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.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Punk's Fight

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...

Click here for more information about Punk's Fight

Read More...

Nerve Center (Dreamland, No. 2) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am an avid Dale Brown fan. I was excited to read Dreamland Nerve center. I was quite disappointed. I am not sure how much input Mr. Brown had on this project but it would be better if he took his name off of it. It was stale, predicatble and very cheesy. I think the characters are good but the only person who would actually enjoy reading this is a female highschool wall flower. It should be displayed in the cheap romance novel catagory. The next book in the Dreamland series can be nothing but better than this one. I will give Dreamland another chance because I like Mr. Brown. But, that being said, I can only take so much cheap romance.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Nerve Center (Dreamland, No. 2)

Click here for more information about Nerve Center (Dreamland, No. 2)

Read More...

Air Battle Force Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've read every single one of Mr. Brown's books and this one is by far the weakest. Still good though but not his best. It was nice to see old characters like General Furness and Colonel Mace. But Thorn has to go. Hopefully he gets ousted from office in the next book. The plot in this one is kinda a weak but it seems to set up the next book nicely. (A war with Russia?) The robot planes are totally unbelieveable though. It breaks my heart to see Mr. Brown, a former navigator himself, take the real heros out of the picture. Whats the fun in flying if your gonna do it from the ground? A lot seems to be missing from Air Battle Force. But hopefully its just a set up for the next one.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Air Battle Force

Click here for more information about Air Battle Force

Read More...

Larry Bond's Red Dragon Rising: Shadows of War Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The first thing I thought when I ordered the book was that it would be similar to the famous Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising" which I still believe is one of the best military fiction books written in the last 30 years. In this book, Larry Bond and Jim Defelice take on the idea that the ecological situation (global warming) leads to China in a desperate situation with the need to expand its borders or die due to emerging farming problems and other problems. As the Chinese army begins to move towards war with Vietnam a few Americans are dragged along for the ride. I didn't dislike the book, but I thought the book took way too long to really get started and I never cared much for the Americans caught in the middle between China and Vietnam and just didn't get into the dialogue or the whole plot.
Again, it's not a bad read, but it's not what I hoped it would be. Apparently, this book is just one of a trilogy(?) and hopefully the action picks up in the next books in the series. It's worth reading, but I can only give it 3 of stars.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Larry Bond's Red Dragon Rising: Shadows of War

Get 27% OFF

Click here for more information about Larry Bond's Red Dragon Rising: Shadows of War

Read More...

Dancing with the Dragon Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I had a real high stress job in the '80's and the late '80's and I decided to go back to one of my first loves, reading. I hadn't read a novel in years and I was literally, killing myself. So I picked up Joe Weber's "Rules of Engagement." My recollection of it was that it was a little superficial but good plotting. Trouble was, I hadn't read a book in 10 years. So by that standard it was "War and Peace" meets "Tale of Two Cities" with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" thrown in.
Since that time I have probably read 50 books a year but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Joe Weber.
Well Joe, we're even. I don't know where you were going with "Dancing with the Dragon," but you didn't get there.
PLOT: Confusing. I lost track of what ocean I was in, what frigate I was chasing, who was flying what and what type of aircraft was being flown.C
INFERENCE: I was uncomfortable with the racism, but more importantly, I was uncomfortable with the assumption that all Chinese were evil or drunk or drunk and evil, politicians are fat, and that there are two ex-military pilots that are on a first name basis with the Secretary of Defense, State, NSC and the President.C-
DIALOGUE:I think that the characters should be allowed to report what has happened and what they are going to do about it, once in awhile for the reader's benefit. This is a good way to keep the characters, the reader and the writer figuratively and literally on the same page.
But every page we have these silly conversations between Scott and "whatever she is to him" on why this happened, what could have happened, why what could have happened didn't happen and what they're going to do about it." This is really exceptionally tedious. D
CHARACTERS: Come on. I kind of like Spenser and Susan where they go into the bedroom and the next scene we see is that pathetic dog sleeping on the bed with them and Susan is sighing and Spenser is trying to reach over to the bedstand to turn on the Red Sox game. 'Nuff said. We're all adults. We don't need a schematic.
But Scott and Jackie? Do they like eachother? Do they kiss? Do they sleep together? How about a really hot tango? Something. The two of them have got to be the most un-fun, robotic couple since Ward and June Cleaver.F
CONCEPT: Hey. Chinese holograms at 30 and 40 thousand feet fooling any number of Air Force and Navy pilots with engineering degrees and letters in physics. I don't think so.
But the laser beam that blows up spacecraft has some merit. I think Flash Gordon and Dr. Zharkoff got wacked that way in the 1930's. D
Sorry. I'd like to tell you what it was about but I'm just not sure.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Dancing with the Dragon

Click here for more information about Dancing with the Dragon

Read More...

