Warrior Class

I like this guy better than Clancy. I have read every book he has written. The early books, starting with The Flight of the Old Dog were first rate and very believeable. As time has passed, the technology involved in his tales has started to stetch one's ability to believe, but one gets the impression that he really knows what he is talking about and he doesn't bore you to death with technocrat explanations.In this book, the US has elected an isolationist President who is not a member of either major political party. The character is interesting, but he never could have been elected holding the beliefs that he does, so we have to fudge our way past that and just declare him elected. Once that is accomplished he skips his Innauguration, gets sworn in privately at Blair House and walks across the street to the White House and goes to work. He also decides not to do a State of the Union speech, which isn't a bad idea. When you think of it, maybe he could get elected after all.In any event, the new president starts withdrawing US forces around the globe which leads to predictable instability in the geopolitical situation. Into the chaos walks Pavel Kazakov, a Russian gangster with a desire to build an oil pipeline to the Baltic, millions of dollars at his disposal and his very own stealth-bomber which was left over from the breakup of the USSR. He sets about to wreak havoc in the Balkans and to take advantage of the void in NATO's ability to respond to get the oil flowing to the Black Sea and millions of dollars a day flowing into his bank accounts.Standing in the way of his plans are Patrick McClanahan and his usual support staff from Dreamland and Skymasters along with some very brave Turkish and Ukranian pilots. I thought the action was first rate and you really look forward to the final confrontation as the bad guys are about to get theirs. For no matter how difficult the assignment, or how many obstacles are thrown in the path of our heroes, you can take it to the bank that the bad guys will get theirs. How they do it if most of the fun.

"Warrior Class" is Brown at his best.This is one of those rare novels that forces me to put work deadlines aside and forget about sleep. Having read his previous 12 titles, the characters seemed like old friends and even a few enemies. One of Brown's great gifts is transparently overcoming your credulity, so you accept without notice the occasional flight into another universe. Brown uses one device repeatedly to give his "white hat" characters a human side while relentlessly destroying the enemies of humanity: continual thoughts of and flashbacks to spouses, children, family, all those things that make us melt. The bad guys, of course, never think this way: they just plain enjoy murder and mayhem. Makes no difference to me because Brown's depictions of military action in the air are superb. Hard to believe in this era when wars are fought for real on your TV screen, that any author can get your pulse and to beat faster, but this is precisely what Brown does. He's a great writer of military adventures. Put "Warrior Class" on your reading list - and consider his other 12 books as well.Jerry

Dale Brown, the man who started me reading books and got me away from the TV and video games, has done it again and writen another book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The technology in this book is absolutely outragous, but he tells you how it's done, and shows you that not only are these weapons not from "Star Treck" but that they most likely exist today. On top of this he lets us in on just how possible it is for certain things to happen out in the world and shows us just how real the possibility of a mad drug smuggler/terrorist practically taking over a foriegn country can be. He also shows us that if we don't watch out, our government won't do anything if someone like Paval Kazakov really does exist. With all this on top of his amazing ability to tell a story, the book probably couldn't get much better (unless it was longer, I hate it when a good story ends). So, like I said, I hope he keeps it up, and I can't wait for his next book.

For the first time since Washington, an independent wins the election for president of the United States. Thomas Thorn owes nothing to either the Republicans or the Democrats. The former Desert Storm hero believes in isolating America. He orders the ground troops home from Europe, as he has no desire to use the Armed Forces as peacekeepers. With the Yankees returning home, old rivalries flare up throughout Europe. Many of them are orchestrated by the avaricious Russian druglord Pavel Kazakov, who wants to build an oil pipeline to the Baltic. He needs the cooperation of several former Soviet Republics. To accomplish his goal, Pavel devices a deviously clever plan that keeps the area filled with minor skirmishes and battles. This would lead to the Russians returning to take control and rebuild their former empire. Only General Patrick McLanahan stands in his way and he must defy his Commander-in Chief. Dale Brown is one of the best writers of techno-thrillers on the market today. Fans of Clancy will love WARRIOR CLASS especially with the radical change in American foreign policy and the world reaction to the withdrawal of the only superpower. The story line is loaded with military action that supports the theme of "My country, right or wrong, my country" vs. the value of doing what the individual believes is the right thing.Harriet Klausner

Once again Dale Brown has Patrick McLanahan in the middle of it all again. He keeps to his traditional style and makes it almost impossible to put the book down. I highly recommend this book.