Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099198711 ISBN 13: 9780099198710

Publisher: Pocket Star Books, 1995

A war-weary Navy pilot confronts the deadly skies of the South Pacific, training Marine pilots and battling Soviets MiGs in the wake of the Vietnam War Fighter pilot Jake Grafton is adrift following combat in Vietnam. With no place in the States to call home, Grafton sticks to what he knows best: taking on the world’s most treacherous skies from the cockpit of a Grumman A-6 Intruder. Now, stationed in the South Pacific on the U.S.S. Columbia, Grafton must teach the Marines aboard the art of flying from an aircraft carrier—a mission that, thanks to the unruly Marine Captain Le Beau, is as joyless as it is dangerous. But when an unexpected enemy appears from above, Grafton and Le Beau must put aside their differences and work together to save the lives of all onboard.

About the Author:

Stephen Coonts (b. 1946) was born in Buckhannon, West Virginia. He is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight thriller and nonfiction titles, including The Intruders, The Minotaur, Under Siege, The Red Horseman, and The Cannibal Queen. A combat pilot in the Vietnam War, Coonts’s technical knowledge of aviation and warfare has contributed to the enormous popularity of his novels. The author currently divides his time between his home in Colorado and a farm in West Virginia, where he does much of his writing.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Picking up where they left off in Flight of the Intruder (1986), Coonts and his inimitable Navy flyboy, Lt. Jake Grafton, coast on autopilot in this turgid novel of stick-and-rudder derring-do. Long on jargon, acronyms, and technical descriptions but short on actual storytelling, the saga begins in the days following the 1973 US pullback from Vietnam. On leave, Jake pays a visit to best gal Callie McKenzie's home. Callie's pop, a station wagon liberal embittered by the crippling injuries sustained in battle by his son, Theron, has a heated debate with the usually dovish Jake, precipitating an angry flight to a local watering hole. A few glasses later, Jake overhears a drunk taunting a crippled vet and launches the loudmouth through a window. To escape legal reprisal, our hero gladly accepts his first peacetime assignment: instructing Marine pilots in the manly art of carrier-based flying aboard the USS Columbia. Here's where the eponymous A-6 Intruder attack aircraft comes in, and any semblance of plot departs. Sure, there are many new characters: Hugh Skidmore, aka The Real McCoy, a sassy Navy instructor who plays the stock market; Jake's navigator, ``Flap'' LeBeau, a wisdom-spouting Afro-American Marine; and other types running the gamut from fun-loving to psychotic. But action mainly consists of A-6 crews endlessly executing noncombat maneuvers at sea. A difficult task to be sure, but not interesting enough to hold together a novel. In fact, with the exception of a running subplot featuring a ``line-in-the-sand'' conflict with the nearby Soviet fleet and Jake and Flap's bold escape from gunrunners near the story's end, Coonts's narrative style very closely resembles a commander's log--sans command. Those hale enough to finish this muddled flight manual cum novel in one sitting will likely possess enough knowledge about the A-6 to fly one in their sleep. A good thing, since the book certainly won't keep them awake. (First printing of 225,000; author tour) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.