This is the second novel by Craig Thomas, and the one that he's gotten the most fame from. Thomas gives this book a bigger scale than his first novel, Rat Trap, and his novels would get more epic as they went along.
Set during the cold war, the story invloves a newly-made Russian jet, the MiG-31, codename: Firefox. It has stealth technology, can go speeds up to Mach 5, and has a thought-controlled weapons system. The West knows what a threat this can be, so what do they do? Smuggle the best pilot they can find into the Soviet Union so he can steal it. USAF pilot Mitchell Gant is chosen, dispite his shell-shock from his time as a POW in Vietnam. With the help of Jewish dissidents, Gant must make his way through Russia and hijack the super-plane right under the noses of the Soviets. Throughout the journey Thomas takes us through Gant's unstable psyche.
A great novel from Craig Thomas, but I got a little bit bored with some of the flying scenes. I'm more of a cloak and dagger fan than of high tech stuff, but that's not to say that those parts of the book aren't written well; they are, and Thomas does a great job at not hitting you over the head with his research. And even with the techno stuff he can really put you into the heads of his characters which makes for high tension reading.
Firefox was the only Craig Thomas novel to be adapted into a movie. Clint Eastwood's version, released in 1982, made for a faithful adaptation of the book. Though the special effects of the time are horribly dated by today's standards, Eastwood brought all the suspense of the first half of the book to the screen masterfully. And if it weren't for the film, I wouldn't of ever heard of Craig Thomas and be able to enjoy all of his books.
Craig Thomas also cast Mitchell Gant in three more novels: Firefox Down, Winter Hawk, and A Different War.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 26, 2006
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 7, 2021
For those of us from the cold war era, it is a classic tale of absolute espionage. It's a story that captures the original cold war cat and mouse chase between the West and the East. One side full of "enemies around every corner" and the other using their advisories short falls against them. Though some parts could be written better but if you are looking to read this and follow along with the movie, you will be disappointed. Yes, the movie is good and uses a good portion of the book in it, let your imagination take you on a high speed flight of a lifetime!
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 12, 2014
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 6, 2015
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 3, 2022
If this is "very good" condition, I'd hate to see their "bad condition"
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 3, 2022
Book was rated as "very good" condition, however it was falling apart. The binding was nearly completely removed and pages were falling out
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 3, 2022
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 9, 2014
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 28, 2018
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Classic 80s technothriller from one of the originators of the genre
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 10, 2022P. Higgins
"Just fly that damn airplane out of Russia!"
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 19, 2018
