Product Description

The high-adrenalin new Patrick McLanahan adventure from the bestselling author of Flight of the Old Dog and Air Battle Force. Stuck in a desk job in Air Force Intelligence, maverick pilot Patrick McLanahan uncovers disturbing evidence that the Russians are secretly arming their bomber fleet with nuclear warheads. Worse still, he realises that despite the lessons of 9/11 the USA is still vulnerable to air attack by a determined enemy. But his warnings come too late. A flight of Russian bombers penetrate American airspace and launch devastating nuclear attacks on key air bases. As panic grips the country, McLanahan takes matters into his own hands and slips into Russia with the elite Air Battle Force rapid-response team -- to strike back at the heart of the Russian bomber fleet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #312386 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Review
'The best military adventure writer in the country.' Clive Cussler 'Clancy's got serious company.' New York Daily News 'When a former pilot with years of experience turns his hand to writing thrillers you can take their authenticity for granted. His writing is exceptional and the dialogue, plots and characters are first-class! far too good to be missed.' Sunday Mirror 'Brown puts us into the cockpits of wonderful machines and gives us quite a ride. His flying sequences are terrific ! authentic and gripping.' New York Times Book Review

Clive Cussler
'Brown is the best military adventure writer in the country - a master'

About the Author
Former US Air Force captain Dale Brown was born in Buffalo, New York. He was still serving in the US Air Force, where he was a navigator-bombardier, when he wrote his first thriller, Flight of the Old Dog. His most recent novels are The Tin Man, Battle Born, Warrior Class, Wings of Fire and Air Battle Force.

Customer Reviews

Better than expected
I must confess that I'm turning into a bit of a Dale Brown fan.

The plot revolves around Russia attacking America is one which I'm sure some will think is outdated. Certainly, my first thoughts were that this would be similar to Red Storm Rising.

I enjoyed this book a lot and is probably one of my favourites from the author. Its been a while since I've stayed up half the night reading, just to see what happens next!

My only criticism and the reason I have not given it a 5 star rating is that I found the ending to be disappointing and somewhat unimaginative. I don't want to say more in case I ruin it for others. Overall though it is a good book.

Plan of attack - wow
I read a review on amazon stating how it was thought the subject of this book was old hat and needed bringing up to date.I can watch news channels to see the facts --- I read fiction, although somewhat believable fiction - I want taking out of the "up to date current affairs stuff" and Dale Brown does just that - Dale Brown takes you right up there with him you can imagine youself flying alongside him and believing that his ideas for hitech airplanes could some day be "current affairs". I personally thought it was an excellent book, I have searched for some time to find an author that can keep me on the edge of my seat, figuratively speaking, and now I 've found him. Its just a pity some of his older works are difficult to obtain.

Stuck in the past.
Reading the last two Dale Brown books, Air Battle Force & Plan of Attack, I was struck by a horrible sense of time going backwards. In an age when the headlines are filled with stories of Al Quaeda threats, the ongoing occupation of Iraq and Russian billionaires buying premiership football teams or car companies it felt odd to read stories where a resurgent Russia poses a nuclear threat to the USA. It was almost as if I was reading a book written in the early eighties.

Sure, the technology is up to date; beyond it in some cases, but the plot reeks of mothballs. Russian hardliners threatening the West with nuclear armageddon was done with the film the Crimson Tide back in 1995. Its also a case of been there read that when it comes to airborne weapon systems, with everything from Firefox to the last Dale Brown book featuring some sort of super plane. At a time when all the talk in the press is of cutbacks to conventional weapon systems such as bombers and fighters and investment in smart weapons and intelligence gathering to fight terrorism Brown's pilotless bombers and underground base just seemed a bit old hat.

All of which is a shame, because Dale Brown is a good thriller writer; Battle Born was excellent. He just needs to move things on in the world he has created. We don't necessarily want ultra-realism; CNN and other news channels provide enough of that, but at least a nod to current events would help ground his work and make it easier to suspend our disbelief when the Tin Men come jetting in once more.