CARRIER 4 FLAME-OUT BY KEITH DOUGLASS

Copyright 1992.

It is 1997 in this alternate future where the Soviet Union managed to reconstitute itself. NATO has been disbanded and the resurgent Soviets have invaded Norway. The country valiantly fights back but it is obvious they can’t win. Enter U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson America’s newest carrier of CVB-14. The Soviets have declared an exclusion zone in the Norwegian Sea and America decides to ignore it. Tombstone Magruder is back and now deputy CAG (Commander Air Group). An incident occurs that starts a shooting war between the Soviets and America. Keflavik is destroyed and the carrier attacked with many planes lost and one destroyer. The CAG is killed elevating Tombstone into the position. Now they have to fight off a Soviet carrier and figure out a way to stop an amphibious invasion of Bergen.

The fourth book in the series has decided to go old school. They have a future where the Soviet Union managed to reconstitute itself and stay a world power. They start a war with Norway and invade Finland. It seems logical the writer of this series would decide to have the carrier battle the enemy it was originally envisioned to fight. No third-rate country this time but one with weapons that could seriously defeat them. The battle for Norway was a common scenario in the old Harpoon wargame so everything seems very familiar to me. This is where the series really came into giving us a true workout for the Carrier.

CARRIER 3 ARMAGEDDON MODE BY KEITH DOUGLASS

Copyright 1992

India and Pakistan have gone to war. The stakes raise when Pakistan detonates a nuclear bomb showing the world it is now a nuclear power. Carrier battle group 14 lead by the U.S.S. Jefferson is on station in the Arabian sea. They accidentally sink an Indian submarine. The Indians demand all foreign warships leave the area. America refuses and plans to attack the Indians to stop the war. They are joined by a Russian carrier group. The Russians want to show the world they are still a world power. The Indians launch an attack. Using mass waves of aircraft, they hope to penetrate the defenses and show the world their power.

The third book in the series takes the carrier to the Indian Ocean and a battle with India. India was a growing naval power at the time, so it makes sense to write a story of them battling the Indians. Combine this with the Pakistan-India rivalry and you have the genesis of the start of a conflict. The Russians are in this also and portrayed as allies. They want to prove the Commonwealth (anybody remember the Commonwealth?) is still relevant. Now the Soviet Union had just collapsed and there was an optimistic believe they would be partners with the U.S. We know where that went.

Anyway, the Russians don’t really work well with America and have their own agendas which complicates the battle. Plus, a new commander who is more concerned with his career also complicates things. This book is the first time that the carrier group faces an opponent that could seriously sink or damage them. The battle scenes feel realistic and exciting. Another enjoyable entry in the series.

CARRIER 2 VIPER STRIKE BY KEITH DOUGLASS

Copyright 1991.

The U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson has been ordered to Thailand. The government there is suffering a Communist rebellion in the north. The Jefferson is there to show support for the government. Yet sinister forces are at work. A renegade Chinese intelligence agent has joined forces with a Burmese general and disaffected officers in the Thai army. He manages to bring over a squadron of Chinese J-7 aircraft into Burma. The goal is to destabilize the government so a coup can occur. This would give the plotters control of the drug trade in the Golden Triangle.

Tombstone Magruder and the other crew are looking forward to a relaxing leave in Bangkok. Magruder starts a love affair with a journalist who was sent to interview him. Only the coup plotters drag in the crew. An F-14 gets shot down and the crew has adventures with Karen rebels inside Burma. Tombstone and others get kidnapped to reveal info to help a plan to attack the Jefferson. It all comes down to an action-packed ending that destroys the various coup plotters.

The second book in the series is a bit low key. The first dealt with the planning of a complex rescue operation against a country. There were major air and land battles. This one is more about the intrigue of a complex coup plot. The awesome might of the carrier is not really used until the final part when they battle the renegade Chinese planes. It does a great job of giving the reader the cultural and political background of Thailand and Burma. It also gives us a different story from the first book which I appreciate.

CARRIER BY KEITH DOUGLASS

Copyright 1991.

The North Koreans attack and capture the U.S. spy ship U.S.S. Chimera and hold the crew captive. They threaten to execute them. Fortunately, CVB-14 U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson is in the area. A plan is implemented that includes Navy SEALS and a Marine landing to rescue the hostages. Lt. Commander “Tombstone” Magruder leads the Tomcats in the fight to attack the North Koreans. He has his hands full bombing the SAM sites and protecting the fleet from attacks by bombers and fighters.

