Customer Reviews

With Hostile Intent

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Robert Gandt's first fictional book is very good, and I'm looking forward to reading the other books about "Brick" Maxwell, the U.S. Navy pilot who is the hero of "With Hostile Intent". I'm a sucker for techno-thrillers that focus on naval aviation, and Robert Gandt does a great job of writing about life on an aircraft carrier and what it's like to be a pilot of an F/A-18 Hornet.

The story takes place in the Middle East, with the U.S. Navy (and U.S. and British Air Forces) enforcing the "no fly zone" over southern Iraq. The year is 2000, 10 years after Desert Storm but before the Iraq war in 2003, so Saddam Hussein is still in power and playing the role of super bad guy.

The major conflicts in "With Hostile Intent" are, however, not the ones between the U.S. and Iraqi forces. Instead, we have several members of the U.S. forces who are so egotistical and ruthless that they provide the greatest threat to the "good guys". (I don't know how realistic this is - for the sake of the U.S. Navy I would hope that people like that would be weeded out very early in their naval career.)

One of the things I liked best about this book were the descriptions of aerial dogfights between the F/A-18 Hornets and MiG-29 Fulcrums. Sidewinders are flying, high G turns being done to evade missiles, chaff and flares being ejected and there's lots of excited chatter between the pilots. "Fox two!" "Bandit on your six!" "Splash one!" Great stuff for us armchair warriors!

So why the lack of a fifth star?

Mostly because the plot is a bit too contrived and thus not very plausible. In order to maximize the conflict between "Brick" Maxwell and "Killer" DeLancey it's necessary for Brick to refuse to reveal something he knows about Killer, but without a reasonable ground for this refusal. Then at the end of the book there's an even more contrived situation, which I'll refrain from talking about here.

Also, the characterizations of the people in the book are rather "wooden", especially in the first part of the book.

Still, I'm definitely looking forward to following "Brick" Maxwell in his further adventures, as chronicled by Robert Gandt.

Rennie Petersen

Gandt starts his fiction career wonderfully. He takes his first hand knowledge of life for F/A-18 pilots, tactics and naval life in general and composes a great story with several subplots that allow for the story of Brick Maxwell to continue in future volumes.

Keeping it simple, the main character, Maxwell, returns to a carrier squadron after several years test piloting and as a NASA astronaut. He must deal with a hot-shot commanding officer with something bordering personal hatred for him, gender politics of the new Navy, and an Iraqi threat following the first Gulf War. Gandt neverloses focus despite having so much to contemplate.

If you like this one, try Punk's War and Punk's Wing by Ward Carroll for similar life and battle stories in the Navy.

Robert Gandt takes us into the bowels of the USS Ronald Reagan where some of the ugliest of battles are played out between the best and worst of fellow Naval Aviators. Killer Delancey typifies the hotshot, blowhard pilot who ruthlessly works the promotion system and dares anyone to stand in his way. Spam Parker is like the unwanted, unsolicited piece of e-mail crammed into your mailbox, only she is the Navy's Poster Girl for Political Correctness post -Tailhook and she is not going to let anyone forget it! Gandt sets the stage perfectly for the reader to hate these black hats. An absolutely riveting account of air combat in the Persian Gulf and a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of fighter pilots. The lead-in for #2 in the series is palpable! Can't wait!

Bob Gandt writes with authority about naval aviation. Hostile Intent is tightly written and once started is difficult to put down. It's a real page turner. The development of his characters is very well done, and the plot finely tuned and topical. I look forward to reading further adventures of Brick Maxwell and his antagonists.Highly recommended!

Robert Gandt's new book "With Hostile Intent" is all I hoped it would be .. and more. It is definitely hard to put down. I found myself rereading passages after minor interruptions just to be sure I didn't miss anything. His characters are most believable and I felt as though I was there.

If you are at all interested in aviation you will like this book. If recent events make you curious about what life is like for a fighter pilot, you must read this book. It is enlightening and entertaining.. enjoy!

With the ease of a former fighter pilot and the style of a Hemmingway, Gandt takes his readers into the cockpit, across the forbidden land and, yes, even into the bedroom of the brave men and women who patrol the 33rd parallel.

The book captures the very soul of aerial combat and is an absorbing read for anyone who treasures the excitement of aviation.

Bob Gandt has found his forte: riveting fiction, combining his extensive experience as a naval aviator with a highly imaginative mind. He's up there with Clancy with this gem. I could't put it down and can't wait for the second in this compelling and timely series.

Excellent story as told from a fighter pilots point of view. The action scenes are easy to imagine and are obviously told by someone who knows how to fly. I couldn't put the book down and stayed up half the night ot finish it.

Former US Navy aviator Robert Gandt's first work of fiction is a superb, unpredictable roller-coaster ride through the inner workings of a fighter squadron on the USS Ronald Reagan. Though Gandt has previous writing experience with his five nonfiction books on aviation, he greatly exceeds expectations by his mix of three-dimensional characters in truly intense and unheard of situations. Though the premise of a strike on Iraq is nothing new in military fiction, Gandt separates himself from other first-time military novelists by continuously building up his characters and leaving out pertinent bits of information in the numerous subplots so the reader is forced to finish the entire novel. While everything is tied up at the end, Gandt does a great job of keeping predictability to the absolute minimum by not rehashing conflicts found in previous novels in the genre. With Hostile Intent is an original and sometimes brutal novel of men and women at war with the outside world and with their own personal demons. There is no doubt that with this debut, Gandt has the potential of becoming one of the top writers of military fiction. I wish him the best on his future novels, and I very much look forward to reading them as soon as possible.

The book is riveting - I couldn't put it down. It puts you in the cockpit of the most advanced war plane in the world. The book should come with a supply of Xanax due to the stress of the situations and aerial combat. Well written and very timely (seen the news lately??) I can't wait for more. . .