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After a worldwide treaty against torture is signed by nearly every nation on the planet, former U.S. president John Harris learns the hard way that he’s still a political pawn. During his presidency, a CIA-sponsored team of mercenaries attacked a Peruvian drug base, torturing and killing the innocent families forced to labor on and process the narcotics. Now the president of Peru is looking to embarrass the United States by making an example of Harris.
The commercial jet Harris is on has just landed in Athens when the Greek police attempt to serve an Interpol warrant for his arrest. Captain Craig Dayton, pilot of the Boeing 737, realizes that Harris has been set up for execution and makes a dangerous, unauthorized takeoff. Attempting to find refuge in Italy, Dayton and Harris learn that all of Europe will enforce the warrant and that no place on the continent is safe for them. Via cell phone, the ex-president hires Jay Reinhart, a noted international lawyer, to fight the warrant and find him a safe haven. Reinhart is forced to battle the brilliant Sir Stuart Campbell, an old enemy who represents Peru in the World Court.
Though some parallels to the Harrison Ford blockbuster Air Force One are bound to be made, Nance manages to use similar elements to a much different advantage. The jet itself becomes a symbolic prison for all onboard as fear and claustrophobia set in. Each new country initially appears as a possible haven, but as successive runways are closed to the lost flight the white-knuckle tension becomes even greater. With fuel running out, the passengers are forced to confront the idea that their very fate is being determined in a courtroom thousands of miles away. Headwind is a gripping, international action story that will chill and enliven readers whether on the ground or in the air. (Tom Piccirilli)
Tom Piccirilli is the author of eight novels, including Hexes and Shards, and his Felicity Grove mystery series, consisting of The Dead Past and Sorrow's Crown. He has sold more than 100 stories to the anthologies Future Crimes, Bad News, The Conspiracy Files, and Best of the American West II. An omnibus collection of 40 stories titled Deep into That Darkness Peering is also available. Tom divides his time between New York City and Estes Park, Colorado.
Chapter One
Gate 35, Athens International Airport, Greece -Monday -2:00 P.M.
"Captain, I think you'd better get back here!"
The chief flight attendant said as she burst into the cockpit. Captain Craig Dayton snapped his head around and began reaching for his seat belt as soon as he saw the worried expression on Jillian Walz's face.
"What's the matter?" Dayton asked, aware that his copilot had shifted around in the right seat to look at her as well.
Jillian shut the door and stood in the tiny space aft of the center console, breathing hard and signaling him to wait. She watched a police car pull up on the ramp of the newly opened airport and stop in front of their Boeing 737, its blue lights flashing. Dayton followed her gaze and spotted the patrol car.
"We're about to get in the middle of a diplomatic crisis," Jillian said. "The gate agent ..."
A voice on the overhead speakers cut her short. "Flight forty-two, operations."
The copilot lifted his handheld microphone. "Go ahead, ops."
"We will have to hold you at the gate for a while, forty-two."
"Why?" the copilot asked sharply, noting the arrival of a second police car on the ramp.
"Forty-two, there is an of official order ...ah ...wait, please ..."
The microphone in the operations of office remained on while urgent voices conferred in the background. "Ah ...we will have to remove some of your passengers."
Jillian nodded rapidly, her words tumbling out. "Craig, they're here to arrest President Harris!"
Craig Dayton clasped Jillian's right elbow as he searched her eyes. "Slow down, Jillian, and tell me precisely whatyou're talking about."
The day had started in Istanbul with the exciting news that a former President of the United States would be riding with them in first class through Athens to Rome. Fresh from delivering a speech to an international conference on hunger, President John B. Harris had come aboard with an attractive young female aide and an appropriately dour Secret Service agent, greeting the crew warmly at the door and even sticking his head into the cockpit to say hello. Impeccably groomed, and wearing a well-tailored dark business suit that made him seem taller than his five-foot-ten height, Harris had proven to be as friendly and gracious as the Washington press corps had always described him during his almost legendary single term in office.
"Our agent ...gate agent ...I know her," Jillian was saying. "She came down the jetway all upset and said the Greek government has a warrant for his arrest."
