Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown [Kindle Edition]

Jeffrey Burger (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

"Two possibilities exist; either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." Arthur C. Clarke...

An epic science fiction adventure that reaches from the surface of our familiar planet and the safety of terra firma, to the dark, vast expanse of deep space and distant star systems.

Jack Steele is an ex big-city cop that left the department after losing a friend in the line of duty. Recovering from a tough divorce, he reinvents himself with a love of flying and restructures his life as a pilot for hire. Accompanied by his ever-present German Shepherd, Fritz, Jack will fly almost anything, anywhere, shuttling new & used planes for clients all over the world. He had never been a Boy Scout, but he is a man who likes to stay prepared and in control of whatever life throws at him. But nothing could have prepared Jack and his co-pilot when life suddenly goes drastically and violently sideways... in a direction and magnitude that no one could have ever anticipated. Wanted men, it seems like everyone on the planet is hunting for them and their only option is to run... but to where?

“An excellent mixture of action, adventure, humor, romance, suspense and espionage, with a touch of thriller & mystery. A romping good read...”

An epic novel - 161,119 words
(Version 1.05, updated 9-24-12 / FULLY EDITED VERSION)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeff Burger was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, moving to the Gulf Coast of Florida at the age of 28, where he still lives today with his German Shepherd, Fritz. Jeff returns to Chicago on a regular basis to visit family and friends. Originally drawn to law enforcement like his father and uncle, Jeff's extremely creative nature drove him toward a rewarding career in photography, illustration, design, marketing and advertising. With the successful launch of his first book; Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown, he has been able to add writing and publishing to his repertoire. Jeff's choice in career and life in Florida have offered some truly unique experiences which he continues to enjoy. A certified NRA Instructor, Jeff has worked with civilians, Military Personnel and Law Enforcement Officers from many agencies. This has afforded him the opportunity to regularly handle and become proficient with firearms of all types, new and vintage, from all over the world. An affinity for aircraft and flying have provided many opportunities to fly with talented civilian and military pilots in a wide selection of fixed wing and rotary aircraft. While Jeff finds jets to be supremely exciting, nothing beats the sublime sound or primal feeling of a piston-driven Rolls Royce Merlin V12 in a vintage P51 Mustang. The second epic novel in the series, Wings of Steele - Flight of Freedom, is currently in production with two more planned beyond that.

Product Details

• File Size: 1142 KB
• Print Length: 439 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0615692885
• Publisher: Jeffrey J Burger; 1.05 edition (January 27, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0072QWTK4
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,790 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent value February 22, 2012

By R. David Morris

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I strongly recommend this book. I would rate the writing as comparable to Evan Currie or Thomas DePrima. Jeff Burger could benefit from a professional editor, that would help tie up the one major loose end and tighten things up. Given that editor and a little practice I could see him moving into the ranks of Weber and Ringo.

A few minor spelling errors but the only real annoying one is 'lose vs loose'. He uses them backwards, otherwise there are few of the first time author spelling and punctuation errors.

Now to the plot. The first quarter of the book is fairly slow. It starts like Ringo easing into a techno thriller but a little slower. I definitely was wondering if this was a spy novel or science fiction. Then a section that went slow that reminded me of a Heinlein or Norton YA novel only with some hard R to soft X scenes. At this point the foundation is laid and the story begins to remind me of DePrima's A Galaxy Unknown as the pace picks up. I hope I did not spoil anything for you and that you will make it through the slow beginning to where the story really takes off.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, however suffers the fate of virtually all self-published authors March 4, 2012

By Jon M. Van Wassenhove

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ok, let me start out by saying that the story was very, very entertaining. I'm more drawn to the high-techno sci-fi stories, so this was, as far as my tastes go, a tad different. The characters were decently developed, although, several could definitely use some more background developing. The story itself was fairly fast-paced and kept me pretty well entertained. I honestly had a hard time putting my Kindle down once I started reading.

So why did I rate it only as 3 stars rather than 4 or 5 if I liked it so much. Let me explain. I don't know if the author reads the reviews here, but I really, really hope he does. Like I stated in my review title, Mr. Burger's story suffers the same fate of virtually all self-published books here on Amazon. There's serious typos throughout the story, such as "you're" when it should've been "your", misspelled words, words being hyphenated when there's no need (such as "dis-jointed" rather than "disjointed") and double words (such as "there there" instead of just a singular "there"), among others. And please, please, please...if you're going to talk about a location or a famous person in the past, please ensure you're using correct spellings (in this case talking about Wyatt Earp--spelled "Wyatt Erp"--and Langley--spelled "Langly" in the story). Nit-picking? Perhaps. But considering how often/famous both are, I consider it a bit of laziness on the author's part in not getting both spelled correctly. Also, the author SERIOUSLY needs to read up on proper comma and capitalization usage. The story was riddled throughout with both errors...badly. The worst of the two is the improper comma usage; it makes the story hard to read since the sentences don't flow as they should. And as one of the previous reviewers stated...there's one major loose end pertaining to one of the major characters in the story.

So...in summary...very good and entertaining story. It just seriously needs some polishing. I hope Mr. Burger reads the reviews and takes this criticism as constructive. Please, for the love of all that's holy, get a proof-reader. Nothing will kill a story, and fan following for that matter, faster than when the story looks like a high-schooler wrote the story as a last-minute assignment for English class. Fix these problems and the story is EASILY a 4 or 5-star rating. Aside from these problems, I'm looking for the next book in the "Wings of Steele" saga (assuming, that is, there are more books planned for it).

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A good reason to own a Kindle March 29, 2012

By Paul K

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the last year or so, I have gotten in the habit of writing reviews of books that I have read on Kindle. Sometimes good (not as often as I would like) and sometimes bad (like the author who wrote a so-so book with over 250 spelling and grammar errors!!!).

I like sci-fi military so Wings of Steele caught my eye and I purchased it. I give it a one word review - Excellent! If I have to include a negative it would be that so far there is only one book from Mr. Burger.

Side note to Mr. Burger: Please do NOT find something else to occupy your spare hours until you add another book for us to enjoy.

More About the Author

Jeffrey J Burger was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, moving to the Gulf Coast of Florida at the age of 28, where he still lives today with his German Shepherd, Fritz. Jeff returns to Chicago on a regular basis to visit family and friends.

Originally drawn to law enforcement like his father and uncle, Jeff's extremely creative nature drove him toward a rewarding career in photography, illustration, design, marketing and advertising. With the successful launch of his first book; Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown, he has been able to add writing and publishing to his repertoire.

Jeff's choice in career and life in Florida have offered some truly unique experiences which he continues to enjoy. A certified NRA Instructor, Jeff has worked with civilians, Military Personnel and Law Enforcement Officers from many agencies. This has afforded him the opportunity to regularly handle and become proficient with firearms of all types, new and vintage, from all over the world.

An affinity for aircraft and flying have provided many opportunities to fly with talented civilian and military pilots in a wide selection of fixed wing and rotary aircraft. While Jeff finds jets to be supremely exciting, nothing beats the sublime sound or primal feeling of a piston-driven Rolls Royce Merlin V12 in a vintage P51 Mustang.

For more information about Jeff Burger and the Wings of Steele book series, please visit: www.wingsofsteele.com