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Title: Punk's War by Ward Carroll ISBN: 1-55750-236-6 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: May, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.52 (21 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A technothriller that flies against type
Comment: "Punk" is the call sign, the official nickname of a man who flies a massive airplane - a US Navy F-14. So large and complex it requires two men to fly, the F-14 is one of the most powerful airplanes in the sky. In "Punk's War", Punk is one aviator in a squadron of pilots who face the daily rigors of naval aviation in the skies of the Persian Gulf, where Americans are hated by just about everybody. At this point, Ward Carroll's novel sounds liitle different from half of the air-war techno-thrillers of the past 20 years. Yet "Punk's War" is still a cut above your usual aero-technothriller. The flyboys here are tired, not wired - replacing the adrenaline soaked, hell-raising yet duty-bound flyboys of other books with a more believable squadron of professional aviators so beaten down by the system, by their clueless superiors and the challenges of military aviation that they actually question the sanity of their remaining in the navy. Rather than your typical technothriller plot, "War" depicts more of a slice-of-life aboard a modern aircraft carrier, with hard-working fliers struggling against maintenance problems and an unclear mission as much as they do against possible threats from Iran or Iraq. Their biggest problem is actually closer to home, with Punk and other aviators placed at risk by their superiors who are in turns indifferent to their plight, indecisive in the crunch or blinded by their hunger for glory. Carrol (who flew as a radar intercept officer in the backseat of an F-14) bravely makes Punk the hero of the book while reserving for another pilot the role of being the squadron's top flier - that distinction best belongs to "Smoke". While Smoke best deserves command, he actually takes his orders from "Soup" Campbell, whose background in the "Blue Angels" and "Top Gun" masks incompetence and a hunger for glory that will put the other squadron members at risk.
Though none of these characters really ring true, they ring loud - Carroll is more interested in them than the machines they fly, something you'll see from few authors today. Unfortunately, Carroll plays his hand too quickly - we immediately spot Smoke as a genuine professional, while Soup wastes no time becoming the "Frank Burns" of the story. This had the makings of the most original story in naval aviation since "Flight of the Intruder", but what ultimately hobbles the book is its own size. It's painfully short, as if Carroll suddenly grew tired of it. The ending is way too pat. A shame, but still a worthy read.
Rating: 5
Summary: Grand Slam by Naval Institute and Ward Carroll
Comment: The Naval Institute published two previously untried authors in the past who went on to great success with follow-on editions and movie adaptations. Move over Clancy ("Hunt for Red October) and Coonts (Flight of the Intruder) because Ward has delved into the world of carrier aviation and gone beyond the standard techno-thriller to produce a study of command relationships and tensions against the backdrop of conflict in the Middle East. Ward is adept at revealing the perspective of not only the central character, a F-14 Tomcat pilot at the "junior officer", but that of his commanding officer, air wing commander, flag staff, comrades and maintenance personnel in a fast paced snapshot of life aboard an aircraft carrier caught up in rising tensions and ultimately combat. His narrative also taps the ethos and humor of the junior officer ranks (the most numerous population of officers aboard a carrier) and depicts many rituals and rites of passage such as use of callsigns. If you were too cheap or missed the hardback version, grab the paperback and buckle up for a thriller of a ride.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent book....
Comment: Saw this book in "Proceedings" and I figured I would give it a shot since I like Naval Aviation and reading about it. I will have to admit, it was not quite what I expected. Some of the scenes were exciting but it seemed to capture the boredom and pointlessness of monitoring the then No Fly Zone. It also seemed to hit home the point that it wasn't the money that was causing aviators to leave in droves but other factors.
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Title: Punk's Wing by Ward Carroll ISBN: 0451208773 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Punks Fight by Ward Carroll ISBN: 0451211499 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 02 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: With Hostile Intent by Robert Gandt ISBN: 0451204867 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 10 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Black Star by Robert Gandt ISBN: 0451210662 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Acts of Vengeance by Robert Gandt ISBN: 0451207181 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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