"Why? What for?"
She shook her head, creating a moving blur of chestnut hair. "She didn't know."
First Officer Alastair Chadwick whistled and inclined his head toward the ramp, where a third and fourth police car had parked, all with their top lights flashing frantically. "Something's definitely up, mate."
"This is a foreign flagged airliner," Dayton said. "No one's removing any passenger without my permission." He motioned to Jillian to reopen the cockpit door as he moved the captain's seat back on its tracks and prepared to get up, filling the air with the aroma of peanuts as the contents of an opened snack pouch scattered on the metal floor.
"Damn."
"I'll take care of that," Jillian said..
The copilot caught his arm.
"Craig, you remember I'm a solicitor in my other life in England, right?"
"Yes, I know," Craig said, his eyes on Jillian as she stepped out.
"A little free legal advice, okay? You're an American national with a European work visa, you're the master of a German flagged airliner, and that airliner is currently sitting on Greek concrete. You're not the U.S. ambassador. They could arrest you for getting in the way."
The captain shook his head impatiently. "This is Greece, Alastair. They've been civilized for at least a few ears now. About two or three thousand, in fact."
"Craig?" Chadwick tightened his grip on the captain's arm, and Dayton responded with irritation.
"WHAT?"
"Be careful, okay? I know he's your President, but you can't protect him."
"No?" There was a flurry of movement as Craig Dayton resumed the process of hauling himself out of the seat." Just watch me!"
This is the first book I've read by this author. It grabbed my interested fast and kept it to the end.
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Posted September 14, 2011
Have read it more than once. Very good.
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Posted December 31, 2006
Read this book a while back. I really enjoyed it. The first chapter alone got me going when I read how they pushed back from the gate. Awsome book!
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Posted August 7, 2002
A page turner.....if you love aviation, or are just a passenger, this will make for enjoyable reading. Nance captures the technology of aviation and blends it into a tapestry of an interesting plot.
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Posted July 16, 2002
A great idea about a former president accused of an international crime completely lacks drama. A great idea that gets lost in a predictable plot, unimaginative twists and unreaistic dialogue. Plus, Nance seems more concerned with bragging about his aviation knowledge than explaining the details needed to follw the story. And the romantic sidebar was just plain absurd. A big disappointment.
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Posted May 1, 2001
Johhn Nance does an excellent job of building suspense around airplanes. It is always pleasurable to read his books, knowing that he is an aviator, and his facts will be correct. Bravo on another good book.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Putnam
Apr 2001
After giving a speech on world hunger, retired President John Harris flies from Istanbul to Rome with a stop in Athens. However, at the airport, the Greek police try to serve an international warrant filed by the head of Peru against the former President insisting he violated the Treaty Against Torture while in office by sanctioning CIA acts of violence against innocent people. Pilot Craig Dayton realizes the former President is in danger and makes a daring unauthorized take-off before the police arrest Harris. International lawyer, Sir William Stuart Campbell represents the Peruvian government in the World Court. William has a personal grudge against John and goes all out to nail the former world leader. The pilot, the president, and his attorney seek a nation that will provide a safe and fair hearing, not yet realizing the drama that will unfold when they select that country.
As action thrillers go, John J. Nance typically writes some of the genre¿s best works. His setting of an airplane for his story line produces chills even for those readers who enjoy flying. For those who fear the air the background provides tremors. The characters including the President, are three dimensional and complex adding to the feel of a thriller. HEADWIND is top gun material and sure to place Mr. Nance on all the best-selling lists.
Harriet Klausner
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Posted July 18, 2010
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Posted April 30, 2011
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Posted October 25, 2010
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Overview
A British lawyer working for the Peruvian government attempts to arrest a United States ex-President for alleged war crimes. The ex-President, John Harris, is on an airplane in Athens when he gets the news of his impending arrest, and, with the help of his pilots, he begins an elaborate game of airborne cat-and-mouse, trying to evade European authorities. Meanwhile, his lawyer, a brilliant litigator with a checkered past, goes head-to-head with the Brits.