Punk's Fight Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"Punk's Fight" the third installment in a series about an F-14 fighter pilot, is quite possibly the best. The whole series is consistent in that it describes life in an F-14 squadron like you were there... but this book takes it to another level.
It begins where "Punk's Wing" left off... during Operation Enduring Freedom, when the main characters were carrying out strike missions over Afghanistan... and the first section of the book carries on with this narrative. This part, the most similar to the previous novels, describes the personal conflicts within the air wing (an antagonist from the first novel returns), the practical jokes that aviators carry out on each other and the mixed feelings that fighting a "video game war" causes.
When Punk gets shot down, this all changes. What follows is Harold Coyle one better, an odyssey through war-torn Afghanistan, where Punk meets CIA agents, warlords, and special operations troops, all characters that leap off the pages and were probably based off real people that Carroll met.
The life of Punk is wrought from Carroll's experience- he was an F-14 RIO- but the gross majority of the book truly expresses his talent in that it is a product of research on his behalf and is still so realistic. He describes the sights, sounds, and (yes) smells of life in Afghanistan like he was there. And that is just a few reasons why this is one of the greatest thrillers written... and I have read quite a few.
Coonts has moved on to action-style thrillers... Carroll has more than replaced him as the definitive author of aviation thrillers.

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Former fighter pilot Ward Carroll packs enough action and honesty to satisfy readers, critics, and Navy veterans alike. On a mission over Central Afghanistan, Punk is hit-and taken captive. After he escapes, the challenge isn't over. Because now Punk must navigate through the war-torn country to face a world of resistance fighters, warlords, CIA undercover ops, and corrupt officers on both sides of the fray...

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Black Star Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I found the plot of "Black Star" pretty unrealistic, but it was audacious enough that I'm giving the book four stars.
The story starts a bit slow, but the last half of the book makes up for it, with many exciting descriptions of military conflicts. Character development is not all that great, but above average for a techno-thriller.
The best parts of the book are the fantastic descriptions of aerial dogfights and naval battles. Surprisingly, I thought that some of the battle scenes between various Taiwanese and Chinese naval vessels were more exciting than the aerial shoot-outs. Robert Gandt is good at making both kinds of combat scenes come alive.
My criticism about the lack of realism in the plot concerns the mission launched by the U.S. and Taiwanese military to steal an advanced Chinese stealth fighter. This sounds pretty crazy to me - I'm sure that in a real wartime situation that the allied forces would decide to simply destroy this aircraft. After all, the Chinese built this airplane using plans (stolen from the USA) for a corresponding American airplane. Why risk major loses trying to steal military "secrets" that you already have?
Still, it's an audacious undertaking and the story of how the mission works out is very exciting.
Another plus point is that there is some humor in the story. For example, there's an Air Force Major who fills the role of providing comic relief.
On the other hand, an additional minus point is that a totally unnecessary extra conflict takes place in the last chapter.
If you like military techno-thrillers about naval warfare in general and especially about naval aviation then I'd like to recommend this book.
Rennie Petersen

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Commander Brick Maxwell and his squadron of Super Hornets are flying cover for the President of Taiwan's jetliner when it mysteriously explodes and falls from the sky.Other than a slight shimmer of light preceding the catastrophe, there is no visible cause for the disaster.But ex-test pilot and astronaut Maxwell suspects that China has somehow acquired the technology of the U.S.'s most secret weapon — the superstealth fighter called Black Star.As war erupts between China and Taiwan, Maxwell and a team of commandos must hijack the exotic Chinese killing machine .But with a beautiful defector of dubious loyalty guiding them, the mission could turn into a death trap.

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