Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3314148 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 344 pages

About the Author
Stephen Coonts is a former naval aviator who flew combat missions during the Vietnam War. His previous novels have been worldwide bestsellers. A former attorney, he resides with his wife and son in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Customer Reviews

'The Intruders' reviewed
Whoa you say! 5 stars for a comparatively unheard of author. I kid you not; along with 'Flight of the Intruder', which precedes 'The Intruders', these are two of the finest war books i have read. Stephen Coonts really knows how to deliver the goods when on home territory (i get the impression that a very large proportion of the events in both books are based on reality. Coonts is less impressive when handling pure fiction. See 'The Minotaur; 'Fortunes of War' etc)

The basic premise of 'The Intruders' is this; Jake Grafton, the main character of the book has been assigned to teach the marines all that he knows about aircraft carrier flying. To do this he is placed on board an aircraft carrier that the marines use. This is his reward for getting into a fight with a civilian during shore leave. To say he is not overly enamoured of the idea is to put it mildly...

Mr Grafton is also experiencing major problems with his girlfriend, more specifically parental disapproval of his occupation. In short, Jake Grafton's life is a mess at this point.

So, in the book we see Jake learning to handle the stresses of working with the marines, in particulary his new flying partner Flap le Beau. Grafton is also considering leaving the military, with his role in bombing civilians durign the Vietnam war preying on his mind to a degree.

Why is this book so good? Difficult to say exactly, but Coonts has a concise, non-verbiose way of communicating, and for that reason the plot rattles along at a fair rate. The characters, plot settings and set pieces are believable, as is the dialogue. Most of all the way the book 'reads' is its main plus point; it is very difficult to put down.The main problem with this book is that it is just too short (although it can be read and re-read many times).

Buy and read this book. It is an essential purchase.

An interesting insite into an action packed mundane life.
Having only read one Stephen Coonts book previously (Under Seige) I approached this with a fairly open mind as to what to expect. This book is certainly quite different to Under Seige, although featuring the same character, Jake Grafton, Intruders is more of a 'Fly on the Wall' insight into life on a US aircraft carrier rather than the usual action packed thriller.
It is this interesting insight that makes the book thoroughly compelling. The author has taken actual incidents on carriers and woven them together to give the plot plenty of exciting moments to balance the impression of mundane repetition on board the ship. I get the feeling Coonts has written a book here as much for himself as for his many fans, and its obvious he uses much from his own experiences in the military to give the plot plenty of authentic detail.
Although I think this may disappoint some looking for the standard techno thriller, I found it both enjoyable and very interesting.
4 stars.

Read as a Trillogy
I cannot comment or this book, without considering the the books before and after it, they are awesome. A must read for all Stephen Coonts fans, Jake grafton, his early years. From the non stop action in the skies of Vietnam as well as life on board a carrier in combat (Flight of the Intruder), to a year(almost) in the life of a pilot on a carrier, cruising the seas, (The Intruders) through to the intense techno-thriller thriller (Final Flight). These three book, should be classed as a trillogy, with five star tagged onto it. Trully awesome.