Punk's War

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 4/06/2001

With suspense, drama and action as hot as a fighter jet's afterburner, Carroll's account of modern naval aviation reads like Top Gunon steroids. The formula of jet pilots in conflict with superior officers and enemy MiGs will delight the military-techno audience. After a slow start, frenzy and danger aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf provide the backdrop for this tale of swaggering aviators who live on the edge, confounding senior officers and enticing Iranian and Iraqi fighters to come up and swap air-to-air missiles before the six-month deployment is over. Punk is a navy lieutenant, pilot of an F-14 Tomcat a savvy flier with the physical and moral courage to do what is right no matter what the consequences. Soup Campbell is Punk's squadron commander, a glory-hunting egotist who cares only about looking good to his superiors and getting that next promotion. Punk and his squadron-mates fly, gripe, party and do everything possible to stay alive despite their commander's backstabbing incompetence. Aerial dogfights, nighttime in-flight emergencies, downed aircraft, pilots captured and rescued, court-martial and some nifty flying sequences keep up the pace as Punk slowly realizes that duty and patriotism may not be enough to justify strapping himself into a 32-ton jet on a two-second catapult. Loaded with testosterone and military jargon, Carroll's debut speaks volumes about military careerism, aviation technology, naval operations in harm's way and the men who fly and fight for a living. FYI:Carroll is a navy officer with 15 years experience flying the F-14 Tomcat, and served as a consultant on the film version ofThe Hunt for Red October.