This is the first of a series in the nineties about a carrier battle group and their various battles. It was created by William H. Keith Jr. who wrote the first six books in the series. Keith wrote many other most notably under the pen name Ian Douglas for a series of futuristic marine and navy novels. He also did the excellent time travel series Freedom’s Rangers.

Keith is a former Navy veteran and is very knowledgeable about the service. His story paints a very realistic portrayal of the combat. The dogfights as well as ground combat feels very realistic. You do get a feeling of being on a carrier. He also puts in realistic accidents such as a guy carelessly not paying attention and getting sucked into a jet engine and causing an explosion. The result closes down the deck for a crucial hour. The scenario at the time was also realistic. The Soviet Union was in decline and aid was getting cut to the hardline regime. You could see them doing this to get attention and need aid. This was a very solid first book for the new series.

CONAN THE INVINCIBLE BY ROBERT JORDAN

Copyright 1982.

Conan is a thief in Shadizar and only seventeen. He gets hired by a Stygian sorcerer to steal pendants from the king. These pendants were a gift from the King of Turan. Only someone beats him to it. They also steal a slave girl that Conan promised to free. He sets out and gets captured by The Red Hawk a woman who leads a band of brigands. They find the wizard Amanar in his fortress in the Kezankian Mountains with his army of snake-men. Conan must use all his skills to defeat this powerful wizard and the demon he serves who eats souls.

Tor Books started to print new Conan stories in the eighties with its resurgence in popularity. They wisely chose Robert Jordan who delivers a first-rate book. The story is well written and very interesting. It weaves together this tale of stolen slave girls and jeweled pendants. An evil all powerful wizard and the demon he serves. The Red Hawk is a beautiful and powerful bandit chief in the mold of Red Sonja. The characters feel like a Howard story. I highly recommend if you are fan.

EARTHRISE BY WILLIAM C. DIETZ

Copyright 2002.

The Saurons time of birthing is coming up. The humans and the Ra Na slaves will have to strike soon. The Sauron’s puppet president has been secretly working to build a coalition of human resistance and Ra Na to strike when the Saurons go into the birthing temples. The Ra Na is able to seize a quarter of the fleet as the humans manage to free the human slave population. Will they manage in time?

The second and final book in the saga did not disappoint me. It had plenty of believable action throughout. The characters both alien and human were believable and ones that the reader could identify with. The racial politics were not that prominent. It was a fast-paced enjoyable book of people fighting to overthrow their alien oppressors. This is the second of an alien invasion series that Dietz wrote. I enjoyed both and would have no problem checking out his other works.

DEATHDAY BY WILLIAM C. DIETZ

Copyright 2001.

February 28, 2020, is the day known as Black Friday. For that is the day the alien Saurons attacked Earth. In three days, most of the major cities were destroyed. Three billion were killed and the rest enslaved by the Saurons. The aliens put the surviving humans to work building vast temples by hand. They form a puppet government under the Governor of Washington. Yet resistance forms. The real secret of the Saurons is found out. That in July all the Sauron will die and give birth to nymphs that will replace them. Only most the slaves will die be killed. The humans form an alliance with the other alien slave races to take advantage of this.

I remember seeing this when it came out and thought it sounded good. Yet it was September 2001 and probably got lost in the events of the day. I did find it recently at a bookstore and with his other series gave it a try. It had an interesting premise for the aliens and Dietz is a competent writer. He gives us an epic struggle with mostly believable characters.

The aliens have a caste system based on their color. With the black ones on top followed by the brown and whites at the bottom. They decide to transfer this to humans by making the blacks the overseers with the whites as the slaves. If this wasn’t enough there were a group of humans who were white supremacists and go on about ZOG and mud people to hammer home the idea of racial problems with humanity. This was handled very ham-fisted and wasn’t really needed. This was the first of a two-book series.

THE RAT BASTARDS #2 DEATH SQUAD BY LEN LEVINSON

Copyright 1983.

Friend of foe, stay out of their way. Malaria can’t slow them down. A stockade can’t keep them penned up. Tanks can’t stop them. They’re the most blood hungry platoon of killers in the jungle. The enemy fears them. Their own army hates them. When they’re on their red meat rampage of terror, you’d better steer clear of The Rat Bastards!

