Day of the Cheetah

I've just recently discovered Dale Brown & the McLanahan series, and now I'm hooked! I started at the beginning and just finished Day Of The Cheetah. This is one book that I actually took time out in the day to read. Action is non-stop throughout, and I needed to know what was going to happen. There is one issue that I didn't like about the book. I would easily rate the first 95% of the book 6 stars, but the last 5% (ending) would only get 3 stars. It just seemed like Dale Brown got tired of writing and just ended the story. I was really pumped up for an exciting ending and it was very anti-climatic. But, I'm still reading his books, and liking them a lot!!

This is one of Dale Brown's best achievements. He totaly grips you from the very first page and won't let go until the end of the very last page.

Read the prologue carefuly-you'll need it later. because everything in this exciting thriller fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. From the top secret deep cover Russian training school to the chase through Nicaragua to the final fate of the Russian mole, this is a book that will keep you in its grip until your through it. Although I'm not up on the aviation terms, I found that I didn't get lost in technicalities as you do in some thrillers. Dale Brown writes a mean adventure novel even with the jargon. Besides they give you the glossary for tech terms BEFORE the story. Pick it up, you're in for an exciting time.

This was the first Dale Brown book I ever read, but after reading nearly all of them, I still think that this is the best book he ever wrote. The combat is written very well, and it describes a great story about how far we can push ourselves against seemingly imppossible foes. I love this book, although I wish he hadn't found it necessary to sequence the events at the end in such a way as to continue the McLanahan mythos at the cost of other characters.

A classic techno-thriller! Much of the plot, concerning the theft of a high-tech experimental fighter plane was inspired by FIREFOX by Craig Thomas, as was the thought-controlled weapons systems and navigation. However, Dale Brown goes several steps better. The technicalities behind the Dreamstar aircraft are well explained without too much babble and could be feasible one day. The aerial dogfighting sequences, utilising a variety of aircraft(National Guard F-16s, Nicaraguan MiGs, Mexican F-20s and so on, and the 767 AWACS was an inspired idea!)and interesting locations in Central America are also first rate. I've only had a trial lesson in a light aircraft as a birthday present from my ever-patient wife, but I can still visualise the settings, manouvres and procedures described in his narrative as well as that day. This book would make a power-packed movie, so come on, Hollywood! If you like aircraft, thrills, future technology and fast paced action then this is the book for you. One minor point, there were two goofs - the B-1B bomber is known as the Lancer and not the Excalibur, and the B-2 stealth bomber is known as the Spirit and not the Panther, but considering this 1996-set book was written in 1988 the we can let Dale off the hook! The story also brings the McLanahan Timeline up to date, despite a few inconsistencies before the 'prequels' such as SKY MASTERS and HAMMERHEADS were written.

This is the book that made me a Dale Brown fan. I read it a few years ago, but I still remember the great story about the integration of flight controls directly into its human pilot. To "become one" with the machine WOULD be the ultimate thrill ride if the machine was a high performance fighter aircraft. Just how DO you win against a fighter that reacts as fast as the human brain thinks? Dale Brown knows. This is THE classic of Dale Brown's books. If you don't like this one, well.....there's no accounting for taste