Shadows of Steel (Patrick McLanahan Series #5)

by Dale Brown

Overview

In an electrifying novel ripped from today’s headlines, Dale Brown takes to the skies to deliver a covert battle in the Middle East—a battle that America can’t afford to lose.

The new gulf war is erupting…

And this one will be far bloodier than the first. A newly powerful Iran is flexing its military muscle in the Middle East. The Iranians have declared the Persian Gulf their territorial waters—and an American ship has just been sunk to prove the point.

With a military racked by budget cuts and a public reluctant to fight, the president must end the crisis before it escalates. The solution: project Future Flight, a surgical stealth campaign to silence Iran’s modern weapons. The personnel: Colonel Patrick McLanahan and the surviving crew of the Old Dog. The stakes: success—or full-scale war…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425157169
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/01/1997
Series:	Patrick McLanahan Series , #5
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.68(w) x 10.96(h) x 1.04(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the author of several best-selling military-action-aviation-adventure novels: Flight of the Old Dog (1987), Silver Tower (1988), Day of the Cheetah (1989), Hammerheads (1990), Sky Masters (1991), Night of the Hawk (1992), Chains of Command (1993), Storming Heaven (1994) and Shadows of Steel (1996). Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries.

Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. He flew over 2500 hours in various military tactical and training aircraft from 1978 to 1986 and was also a graduate of the U.S. Army Airborne School.

Dale is a volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine, a non-profit national charitable medical transportation organization who fly needy persons free of charge to receive treatment. He also supports a number of organizations to support and promote law enforcement and reading. He is a member of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association, The Writers Guild, and a Life Member of the Air Force Association and U.S. Naval Institute. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his Piper Aerostar 602P. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, scuba diving, and hockey. He lives in Incline Village, Nevada.

What People are Saying About This

Larry Bond

A master at mixing technology and action...He puts readers right into the middle of the inferno.

Clive Cussler

The best military adventure thriller writer in the country today.

W E. B. Griffin

Dale Brown is a superb storyteller.

From the Publisher

“The best military adventure writer in the country.” —Clive Cussler

Editorial Reviews

The best military adventure writer in the country.”—Clive Cussler

From the Publisher

One of the special pleasures of constructing a techno-thriller seems to be the opportunity to predict one's own version of world affairs. In an unusually thoughtful entry set in early 1997, shortly after the events of his novel Day of the Cheetah (1989), Brown (Storming Heaven) takes time to explore such issues as the thin line separating special operations from terrorism and the role of the warrior in a supposedly peaceful world. The Iranians are at it again, attacking a U.S. spy ship. When American personnel are taken captive, President Kevin Martindale (a Brown regular) realizes he must act. As is usually the case with this genre (and perhaps real-life politics), the president and his military advisors decide to rely upon high-tech aircraft and weaponry to destroy the enemy's war-making capabilities, some of which, in this case, have come by way of China. A B-52 stealth bomber flown by returning Brown hero Patrick McClanahan is the center of the action that whirls from prison cells through a coup d'tat, climaxing in air encounters of the radar kind. Brown is a master of this school of fiction, bringing life to his characters with a few deft strokes. More than just a military thriller, this novel offers disturbing descriptions of possible political developments that are worthy of discussion. (June) FYI: In an author's note, Brown says he will welcome e-mail with comments on the novel, at [e-mail].

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This military suspense novel, Brown's ninth, pits a secret U.S. military operation against an increasingly aggressive Iran in a race to prevent global chaos. The author lends the book a sense of topicality by using real news excerpts at the beginning to show how a conflict with Iran may be possible. When Iran builds up a carrier fleet and tries to close off the Persian Gulf to foreigners, the United States sends in a secret B-2 "Stealth" bomber to prevent a full-scale war through preemptive force. While this is a generally gripping military thriller, the pro-military/anti-budget cut rhetoric can be distracting at times. Characters from Brown's earlier works, such as Flight of the Old Dog (Donald I. Fine, 1987) are brought back, which new readers may find confusing. Still, Brown's many fans will love this book. Recommended for libraries with existing Brown novels or wherever military suspense is in demand. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/96.]Peter A. Leggieri, "Library Journal"

Library Journal

The high-flying Captain Brown returns in his ninth technothriller, which once again features Patrick McLanahan. This time, McLanahan and his cronies are working to rescue a U.S. spy ship crew from some particularly thuggish Iranians and also keeping an Iranian aircraft carrier (acquired from the former-Soviet-armaments yard sale, so to speak) from catastrophically destabilizing the Persian Gulf region. They have available to them the resources of the CIA, a B-2 bomber (clearly one of Brown's favorite birds), and some lengthily described and ingenious weaponry--for instance, cluster bombs that dispense an acid sludge that dissolves key components of enemy aircraft. The action is fast (despite a slight surplus of subplots); characterization is subordinate to the many excellent flying scenes; and altogether, the yarn is more of what Brown has done before and most likely will continue doing, to his profit and the satisfaction of technothriller fans.

Roland Green