises going back to, "The Flight Of The Old Dog".

If you have enjoyed any of his previous books you will find much to like with his latest. The Tin Man is an aspect I could do without, but I'm sure other readers love it. Some of the past masters of this genre are either gone or have just become imitators of their early and best work. Mr. Brown has reached a, "Baker's Dozen", and he shows no sign of letting his readers down.

The reason for the 4.5 star rating is that blasted Tin Trooper, and the initials of a new political player!

Enjoy, well worth the time!

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Military Thriller, May 22, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Warrior Class (Hardcover)

For the first time since Washington, an independent wins the election for president of the United States. Thomas Thorn owes nothing to either the Republicans or the Democrats. The former Desert Storm hero believes in isolating America. He orders the ground troops home from Europe, as he has no desire to use the Armed Forces as peacekeepers.

With the Yankees returning home, old rivalries flare up throughout Europe. Many of them are orchestrated by the avaricious Russian druglord Pavel Kazakov, who wants to build an oil pipeline to the Baltic. He needs the cooperation of several former Soviet Republics. To accomplish his goal, Pavel devices a deviously clever plan that keeps the area filled with minor skirmishes and battles. This would lead to the Russians returning to take control and rebuild their former empire. Only General Patrick McLanahan stands in his way and he must defy his Commander-in Chief.

Dale Brown is one of the best writers of techno-thrillers on the market today. Fans of Clancy will love WARRIOR CLASS especially with the radical change in American foreign policy and the world reaction to the withdrawal of the only superpower. The story line is loaded with military action that supports the theme of "My country, right or wrong, my country" vs. the value of doing what the individual believes is the right thing.

Harriet Klausner