1991 military fiction; second in the Carrier series. A complex plot
sees Burmese, Thai and Chinese renegades orchestrating a breakup of
SEATO for purposes unclear at first. Carrier Battle Group 14 is going
to get caught in the middle.
This book is where things get cunning. There's plenty of
false-flag provocation, kidnapping of sailors on liberty in Bangkok,
and a complex plan to take the carrier out of action before anyone
even knows a shooting war has started.
Characterisation is still minimal, but the players are slightly better
developed than before; Magruder, now labouring under the label of
"hero" after his actions in the last book, gets involved with Pamela
Drake, a TV reporter who's generally anti-military (because The Media
Hate Us, or at least so Magruder assumes, not entirely accurately) but
open to debate. Cue a tourist-guide infodump about the floating
markets of Thonburi, of the sort that's harder to get away with now
that we have Wikipedia. Several of Magruder's squadron mates get a bit
more detail and development too, particularly "Batman" Wayne who's
starting to turn into an approximation of a human being. All of these
people have their flaws as well as their strong points, and that's
deeper than much mil-fic manages to get.
OK, so the only real reason to read this book is still the air
battles, but you're unlikely to find a copy without looking pretty
hard so you probably know that already. Within that specific area,
Keith delivers, with his genuine gift for writing action scenes.
This is probably the best of the series. Followed by Armageddon
Mode.
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