From Publishers Weekly
In the year 1995, hardliners have taken control of Russia and seek to reabsorb Ukraine, which has applied for NATO membership. When Russia detonates a low-yield atomic device, the U.S. dispatches a wing of F-111 aircraft, some piloted by women. Major Becky Furness has something to prove, as does Colonel Darren Mace, who has been under a cloud since a mysteriously aborted mission during the first hours of Operation Desert Storm. As the world lurches toward nuclear conflict, Furness and Mace find themselves on a last-chance air strike against the Russian high command. Brown's longstanding love affair with the B-52 ( Flight of the Old Dog ) has given way to a new passion for the F-111, which is this sprawling techno-thriller's real protagonist. The cockpit scenes ably synthesize combat action and technical description, but the novel's storyline shifts uneasily from describing the dynamics of a near-future Air Force to defending the use of women in combat to depicting Russia's resurgence. An unimaginatively nasty portrait of a First Couple clearly modeled on the Clintons does nothing to advance the plot; techno-thrillers seldom succeed as romans a clef . Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
It is the immediate future. Russia makes a low-level thermonuclear attack on Ukraine, trying to bring it back in line with the other former Soviet nations. When Turkey agrees to support the Ukrainian army, NATO becomes involved, and the U.S. Air Force Reserves are deployed. Brilliant but maligned maintenance officer Daren Mace joins forces with the beautiful and talented pilot Rebecca Furness in a last-ditch mission to destroy the bloodthirsty Russian leader before full-scale atomic war can erupt. Brown, usually a master of the technothriller, has tried to combine too many topical issues (women in combat, the defense drawdown, the menace of nuclear weapons) with savage attacks on President and Mrs. Clinton, treating the former as a buffoon and the latter as a shrill, antimilitary bigot. Fans of Brown's earlier books will be disappointed by the predictability of the plot and the lack of character development. Unless you are building a complete technothriller collection, pass on this. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/93.- Elsa Pendleton, Boeing - China Lake, Ridgecrest, Cal.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Eastern Europe erupts in war as the Russians rush to the aid of their compatriots in Moldova, happily trampling Ukraine in the process. As usual, Air Force veteran Brown (Night of the Hawk, 1992, etc.) gives all the good parts to the pilots. They never get mentioned by name, but America's fast-food swilling, loose-talking, draft-dodging President and his control-freak, borderline-dominatrix, unelected-tsarina, anti-military, knee-jerk liberal wife are the real villains in this near-future military technothriller. Their rush to de-fund the troops--plus their reliance on bull sessions to solve the world's arguments--nearly undoes the nice new world order left by George Bush. They're just not prepared for the brutality of a retro-rigid Russia where old-line Stalinist Vitaly Velichko has usurped Boris Yeltsin's seat and loosed the dogs of war on the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Ukraine. The guy simply does not play fair--he uses nukes without having a meeting to get in touch with the world's feelings. It's up to America's new downsized Air Force to come to the aid of Ukraine, where the planes are all Soviet antiques but the pilots are all heart. American heroes include Robert Redford look-alike Darren Mace, who was supposed to but didn't drop a nuke on Saddam Hussein, and superpilotess- businesswoman Rebecca Furness, a victim of the First Lady's ruthless reductions in force. The Ukrainian hero is Pavlo Tychina, a first-rate flyer out for some serious revenge after his fianc‚e falls victim to the Russian neutron bomb. The action is, as you expect from Brown, great. But the surprisingly violent Clinton-bashing--while amusing--will probably not make a lot of new friends for the genre. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
In New York Times bestselling author Dale Brown's startling techno-thriller, it's Russia versus Ukraine with the U.S. caught in the middle, pulled into a war that may ignite the rest of the world.

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

A superb storyteller. (W.E.B. Griffin)

ANNOTATION

When a volatile Russian leader tries to reclaim the former Soviet republics, Lt. Col. Daren Mace finds himself back in the cockpit of the sleek RF-111G "Vampire" bomber with Rebecca Furness, the military's first woman combat flier. Now Mace and Rebecca are in danger of being pulled into a war beyond borders . . . both professionally and personally. A critically acclaimed bestseller from a master thriller writer.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In New York Times bestselling author Dale Brown's startling techno-thriller, it's Russia versus Ukraine with the U.S. caught in the middle, pulled into a war that may ignite the rest of the world.

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

A superb storyteller. (W.E.B. Griffin)

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In the year 1995, hardliners have taken control of Russia and seek to reabsorb Ukraine, which has applied for NATO membership. When Russia detonates a low-yield atomic device, the U.S. dispatches a wing of F-111 aircraft, some piloted by women. Major Becky Furness has something to prove, as does Colonel Darren Mace, who has been under a cloud since a mysteriously aborted mission during the first hours of Operation Desert Storm. As the world lurches toward nuclear conflict, Furness and Mace find themselves on a last-chance air strike against the Russian high command. Brown's longstanding love affair with the B-52 ( Flight of the Old Dog ) has given way to a new passion for the F-111, which is this sprawling techno-thriller's real protagonist. The cockpit scenes ably synthesize combat action and technical description, but the novel's storyline shifts uneasily from describing the dynamics of a near-future Air Force to defending the use of women in combat to depicting Russia's resurgence. An unimaginatively nasty portrait of a First Couple clearly modeled on the Clintons does nothing to advance the plot; techno-thrillers seldom succeed as romans a clef . ( July )

Library Journal

It is the immediate future. Russia makes a low-level thermonuclear attack on Ukraine, trying to bring it back in line with the other former Soviet nations. When Turkey agrees to support the Ukrainian army, NATO becomes involved, and the U.S. Air Force Reserves are deployed. Brilliant but maligned maintenance officer Daren Mace joins forces with the beautiful and talented pilot Rebecca Furness in a last-ditch mission to destroy the bloodthirsty Russian leader before full-scale atomic war can erupt. Brown, usually a master of the technothriller, has tried to combine too many topical issues (women in combat, the defense drawdown, the menace of nuclear weapons) with savage attacks on President and Mrs. Clinton, treating the former as a buffoon and the latter as a shrill, antimilitary bigot. Fans of Brown's earlier books will be disappointed by the predictability of the plot and the lack of character development. Unless you are building a complete technothriller collection, pass on this. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/93.-- Elsa Pendleton, Boeing - China Lake, Ridgecrest, Cal.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

A sweeping epic. — Clive Cussler