Wings of Fire [Hardcover]

Dale Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

Dale Brown has written thirteen consecutive bestselling novels, but nothing that compares with the drama of Wings of Fire. Ostracized by the government, the military, even his own family, Air Force general Patrick McClanahan is near the end of his rope. And it's about to get worse.

North Africa is in turmoil. The new Libyan president has assassinated the new Egyptian president, and the latter's widow, Makta Salaam, vows revenge. Enlisting McClanahan's high-tech help, she survives an assassination attempt, takes over the Egyptian government, seduces and then kills the Libyan president, and all but proclaims herself queen of Arab North Africa. It's when she invades the Gaza Strip and proclaims it part of her empire that she goes too far. Both Syria and Israel go on alert, and it is only through the intervention of his fellow Night Stalkers that McClanahan wrests himself from under her spell. But is it too late? Salaam still has a few tricks up her sleeve, and she has saved the deadliest for last. . . .

Filled with meticulous authenticity and exceptional storytelling, Wings of Fire is Dale Brown at his best.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Former Air Force General Patrick McClanahan and his Night Stalkers are a freelance commando team that operates outside the American government--way outside--for reasons that author Dale Brown never makes entirely clear. Hired by a petroleum cartel to protect its interests in the Middle East, the team is testing new weapons developed by Sky Masters, McClanahan's private company, in the skies over Libya. Defending themselves against Libyan missiles, they get involved in a conflagration sparked by the new Libyan leader, who's convinced a radical Muslim faction to assassinate the pro-Western president of Egypt and help him take over the country's oil fields in return for his promise to unite all of Arab North Africa under theocratic fundamentalist rule. But his plans are foiled by the American-born widow of the slain president, with the timely assistance of McClanahan, the Night Stalkers, and their laser ray guns, plasma bombs, exoskeleton battle armor, and other weapons that Brown, an acknowledged master of the techno-thriller, describes in painstaking detail. The cumbersome plot and convoluted relationships among the central characters don't make much sense, and the action is so far over the top that it's barely believable, but that won't matter to Brown's enthusiastic readers, who've made his previous 13 books best sellers. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Military-action thriller-master Brown (Warrior Class) ignites a Middle East powder keg and drops an unsanctioned special ops corps of retired U.S. military officers armed with new superweapons into the mix in his best outing yet. Forcibly retired Air Force Gen. Patrick McClanahan leads the Night Stalkers on secret humanitarian ops. His latest contract, from Big Oil, is to destroy missile sites set up by Libyan president Zuwayy, a Muslim fanatic who deposed Khadafy and wants Egypt's oil fields. Zuwayy kills Egypt's president; the president's widow, former American air force pilot Susan Bailey Salaam, barely escapes. Patrick's team attacks during the uproar and destroys the missiles, but many soldiers are captured, including Patrick's wife, Wendy. Susan, wildly popular in Egypt, decides to run for president and sees the Night Stalkers as her secret weapon against Zuwayy's aggression. Needing a base from which to rescue Wendy, Patrick agrees to help Susan take action when a deadly nerve gas wipes out an Egyptian army post. Meanwhile, the Night Stalkers' weapons lab in Nevada is facing a coup led by the parents of a child science prodigy who takes laser weapons to a new level and gives the Stalkers a deadly edge. Brown's knack for action allows him to set a speedy pace that doesn't let up until the shocker ending. The politics and Middle East setting are spot on; the superweapons are eye-openers; and the villains deliciously evil but the election of a woman, much less an American woman, as president of Egypt and head of the Muslim Brotherhood defies credibility. Still, it's a white-knuckle read from start to finish.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1ST edition (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399148604
• ISBN-13: 978-0399148606
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,142,447 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

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Deal Fans Will Enjoy, July 1, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Wings of Fire (Hardcover)

Dale Brown has put everything in to this tale, be they familiar characters, or the weapon systems that always play a role in his books. If this is the first book by this author that you choose to read there are going to be a variety of references that will not be clear. These can either be noted as a negative, or as I think, a catalyst for going back to the very beginning and enjoying all the books. This is novel number 14, and with the exception of one I have enjoyed them all.

