About the Author

Dale Brown was a much decorated US Air Force Captain aboard B-52s and FB111 fighter bombers, and participated in numerous top secret tests and exercises held to simulate an actual strategic war. He became a recognised expert on air warfare and appeared on American TV as a commentator during the Gulf War.

Only a man with Dale Brown’s background could provide the detailed authenticity that makes his novels such compulsive reading.

Reviews

It is not the Reagan Administration that has secretly been developing a Strategic Defense Initiative in this first book by retired USAF Captain Brown, but the Soviets, and as soon as the system comes on line, the Russians flagrantly attack American intelligence and military craft with their laser weapon. The President and his advisors appeal to the UN Security Council; they even dispatch sophisticated B-1 bombers and a new, armed space satellite, but both are thwarted, and the U.S. is left dangerously incapable of detecting a missile launch from the eastern U.S.S.R. Desperate, they decide to send a souped-up veteran B-52 bomber, the Old Dog, and its expert navigator Patrick McLanahan on a crucial mission into Siberia to neutralize the death ray. Brown knows his airborne and naval high-tech equipment and the cockpit bantering of crews, and can tell a basically interesting story. He does not, however, examine the frightening political consequences of the superpowers trading shots. The novel's excitement is essentially that of a boy's adventure fantasy rather than the well-realized suspense of a credible thriller. 75,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections; Military Book Club selection; author tour. (June 23)

A U.S. spy plane and a space-based missile defense satellite are taken out by a Soviet laser, bringing tensions between Washington and Moscow to the breaking point. A suped-up B-52 piloted by Gen. Brad Elliot, with Patrick McLanahan in the crew, takes out the laser. This work from the late 1980s, the first of Brown's many thrillers, has no end of action and detail. Richard Allen reads with great enthusiasm and energy; his narrative is quite good, clear and expressive. The dialog is also performed well overall. For public libraries.-Michael T. Fein, Central Virginia Community Coll., Lynchburg Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.