readerxxx's review against another edition
3.0
First half of the book was dry and tedious. The second half ran like a race horse. Skimmed a lot of this one.
chutten's review against another edition
1.0
jingoism: patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy.
Wow, was everyone in 1988 scared of terrorists, thinking the US armed forces were the only thing stopping the evil, yet bumbling, communists from taking over the world?
As a historical artefact, this novel is second-to-none. Nowhere else have I seen such internalized fear and aggression. Nowhere else have the French been cowardly and childishly impressed by United States military hardware, or bisexual nymphomaniacs practising BDSM; nowhere else have the Russians been spies or incompetent (or both); nowhere else has every Arab been religious and fanatical...
And the Americans... there's a token drunk, and a token bureaucrat. The elected officials just get in the way of the real men, who Get Things Done...
If only this were satire.
Wow, was everyone in 1988 scared of terrorists, thinking the US armed forces were the only thing stopping the evil, yet bumbling, communists from taking over the world?
As a historical artefact, this novel is second-to-none. Nowhere else have I seen such internalized fear and aggression. Nowhere else have the French been cowardly and childishly impressed by United States military hardware, or bisexual nymphomaniacs practising BDSM; nowhere else have the Russians been spies or incompetent (or both); nowhere else has every Arab been religious and fanatical...
And the Americans... there's a token drunk, and a token bureaucrat. The elected officials just get in the way of the real men, who Get Things Done...
If only this were satire.
jfranco77's review
4.0
A few years have passed, and Jake Grafton is now the CAG (Commander, Air Group) for an aircraft carrier. He still flies occasionally, but as a high-ranking officer, also spends a lot of time on administrative duties.
The plot focuses on a middle eastern terrorist named Qazi, who works for El Hakim, which I guess makes him the Bin Laden of the 80s. Qazi and his team are determined to attack the USS United States (what a terrible name, btw) and steal the nuclear weapons on board the ship to alter the balance of power in the Middle East. Their attack is launched while the USSUS is docked in Naples, and many soldiers are on shore leave. Can the carrier crew fight off the attack?
Certainly an exciting finish, even if the book dragged a bit in the middle. I had forgotten that this book required an interesting piece of retconning.
The plot focuses on a middle eastern terrorist named Qazi, who works for El Hakim, which I guess makes him the Bin Laden of the 80s. Qazi and his team are determined to attack the USS United States (what a terrible name, btw) and steal the nuclear weapons on board the ship to alter the balance of power in the Middle East. Their attack is launched while the USSUS is docked in Naples, and many soldiers are on shore leave. Can the carrier crew fight off the attack?
Certainly an exciting finish, even if the book dragged a bit in the middle. I had forgotten that this book required an interesting piece of retconning.
Spoiler
Technically, Jake is dead at the end of the book, or at least appears definitively so.
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