Firefox

Though it may take American Readers a spell to get used to the British linguistics, Thomas has a captivating spy thriller here that is hard to put down and excitement galore. The epitomy of Thomas' fiction.

"Firefox" is the code name for a new breed of Russian fighter, a plane that's invisible to radar, outruns missiles, and wields an arsenal guided by the pilot's thoughts. With nothing remotely capable of matching the super-jet on their drawing boards, British and American spymatsers hit on a seemingly impossible, virtually suicidal plan: send one of their pilots into Russia - into the Russians' high-security flight-test center - to find the super plane, and steal it. Complicating things is Mitchell Gant, the west's designated skyjacker, a burnt out Viet Nam vet who test flew captured Russian planes for the CIA. Scarred within after being shotdown, Gant's plods on, begging to be discovered and put out of his misery.Like the plan, "Fireox" the novel seems like a no-brainer - Craig Thomas seems unsure of his hold on military technology, and by his prose, you'd never confuse him with other authors who've done the stuff they've written about (like fly planes and get shot at). Instead, Thomas' crisp prose, an almost constant state of tension and an almost supersonic pacing put "Firefox" ahead of just about any other aviation technothriller. Bets of all are the flying scenes. While other writers boast of being able to put the reader inside the cockpit of a high-performance fighter - only Thomas delivers. Unlike other authors, Thomas knows the tension, stark terror and gallons of adrenaline that a fighter pilot can be expected to go through while trapped in a dogfight. Then there's Thomas' hero - Gant. Thomas' conceit is that Gant's superiors were so ready to see there case fail, that they chose the one man least capable of pulling it off. Gant is unlike any technothriller writer you've ever read about - he begins the novel trapped in a chronic nervous breakdown. Yet he excels over the cardboard charachters of other books who just push buttons and read computer screens. Those charachters just register information - Gant actually experiences it as real people would. With the exception of "Flight ofthe Intruder", and Thomas' other Mitchell Gant novels, this is probably the best air-war thriller you'll read. Sequels included "Firefox Down", "Winterhawk" and "A Different War" - "Winterhawk" being my favorite story, but never outrunning the flying scenes of "Firefox".

I read this book almost 20 years ago, if I remember correctly, and it's one of the few books which I literally couldn't put down until it was finished. I think I finally turned out the light at about 3AM, even though I had to go to work early the next morning. It is gripping, believable, and well written in every respect. If you like international spy techno-thrillers at all, this is one of the best ever written. PS - the Clint Eastwood movie based on this book was one of Eastwood's most mediocre efforts. If you saw it and were disappointed, don't let that stop you from reading the book. The book is FAR superior!

This book is a favorite of mine, which I've read many times over and I've never tired of. The book is a great thriller and is very suspenseful, with also great characters, dialogue, and vehicle and environment description. Espionage and aircraft fans will get a kick out of this book, and won't put it down! Also, if you loved reading this book, you'll also love the sequel FIREFOX DOWN! and the movie FIREFOX starring Clint Eastwood! Craig Thomas's FIREFOX is a masterpiece that is always a pleasure to read.

This is brilliant! I first read this when I was 15, when the movie came out in the UK, and looking back on it, much of the technology of the Firefox MiG-23 arcraft has come to fruitition in real life! In particular, the EFA-2000 Eurofighter and of course, the Stealth features. Even today, this is a story I would recommend to any thriller fan. The Moscow scenes are as authentic as `The Cardinal Of The Kremlin`(Tom Clancy), the methods he uses to get to the Firefox are plausible and in general, the style of writing and grammar is furiously fast-paced in similar vein to Alistair MacLean or Clive Cussler. Altogether, a must read!