Revolution (Dale Brown's Dreamland) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The story line is ok, same old, same old mostly. The strength as always is the technological imagination and imaginative battles. Unfortunately, the research and writing (and copy editing) have gotten so sloppy as to be disracting. Several times in the first few pages "criteria" is used as a singular noun (ie, the criteria is...). Biceps is parsed to bicep, as if that makes it singular, and, most amusingly, during a scene at a Lakers' game, Kobe Bryant banks in a foul shot to win the game. I'm pretty sure Kobe has never banked in a foul shot intentionally. All in all, a lazy effort.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Revolution (Dale Brown's Dreamland)


The masters of astonishing military technology that enables them to deploy almost instantaneously to any part of the Earth, the Dreamland team must now stop a dangerous revolution in the making in Eastern Europe—wherea mysterious group of insurgents has blown up an essential pipeline, thereby disrupting Europe's gas supply. With NATO and the EU paralyzed by the crisis, it falls to Dreamland's best and brightest to keep the world from the brink of another Cold War. But the secret hand of an old enemy is pulling the strings from the shadows, hoping to reap the rewards of chaos. And the devastating results could erupt with intense, white-hot fury.

Click here for more information about Revolution (Dale Brown's Dreamland)

Read More...

Area 51: The Reply Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This second novel in the Area 51 series is another action-packed, suspenseful read. The story begins where the first novel ended. The familiar characters thought their problems would be over once they brought down Majic-12 and succeeded in averting disaster in the form of an alien attack; in fact, their problems have just begun. The "guardian" discovered under Easter Island has sent out a message into space, and very soon scientists detect a reply message coming from--ta da, the Cydonia region of Mars. This story starts a little slow, hampered somewhat by the need for the author to refresh the memories of those having read the first book. The message from Mars says the aliens are coming to earth with peaceful intentions, but Mike Turcotte, Lisa Duncan, Professor Nabinger, and Kelly Reynolds must determine if that is true. New alien sites are being discovered, with the two most important being in an ancient Chinese mountain tomb and in Africa's Great Rift Valley. Our heroes rush all over the planet, gaining access to the two main alien sites by way of some thrilling commando-raid actions. They get some assistance from an entirely new secret group called STAAR, a group even Majic-12 knew nothing about. Racing to get more information, our heroes must determine whether or not the aliens on their way from Mars are indeed the friendly ancient astronauts who helped save the earth thousands of years earlier or if they are members of the rebel group that mutinied against the ancient mission and remain intent on destroying our planet.
With this book, the standard type of government conspiracy ideas give way to novel new suggestions and possibilities. The reader joins the characters in trying to figure out who everyone is, who they are working for, and whether or not their intentions are peaceful. The addition of a new ultra-secret group beyond Majic-12 is complicated by the fact that the members appear and act differently than normal human beings. Some readers may not like the final few chapters because the reader is being constantly thrown back and forth between different events, but I felt this did much to add to the suspense of the concluding pages. I most enjoyed the description of covert forces activities; I have no way of knowing how true to life the author's descriptions are, but they do engross the reader in their details (especially when the inevitable major problems pop up to endanger the missions). After a slow start, the author really puts his hooks into you by the halfway point, making this a book you don't want to put down. It doesn't really matter that the whole future of earth is in the hands of a special forces officer, archaeologist, and political appointee of a President who is rarely heard from in the story, or that a lowly reporter has basic carte blanche access to the heart of the ultra-secret Area 51 headquarters. The author knows how to tell a story, and he continually injects mystery and suspense into a story that could easily have become stale in the hands of a lesser writer. Two books into the series, the story continues to grow even more interesting and enjoyable.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Area 51: The Reply

