Final Flight (Jake Grafton)

If anyone can write great military fiction, it is Coonts. Stephen Coonts is a decorated aviator who flew combat missions during Vietnam. Like many of his books, Coonts casts Jake Grafton as the main character and puts him, as usual, against great odds. This book is actually a sequel of sorts to his first Jake Grafton novel called Flight of the Intruder. There is a lot of mystery that surrounds the novel but as it unravels the actions begins. There is a lot of correct and technical data about aircraft characters as a lot of the story takes place aboard the USS United States. You learn a lot about the military and their heroes as well as their befuddled bearucratic messes. I couldn't put the book down and I feel it deserves five stars for sure. As a former member of the armed forces, I was impressed with his insight and technical accuracy that he applies to his writing. Jake Grafton is a delightful character that I always enjoy reading about.

This was my second Stephen Coonts, the first i read was The Flight of Intruder, a Great book too ..Final flight is even better, i think is one of the best thrillers i have read, wondeful story, great plot and the Jake Grafton Character is very Good, Toad Turkington is a very Funny Character. The description of the flight scenes are very well done, it's almost you were in the carrier. This book is a must have. Highly recommended.

This book had all the making of a best seller. A great plot exciting and doesn't let the reader go. I personally found this one of Stephen Coonts best books ever. The reality of the events of this book almost makes it seem like a real event. This book has everyone involved. The US, Christians, Arabs, Jews, Atheist, and the rest of the world are all in trouble. The Arabs are after the US again. This time they are trying to capture one of their nuclear weapons. They are shown as experts in black mail as they "recruit" the people they need to complete their mission. They plan to use it to destroy all the religions that oppose them. They infiltrate the supercarrier USS United States. Jake Grafton is losing his vision and his pilots as problems start to occur on the planes. Still the problem falls on him. The Arabs make it into the carrier and take hostage the Admiral using him they get 7 nukes in to the coppers and fly away. It is now Jake's job to catch and destroy the Arabs before they can use the nukes. The ending is one of a kind.

Why Coonts gets less recognition than Tom Clancy I'll never know. Coonts' books are far less tech-laden than Clancy, and have far more complex and interesting heros and villians. "Final Flight" is the best of Coonts work. A terrifically exciting tale of a terrorist plot to hijack a nuclear weapon off of a U.S. Aircraft Carrier, "Final Flight" will keep you in total suspense until the final page. This remains the best work by the best author in the genre of military fiction.

The situation - Middle Eastern terrorists led by one Colonel Qazi take over a US navy carrier and arm the nuclear weapons stockpile. Jake Grafton, CAG on board must avert their attempt to discredit the US. This was the first Coonts book I read and was swept along by the sheer fast pace of it. The characters are well portrayed and not just cardboard characters for window dressing, they contain dimension. The carrier scenes are striking and realistic and for those unfamiliar with life in the Navy such as I was, it's all explained in simple prose and not too much technobabble. The aerial scenes are as brilliant as anything Dale Brown has written and the general pace of the story is in the tradition of old hands like Alistair Maclean (RIP) and Clive Cussler. If you want an uncomplicated, thrilling read, get this one.