Third in the Carrier series. "Tombstone" Magruder is a naval aviator
aboard a Nimitz-class carrier, as the USA gets involved in a major
conflict with India.
Keith Douglass is really William H. Keith (at least for the first
seven books of the series), which is what attracted me; I've been
enjoying Keith's writing since his early days of Traveller adventures
and Battletech novels. He's not terribly subtle, but he's competent
and can tell a good tale.
With that in mind, this is a story more about the tech than about the
men. Yes, we have multiple viewpoint characters, and venality and
incompetence are neither universal among nor exclusive to the enemy,
but there's very little by way of characterisation. If this were a
film, it would be a summer blockbuster. Even compared with the
previous volume, Viper Strike, there's a much higher proportion of
action in the air to political machinations and personal battles on
the ground.
On the other hand the technical details generally feel accurate (even
if Keith was unfortunate in choosing the earlier name Kreml for what
ultimately went to sea as the Admiral Kuznetsov), the mishmash of
Indian Air Force equipment is well represented, and the major attack
that makes up the bulk of the book could be a fascinating Harpoon
scenario (and may yet become one).
Yeah, it's a technothriller, with all the rah-rah-America baggage that
that implies (why doesn't anyone write about the heroic Royal Navy,
eh?), but it's a competently-written one.
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