The Rat Bastards are now the recon platoon for the Twenty-third infantry regiment. Colonel Stockton has a plan to stop the Tokyo Express. This is the resupply of troops and supplies to the Japanese on Guadalcanal. Send the bastards behind enemy lines to locate when the Express will unload its supplies and call in the navy. They get dropped in by submarine, but Sgt. Butsko’s squad gets captured. He is tortured by the evil captain that was in charge of the Bataan Death March. Sgt. Bannon defies orders to stay and rescue him. They succeed and leave a trail of Jap bodies behind as they manage to escape and find the location of the Tokyo Express.

The second book starts off right after the victory of defending Henderson Field. There is plenty of action from the beginning and it doesn’t let up until the end. Corporal Bannon gets to shine in a leadership role. Butsko gets revenge on the Japanese captain that tortured and killed his friends. There is an over-the-top scene at the end of a PT boat sinking a battleship. Real historical events and people mixed in to give it a sense of authenticity. Levinson proves once again that he is a master of such action, and I can’t recommend this series enough.

THE LONG DARK TEA-TIME OF THE SOUL BY DOUGLAS ADAMS

Copyright 1988.

An airline check in desk at Heathrow explodes and is considered an act of God. Dirk Gently wonders which god would be around trying to catch a flight to Oslo. Dirk also has other problems for a client he had is found murdered. His head on the record of a hit called “Hot Potato” that he helped write. The client had a fear of some demon coming after him and it appears to have happened. Events link up Dirk with an American journalist who was at Heathrow when the explosion occurred. This all leads to the Norse gods Odin and Thor. A plan by some lawyer/publicist couple to buy Odin’s soul. Yet everything works out in the end.

This was the second in the Dirk Gently series. I thought it was a much better book than the first. It had some trademark Adams humor. Ancient gods trying to adapt to the modern world. Odin has sold his soul to have an endless supply of clean linen in a bed at an expensive hospital. Thor is a rebellious son. This book though did suffer some uneven writing like his first one. It also seemed to tie up everything at the end too easily.

There was going to be a third called The Salmon of Doubt but never got written. Instead, a book with this name was released after his death with Adam’s unpublished notes and essays. A fairly crass attempt to cash in after his death. Adams was not a prolific writer but what he produced will probably stand the test of time. I loved his Hitchhiker series and this one while not as good still has its moments. I think if you love the Hitchhikers series you will enjoy Dirk Gently.

DIRK GENTLY’S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY BY DOUGLAS ADAMS

Copyright 1987.

Richard MacDuff is a software developer that starts to have a bad day. His boss is murdered, and the police suspect him. He gets help from the mysterious Dirk Gently. He runs a holistic detective agency. Holistic means he solves stuff believing the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Richard’s boss is a ghost and apparently there is another ghost going around possessing people. This ghost was part of a ship that landed billions of years ago and blew up while taking off. This ghost wants a time machine that a mysterious Professor Chronotis has. This time machine is his room at Cambridge. If the ghost succeeds and goes back and stops the ship from blowing up, it will cause the human and all live on the planet to never exist.

I am a huge fan of Adam’s Hitchhiker series and enthusiastically bought this when it came out. Unfortunately, it never lived up to his earlier work. It starts out slow and the main character of Dirk doesn’t around until 100 pages in. I now notice that he heavily cannibalized his story from the Doctor Who episode Shada. This was a partially completed one which never aired and back in 1988 I would have never known. Now this episode has been completed with animation and released. A Professor Chronotis a Time Lord living for centuries at Cambridge with his Tardis as his room. Adams never gives us any background on the character, and I suppose he could be viewed as the Doctor Who character only never mentioned for obvious reasons. He also cannibalized from the episode City of Death with the part of an alien craft blowing up and creating life on Earth. This I would have recognized at the time.

The book does pick up and there are some fun moments in it. It has his trademark sense of humor. Still the ending seemed to be just easily solved. He seemed to abandon some plot lines like the Electric Monk who was a robot that believed stuff for people. Or the boss that was a ghost and didn’t really go anywhere. A flawed book but still I don’t mind reading it for it had some interesting moments and characters. His sequel was much better.

There was also recently a TV series that was made in Canada and loosely based on the book. It was an enjoyable series.