Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just another technothriller..., May 5 2002
I believe I have read this book at least ten times. It simply never gets old to me. Granted, the aviation geek in me loves all the technical details and the way Coonts put me right in the cockpit beside Jake Grafton, but what really keeps me coming back to this book is the amazing job of characterization done here. There is not a single cardboard character in this book- Cowboy Parker, Sammy Lundeen, Jake Grafton, Tiger Cole... the list goes on and on. I can't say enough in favor of this book.Too many other writers would have focused too much on the technical aspects of the writing and not spent enough time making the characters, and not just the machines, real. Coonts, on the other hand, has struck the perfect balance between technical accuracy and glorious storytelling. A must-read in my opinion.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous with Vietnam, Mar 12 2002
This excellent novel took place in Vietnam. As a controversial time for our country, Coonts captured this theme well. The protagonist, a humble, but typical flying ace, Jake Grafton became sick of the war. He was frustrated with losing friends for a cause he didn't understand. He eventually pairs up with a hotshot navigator/bomber, and they fly up to the "no-fly zone" of Vietnam, (Hanoi) to bomb something "important" for a change. Something worth "going for." The ensuing plot is accented by a casual romance with an American girl Jake met in Hong Kong, which eventually develops as a substitute family/friend during the war. Many flying sequences are included, and the majority of the novel is in a combat naval context.Stephen Coonts' first novel, Flight of the Intruder, was superb. A Vietnam flyer himself, Coonts depicted historic naval aviation very accurately and compellingly. Not only did he include accurate and detailed facts about the technological aspect of carrier aviation, but a unique and flowing writing style that captures the reader. His beautiful and simple descriptions of the sky, the sea or flight were powerful and intriguing. Action-packed, well-paced, and worthwhile plotline and cast made this novel the best seller that it was. Anyone at all interested in the military or Vietnam would find this novel to be thought provoking and meaningful.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Greatest Vietnam airwar novel, Jul 11 2001
"Flight of the Intruder" tells the story of Jake Grafton, a young naval aviator respected by his peers but slowly coming apart under the pressures of flying extremely hazardous yet useless missions over hostile territory in Vietnam. (Though carrying more ordinance than any other carrier-based airplane, none of the A-6's weaponry is for defense, and no sidewinders or cannon-shells ever arm the plane). Though the communist north would be hurt by air strikes against its power stations, air fields and harbors, and despite America's capacity to simply erase the country from the map using nuclear weapons, Intruder pilots are sent to fly through heavily defended airspace to bomb probably non-existent targets like "suspected truck parks" and ammo dumps. It's on one of these meaningless missions that Grafton's navigator is killed, and the novel begins with Jake confronting the futility of the war, especially in light of the politically imposed restrictions which put more meaningful targets firmly off limits to Yankee fliers. Short a navigator, Grafton is paired with rotating fillers until being firmly hitched up to the mysterious "Tiger" Cole. While Grafton is one of the Navy's best aviators (shipmates call him "Cool Hand"), Cole has amassed years of experience above him. Between the two of them, their frustration mounts until they plan the inconceivable - an unauthorized bombing of the North's communist party HQ in Hanoi. Resolving to keep the mission a secret, they both know that their discovery is inevitable and that they will have to answer for their actions."Intruders" is easily the greatest novel written about the air war over Vietnam, or anywhere. Coonts creates highly fleshed characters like the laconic Cole, Camparelli, the dedicated CAG, "Razor", "Boxman" and of course, Grafton himself. As a "technothriller" "Intruder" also excels not only on Coonts' thorough knowledge of the A-6 airplane but also his unique ability to work his knowledge into an excellent plot (and not the other way around as you'll see on just about any similar book). What really sets this book apart from similar stories about the airwar is its brave treatment of the political realities of the war - though we've been prepped to despise the Byzantine regulation of the war, the ultimate court battle our heroes face isn'tr afraid to look at the issue from both sides. Grafton's superiors, who'd be clueless buffoons in other books, are allowed to be dedicated and highly experienced officers here. Grafton, on the other hand, is no hero, something Cool-Hand himself would be the first to admit to you. Priceless dialog and a climax that is none-too-pat round out this novel. Avoid the rip-offs (and the movie while you're at it).
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