Before commenting on this tale I need to make a general comment. The descriptions that have been offered about the storyline in this book do not match what actually happens during the tale. Some of the suggested elements of the plot are exaggerated, and others just do not take place. I may have not placed the same emphasis on certain events that the book's description highlights, and I look forward to what other reviewers have to say. In any event, if I had not read any description of the book it still is another great read from Dale Brown.

The familiar group of mavericks have become independent to the point of being mercenaries. This freedom to operate as they choose is satisfying from a reader's standpoint, but for these former military members the moniker of mercenary does not sit with much comfort. Events rapidly blur the line between their interests and that of governments friendly to their actions, and their reasons for operating become more comfortably defined.

The new toy this time out is another incarnation of The Megafortress with the moniker AL-52 Dragon. A close look at the book's cover will give you an idea of what this latest weapon is. The book opens with the testing of this weapon in the classic Mclanahan style. Testing against mock-ups and target ranges are not his way, so when he takes this plane out for a spin, international incidents start multiplying.

From this point on anything more descriptive would ruin the reading for others. Suffice to say that there is as much going on in the main plot, and a variety of subplots, that this is as dense a read as Mr. Brown has offered. Every trick that Masters and Mclanahan and their usual teammates have developed, is on display. And if that was not enough a new character is introduced that I think readers will either love or loathe. Think of Jon Masters as a tyke, that's all I'll say.

The reason for holding back the 5th star is because of the inconsistencies. I may have missed some subtle point, but I did not miss that a character that is alive at the beginning is alive at the end. And this contradicts what readers are told to expect.

In any event the book is a great read, and Dale Brown fans will feel they have been given their money's worth.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As usual - it's a wild, wild ride....., July 14, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Wings of Fire (Hardcover)

I have read all of Dale Brown's fourteen novels and, with one exception, if you buy in to his premise that has developed over time, of a private US company modifying B-52 aircraft and developing others into a frightening air armada and then flying them against other countries without US approval, then you are going to enjoy this one as well.

From The Flight of the Old Dog to Wings on Fire has been a long and hazardous trip for Gen. Patrick McClanahan (USAF Ret.)and many others that served with him throughout the various campaigns.

In this book, Skymasters has been retained by some unnamed oil producers to "protect their interests" from the quite mad King of Lybia ( a successor to Quadaffi. All the King and his henchmen want to do is steal a few billion dollars and get out of Dodge. However when he starts by murdering the President of Egypt, he sets in motion a series of events that do not work out quite as he had hoped. The non-Arabic wife of the murdered president takes her husbands murder personally and embarks on her own plans for revenge. These get wrapped up with McClanahan and his Nightstalkers whose mission to Lybia has become somewhat undone and he finds himself rescued by Egyption forces after their ship is sunk by Lybia. However, not all of the forces are rescued and some fall into the hands of the Lybians, including McClanahan's wife, Wendy. McClanahan wants his wife and men back which Brown blends with the desires of the murdered President's widow and the rest is a typical air war pot boiler that is enjoyable to read, but a bit difficult to swallow in places.

If this is your first Brown book, you may find this hard going in places as a fair number of assumptions are made by the author that the reader knows more about his characters than the book reveals. That said, if it is not your first Brown book and you enjoyed the others, you will like this one as well. A sequel is clearly set up in the conclusion and the possibilities it raises are very interesting indeed. Buckle your seat belts.......

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intrigue, Technology and the Middle East, October 13, 2002

By 

Tanya L. Schaub "TSchlaack" (Livermore, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wings of Fire (Hardcover)

This was my first Dale Brown book and I am now hooked. He is similar to Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler with his excellent details and how they fit into the story.

In this story the Nightstalkers are trying out some of their new battle amour and weapons while helping an oil consortium out. But things go wrong when they go into Libya to look around they find multiple missiles etc... While trying to get out part of the team gets caught behind including Patrick's wife Wendy. They are held and tortured by the "King" of Libya who is a fraud.

At the same time you are following a story line about the development of the weapons by Sky Masters Inc. and their newest genius who you have to read about to believe (great addition).

There is a third story line about the Egyptian president who is assinated and his wife taking charge and dealing with both the Libyans and the Night Stalkers.

If you are looking for a fast paced exciting book this one is for you!