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3.0 out of 5 stars
thin Brown, Feb 15 2004
In "Wings", Dale Brown's perrenial hero Pat Mclanahan returns to action in Libya. "Wings" follows a virtual series of books starring Mclanahan and his crew of go-anywhere, do-anything-it-takes air warriors. In his last book "Warrior Class", Mclanahan had been involuntarily retired from the air force due to his efforts to nab a power-mad international criminal named Pavel Kazakov. In league with the Russians, Kazakov tried to engineer a war in the Balkans to enhance the profitability of his petroleum, money-laundering and narcotics enterprises. In protective custody in "Wings" Kazakov is nevertheless on a new venture - this one involving a power-mad Libyan who traces his lineage to the pre-Quaddafi regime that ruled Libya. Nobody really believes that Jadalla Zuwayy is really the true king of Libya, but he is treated as if they did - especially the pilots, soldiers and generals who stand poised to invade oil-rich Egypt on his orders. Susan Harris, a beautiful American married to the soon-assassinated Egyptian president, tries every trick she can hold off crazed Zuwayy (Egypt's forces greatly out-strip those of Libya, but the latter possesses a huge supply of neutron bombs that can make everybody losers). The only hope is McLanahan and his crew. Armed with futuristic weapons designed and built by the Skymasters corporation, and assigned clandestinely by a covert organization known as "Nightcrawlers" (and headed by former president Kevin Martindale), Mclanahan goes into battle with next-generation stealth bombers and combat suits likely inspired by Sigourney Weaver's power-loaded from "Aliens". Unfortunately, bad luck strikes - and some of the Nightcrawlers fall prisoner during an ill-fated hunt in Libya for WMD. Trouble is compounded when the survivors find themselves in Egypt, where loyalties are divided. Back in the USA, the Thorn administration struggles with how to respond to the growing unrest in North Africa and with how it will deal with the McLanahan. (The Nightcrawlers may take Uncle Sam's best interest to heart, but they don't take his orders - and they face criminal prosecution for their unauthorized activities; Thorn himself typiefies the opposite of previous administrations - he pulls out all but a shell of US forces from overseas stations, and refuses to commit them anywhere unless foreign leaders can get their own populations to accept their presence). Meanwhile, the Skymasters company struggles to perfect a powerful laser-weapon that can be carried in a refitted B-52 bomber. Their latest secret weapon however proves to be a nine year old girl who knows a thing or two about plasma lasers and parallel universes.A Dale Brown novel is a lot like one of those family get-togethers: you go to these things about once a year, and with some subtle variations, each one is pretty much like the one you survived the year before. We've still got power-mad dogs, craven US politicians, tons of high-tech and some big battles. Although the storyline spills directly from "Warrior Class", "Wings" has fewer than its share of references to older Brown novels. The villains are as unconvincing as ever (idiots who believe their own lies) and speak in the least plausible dialog. The technology seems compelling, but if you really wanted to learn about plasma lasers, would you really make a bee-line for the nearest Dale Brown tome? For the rest of us, Brown's technobabble may remind us that we studied so hard in high-school because we never wanted to hear that kind of droning again. Despite its title, "Wings" may have the least emphasis on what actually happens inside a fighting warplane than any other Brown novel. Instead, Brown concentrates his emphasis on the "Tin Man" battle armor - motorized exo-skeletons that turn individual soldiers into walking tanks. It's an idea that comes at the expense of his interest in military aviation that probably attracted Brown fans to novels like "Flight of the Old Dog" and "Day of the Cheetah", but the new technology is far too exotic to substantiate his story. Instead, "Wings" is thin and unsatisfying.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Stretched, May 20 2003
Unhappily, the writer here, who is very good with technical
details and predictions of future weaponry, takes it a bit too
far.
In this story of the new US warrior class, mainly consisting of
former US military now operating for a private company, the
heroes take on a ruthless, vicious dictator of a new Libya,
and they engage in some serious warfare in that part of the world.
While making war against the new Libya, they encounter various
heroes and villains in Egypt as well, and that adds a depth of
story that is usually engaging and informative.
But the writer stretches our imagination a little too much
in this one. Among his new characters is a 9-yr-old girl
who helps, happily, design fearsome new weapons, and whose
genius with computer technology, as well as the highest forms
of physics, goes beyond genius, and that character seems more
science-fiction than anything else. So it is difficult to relate to that character and her contributions to the story.
In addition, one of the leading characters is an American woman
who becomes the President of Egypt, then the leader of a neo-
Muslim fanatical organization intent on pushing Westerners out
of the Arab world. She is also former US military and a non-Muslim, who converts for the purpose of leading this pan-Arab
colition, so the stretch here is also a little too much to accept as part of the story.
There is just too much of a "science-fiction" feel to this story
to really be a good novel.And, as usual, coupled with that tugging on our imagination,
the writer inundates us with military jargon, so it is a bit
difficult to follow.
Tough going for most readers.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
This is Dale Brown...but just, Mar 26 2003
Dale Brown has written another entry in the adventures of Patrick "Muck" MacLachan. This time they are fighting the Libyans with background assistance from Pavel Kazarov, the villian from the previous book.On the positive side, Brown is excellent in describing the action, especially in the air. However, once he lands on the ground and starts in with dialogue, he is in trouble. Foreigners sound like Americans, with American slang and cadence, as opposed to how they really talk. There are also plot points that are so big, you could fly a B-52 through them. Characters seem to appear in various locations like magic, without reliance on reality. Also, Brown kills off a number of recurring characters for no reason and without remorse. Brown is capable of writing better than he does here. I hope his next effort is better.
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