Fallout
A Novel
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4.3 • 12 Ratings
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Devastated at being reprimanded for a midair collision, TOPGUN instructor Luke Henry quits the Navy to start a private aerial combat school in the Nevada desert, where he and a number of his buddies, all former TOPGUN fliers -- part of the Old Bro network -- train fighter pilots for the U.S. government. Prior to leaving the Navy, Luke discovers that the United States has purchased twenty MiG-29s -- Russia's front-line fighter -- from Moldova, of the former Soviet Union. These are the very planes he wants to use for his own school, flying the Russian MiGs from an abandoned Air Force base.
But Luke's lucrative contract with the U.S. government comes with a caveat: among his students are a group of Pakistani Air Force pilots -- handpicked by the Department of Defense -- whom he must instruct. Luke is hesitant to train fighters from another country in the skills he learned at TOPGUN, but he won't be allowed to start the school without agreeing. The school opens, but the closer he gets to these students, the more he suspects that they may have an entirely different, and malicious, agenda in mind. They have a bone to pick with the United States and may be using Luke's school as their Trojan Horse to get into the country and launch an attack that would cause more damage than that sustained at Pearl Harbor. It falls to Luke to discover their plan and to stop it before it spirals out of control.
With Fallout James W. Huston scores big with his most riveting and thought-provoking thriller yet. Filled with exciting twists and turns and characters whose motivations will keep readers guessing until the startling conclusion, Fallout is a story of domestic terrorism that is as realistic as it is terrifying.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mining the ever-popular mother lode of military techno-thrillers, Huston's fourth novel (after Flashpoint) is a lukewarm effort with more spills than chills and even less plot credibility. Huston is himself a former navy "Topgun" jet fighter pilot, and this novel relies heavily on aviation jargon and modern aerial combat. Navy Lt. Luke Henry, a hotshot Topgun instructor, is forced out of the navy after being blamed for a deadly aircraft accident that was not his fault. Resolved to keep flying, he starts a private, commercial Topgun school in the Nevada desert. Almost immediately, he draws lucrative military contracts to train fighter pilots; a sneaky government official even provides him with Russian MiG-29 jets for training. But hopelessly na ve Luke is being set up. The terrorist bad guys play him like a cheap fiddle, bribing and blackmailing their way into the school. Aided by the Russian mafia, they hope to incite a nuclear war between Pakistan and India, but first they want to orchestrate the most devastating terrorist attack ever on American soil. Several exciting jet dogfights provide the action as Luke and his squadron pals battle the terrorists at high altitude, with air-to-air missiles zooming all over the sky. The aviation scenes are best, but back on the ground, Huston's characters and plot devices do not hold up. The only character of substance is a disgraced Russian pilot who has infiltrated Luke's school with an agenda of his own. Even the bad guys are corny caricatures of thugs and zealots, and Luke is left with nothing to do but shoot down nearly everybody in sight.
Customer Reviews
Can These Kind of Events Be Happening?
Another great novel from James Huston. I have read all of his novels, at least those available as e-books for my iPad. What's good about Mr. Huston's books are that he was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy which adds realism to his books. I have to believe our military has people like Luke that understands doing what is needed to resolve a bad situation.
I'm looking forward to his next novel.