Area 51 was the most secret place in America. But it was only one piece in a puzzle that stretched from Egypt's Pyramids to the mysterious face on Mars...Part of a plan begun 5,000 years ago by those who had been here before. And are coming back.When scientist Lisa Duncan and Special Forces officer Mike Turcotte uncovered the stunning truth about Area 51--a "training area" on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada--they opened up a Pandora's box kept hidden from the American public for fifty years.What they uncovered explained decades of UFO sightings--and the most baffling mysteries of history from the Great Pyramid to Easter Island.But these findings were only the beginning. Now a signal had come in from outer space: our first contact with extraterrestrials. The message said they were coming. It didn't say they had been here before...and left something behind. But what waited deep within the Rift Valley of Ethiopia and inside an ancient Chinese tomb would determine Earth's fate. The dawning of a new age. Or the destruction of us all... Robert Doherty is a pseudonym for a bestselling writer of military suspense thrillers. He is also the author of Area 51 and The Rock, and is currently working on a third novel in the Area 51 series, entitled Area 51: The Mission.

Click here for more information about Area 51: The Reply

Read More...

Marine One Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Americans are fascinated by aircraft crashes, NTSB investigations and the high stakes litigation that follows the crash. But Jim Huston, an internationally prominent lawyer in this field, has really ramped up the excitement in Marine One. The aircraft that crashes is no ordinary plane. It's Marine One, the President's helicopter, and the President is killed when it crashes. But Huston doesn't stop there. There is international intrique, a Congressional inquiry, State Department meddling, a deadly conspiracy to thwart the efforts of anyone getting close to discovering the true cause of the crash of Marine One and, just for the heck of it, a few lawyers who may or may not be dishonest. The end product is a sensational novel!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Marine One

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Marine One

Read More...

The Tom Clancy Companion (Revised) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Tom Clancy Companion is absolutely vital to any and all Tom Clancy fans, because it contains references to every character and weapon, every piece of equipment used in Clancy's novel, plus much more such as in-depth interviews with Tom Clancy ("TC"), and essays by TC on issues such as nuclear proliferation and gun control. The book also contains detailed summarires and cririques of TC's books. The only thing is that The TC Companion was written in 1991 so it only encompasses the Clancy universe up to and including The Sum of All Fears,which means there is obviously no reference to Without Remorse, Debt of Honor, Executive Orders, his non-fiction works or the Op-Center series. Which makes me ask: WHEN IS THE 2ND EDITION OF THE TOM CLANCY COMPANION GONNA BE WRITTEN

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Tom Clancy Companion (Revised)

Completely revised, updated, and expanded-the ultimate book for Tom Clancy fans.Here, with Tom Clancy's cooperation and approval, is a fascinating, in-depth look at his powerful and influential work.This newly revised, updated, and expanded guide features: - Information on his blockbuster novels, bestselling series, and major motion pictures- Clancy's controversial essays on current issues- A complete, updated concordance-a comprehensive, alphabetical guide to Clancy's characters, weapons, hardware, and more

Click here for more information about The Tom Clancy Companion (Revised)

Read More...

Primary Target Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Never having read Joe Weber before I was a little dubious about the chance of his stories living up to other techno-military authors. Joe's book was gripping from the beginning page, excellently written with a story line that given todays global issues could certainly become true. Get this book today and you will not be disappointed!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Primary Target

Click here for more information about Primary Target

Read More...

Defcon One Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Joe Weber's debut is a good military techno-thriller that is just a little too rough to be a real winner. Basically it's a World War III novel, with the Soviet Union against the United States. This plot has been attempted by many authors, including Tom Clancy, Harold Coyle, Eric L. Harry, and a few others. While the idea is not original, the storyline progresses smoothly and without the tremendous technical details that a lot of readers dislike in Clancy's novels. Weber's characters need some work, however. The leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States are the same stock politicians you find in all the other techno-thrillers. Of course the Soviet General Secretary is an insane dictator, and the American President is unsure about how to fight World War III. The only character who even resembled being dynamic was Steve, the Special Forces guy. Weber's sequel Shadow Flight, which is a little better than DefCon One, also features Steve as a main character. Both books are hard to find, so the library is your best bet if you want to get hold of copies to read. Weber gets better with every book, and his most recent release, Primary Target, was excellent. Your really can't go wrong with his books.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Defcon One

Click here for more information about Defcon One

Read More...