Fatal Terrain

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Asia, all hell is breaking loose. Finally ready to flex its formidable muscle, the People's Republic of China has struck at Taiwan, and when the United States comes to Taiwan's aid, it is dealt a stunning setback. Emboldened, China begins to scoop up its lost territory in Asia, and sets into the effect an audacious military and geopolitical plan aimed at immobilizing the United States so it cannot retaliate. But the United States still has one card to play. Aerial strike warfare expert Patrick McLanahan and genius aerospace engineer Jon Masters have been working on plans to convert the Air Force's recently retired B-52 Stratofortress bomber fleet to the new EB-52 Megafortress "flying battleship" standard, designed to be a rapid-reaction global strike force. The plans are nowhere near ready - but now is not the time for hesitation. With a small band of civilian and military colleagues, McLanahan goes to work outfitting his minifleet of EB-52 Megafortress bombers with a payload of cutting-edge stealth cruise missiles. If there's anything that can turn the tide, these new missiles are it. But are they enough? And have they come too late?

SYNOPSIS

Former United States Air Force pilot Dale Brown has once again written a high-tech aerial combat novel that rivals his previous bestselling books and lends credence to the belief that he is the "best military adventure writer in the country today" (Clive Cussler). In Fatal Terrain, Brown brings up issues that make this book his timeliest novel yet.

As we enter the 21st century, the People's Republic of China has attacked Taiwan, and the United States comes to Taiwan's aid. However, the world is shocked when China repels the United States's attempted intervention with relative ease. Attaining military dominance, China begins reclaiming its lost territories throughout Asia. China then unleashes its geopolitical plan, which ultimately aims to render the United States completely helpless. With such chaos going on in the world, the United States has only one chance: Aerial strike warfare expert Patrick McLanahan teams with aerospace engineer John Masters in an attempt to convert the B-52 Stratofortress bomber fleet to the new EB-52 Megafortress. This new bomber, known as the "flying battleship," has rapid-reaction global strike force.

McLanahan joins forces with a small band of military and civilian colleagues as they attempt to outfit the EB-52 Megafortress with state-of-the-art stealth cruise missiles. If anything can put an end to China's plan, it is these new missiles. The future of the free world now rests in the hands of Patrick McLanahan, John Masters, and an assembled team of shadow warriors. However, several unanswered questions involving this last-second outfitting of the EB-52 Megafortress remain: Are these missiles enough? Have they come too late?

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

" `It's nothing you haven't done before, General,' McLanahan said. `I know you've gone over the Mach at one hundred AGL in the B-1B, and you've shook off fighters in a B-52 down low before, too.' " Readers whose pulse rises at sentences like that will find that Brown's (Storming Heaven) latest hymn to airborne death and destruction will get their engines up to full rev. Laden with acronyms like COMNAVAIRPAC and CINCPAC, full of stiffly worded patriotism ("And thank you for what you and Tiger Jamieson did over Iran and the Persian Gulf. You averted a major world oil crisis, and probably another Desert Storm. Job well done"), the narrative nevertheless manages to jet through a complex story involving a Chinese plot to retake Taiwan. Crippled by huge budget cuts, the Air Force looks hopeless in the face of this aggressionuntil a secret, private fleet of Megafortresses comes to the rescue. As usual, Brown's encyclopedic knowledge of everything military (and his boyish delight in putting it all down on paper) go a long way toward excusing his tinny dialogue and leaden prose. (June)

Library Journal

Just before the reacquisition of Hong Kong, the Communist Chinese attack the Nationalists on Taiwan. The initial Communist successes trigger further conflicts in Korea, South Asia, and the Middle East, while the United States responds with Patrick McLanahan and his modified EB-52 Megafortress. This work is filled with megaaction and megatonnage of technical details. The characters, on the other hand, suit this genre well enough-jet jocks, slimy politicians, and ruthless Chinese Communists, among others. Joseph Campanella's performance of this thriller, while not outstanding, is more than adequate. His voice is polished and resonant, performing narrative better than dialog. Brown is popular, so public libraries may wish to consider.-Michael T. Fein, Central Virginia Community Coll., Lynchburg Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In this all-too-predictable tale, a reconfigured B-52 bomber and its doughty crew try to prevent a war between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. Dastardly politicians and greedy military careerists attempt to thwart our friends in the skies, but, aided by hawkish President Martindale, strike-warfare expert Patrick McLanahan and his buddies put their prototype aircraft through its paces while flirting with their own capture or destruction. Unfortunately, Brown here fails to live up to the thought-provoking substance of his previous books, notably Shadows of Steel (LJ 6/15/96). The major characters from those earlier works reappear (accompanied by turgid recapitulations of past escapes) and seize the opportunity to weigh in on the side of the good guys. Despite battle scenes and lots of shouted dialog, the pace is leaden and the characterizations dull. Only for comprehensive Brown or aviation-fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/97.]Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Information Svcs., Inc., China Lake, Cal.

Kirkus Reviews

Retired USAF Colonel Patrick McLanahan and his band of irregulars help turn the tide when the People's Republic of China makes war on its lost province of Taiwan, in another high adventure from past master Brown (Shadows of Steel, 1996, etc.).

On the eve of Hong Kong's return to China, the nationalists on Taiwan unexpectedly announce their complete independence from the mainland and are immediately recognized by Kevin Martindale, the US President. Taipei's declaration enrages Beijing's hardline Communists, and the Red regime dispatches a carrier force to patrol the Formosa Straits. A heavily armed EB-52 Megafortress on a test flight with a civilian crew under McLanahan's command becomes involved in the resultant confrontation. Initially, the American bomber (extensively modified by McLanahan's employer to carry advanced weaponry) tips the balance, but China's vessels launch nuclear-tipped missiles that wipe out the nationalist warships. On the home front, political adversaries in Congress and business interests (concerned about their commercial stakes in China) put intense pressure on Martindale to let Taiwan go by the boards; the turf-conscious American military also presses the White House to take the McLanahan crew (over which they have minimal control) out of the increasingly deadly game. But under the crafty direction of Admiral Sun Ji Guoming (an ardent patriot bent on returning Taiwan to the mainland fold), hostilities escalate and US forces sustain severe losses. Ordered to stand down in the wake of a tragic mistake, McLanahan's experimental aircraft escapes to Guam (before that island is obliterated by China's missiles) and fights on the side of the nationalists in a climactic battle that effectively finishes off Sun's vaulting ambitions.

Nobody, in detailing the lethal excitements of high-tech aerial combat in at least plausible geopolitical contexts, does it better than Brown.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

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

A master of mixing technology and action. He puts readers right into the middle of an inferno. — Larry Bond