Rating: 
Summary: A technothriller that flies against type
Review: "Punk" is the call sign, the official nickname of a man who flies a massive airplane - a US Navy F-14. So large and complex it requires two men to fly, the F-14 is one of the most powerful airplanes in the sky. In "Punk's War", Punk is one aviator in a squadron of pilots who face the daily rigors of naval aviation in the skies of the Persian Gulf, where Americans are hated by just about everybody. At this point, Ward Carroll's novel sounds liitle different from half of the air-war techno-thrillers of the past 20 years. Yet "Punk's War" is still a cut above your usual aero-technothriller. The flyboys here are tired, not wired - replacing the adrenaline soaked, hell-raising yet duty-bound flyboys of other books with a more believable squadron of professional aviators so beaten down by the system, by their clueless superiors and the challenges of military aviation that they actually question the sanity of their remaining in the navy. Rather than your typical technothriller plot, "War" depicts more of a slice-of-life aboard a modern aircraft carrier, with hard-working fliers struggling against maintenance problems and an unclear mission as much as they do against possible threats from Iran or Iraq. Their biggest problem is actually closer to home, with Punk and other aviators placed at risk by their superiors who are in turns indifferent to their plight, indecisive in the crunch or blinded by their hunger for glory. Carrol (who flew as a radar intercept officer in the backseat of an F-14) bravely makes Punk the hero of the book while reserving for another pilot the role of being the squadron's top flier - that distinction best belongs to "Smoke". While Smoke best deserves command, he actually takes his orders from "Soup" Campbell, whose background in the "Blue Angels" and "Top Gun" masks incompetence and a hunger for glory that will put the other squadron members at risk. Though none of these characters really ring true, they ring loud - Carroll is more interested in them than the machines they fly, something you'll see from few authors today. Unfortunately, Carroll plays his hand too quickly - we immediately spot Smoke as a genuine professional, while Soup wastes no time becoming the "Frank Burns" of the story. This had the makings of the most original story in naval aviation since "Flight of the Intruder", but what ultimately hobbles the book is its own size. It's painfully short, as if Carroll suddenly grew tired of it. The ending is way too pat. A shame, but still a worthy read.
Rating: 
Summary: Slim story but still cut above the rest
Review: "Punk" is the pilot of a massive airplane - a US Navy F-14. So large and complex it requires two men to fly, the F-14 is one of the most powerful airplanes in the sky. How many times have we heard a story like that? Yet "Punk's War", set in the ominous skies of the Persian Gulf, is still a cut above your usual aero-technothriller. The flyboys here are tired, not wired. Instead of the adrenaline soaked yet duty-bound pilots of other books, these guys are so beaten down by the system, by their clueless superiors and the rigors of naval aviation that they actually question the sanity of their remaining in the navy. Most of the charachters are known only by their callsigns. Author Ward Carrol (who flew as a radar intercept officer in the backseat of an F-14) wisely avoids making his hero, the titular "Punk", the squadron Top Gun - that distinction best belongs to "Smoke". While Smoke best deserves command, he actually takes his orders from "Soup" Campbell, whose background in the "Blue Angels" and "Top Gun" mask an incompetent leader whose glory-seeking will put the other squadron members at risk. Though none of these charachters really ring true, they ring loud - Carroll is more interested in them than the machines they fly, something you'll see from few autrhors today. This had the makings of the most original story in naval aviation since "Flight of the Intruder", but what hobbles the book is its own size. It's painfully underfinished, as if Carroll suddenly grew tired of it. The ending is way too pat. A shame, but still a worthy read.
Rating:
Summary: Slim story but still cut above the rest
Review: "Punk" is the pilot of a massive airplane - a US Navy F-14. So large and complex it requires two men to fly, the F-14 is one of the most powerful airplanes in the sky. How many times have we heard a story like that? Yet "Punk's War", set in the ominous skies of the Persian Gulf, is still a cut above your usual aero-technothriller. The flyboys here are tired, not wired. Instead of the adrenaline soaked yet duty-bound pilots of other books, these guys are so beaten down by the system, by their clueless superiors and the rigors of naval aviation that they actually question the sanity of their remaining in the navy. Most of the charachters are known only by their callsigns. Author Ward Carrol (who flew as a radar intercept officer in the backseat of an F-14) wisely avoids making his hero, the titular "Punk", the squadron Top Gun - that distinction best belongs to "Smoke". While Smoke best deserves command, he actually takes his orders from "Soup" Campbell, whose background in the "Blue Angels" and "Top Gun" mask an incompetent leader whose glory-seeking will put the other squadron members at risk. Though none of these charachters really ring true, they ring loud - Carroll is more interested in them than the machines they fly, something you'll see from few autrhors today. This had the makings of the most original story in naval aviation since "Flight of the Intruder", but what hobbles the book is its own size. It's painfully underfinished, as if Carroll suddenly grew tired of it. The ending is way too pat. A shame, but still a worthy read.
Rating: 
Summary: How global peace is preserved.
Review: For one interested in modern Naval Aviation, Commander Carroll has written a fascinating volume for your information and pleasure. The book is a novel about aircraft carrier operations in the post Desert Storm era, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq. Here the reader is treated to an insider's look at the workings of an aircraft carrier at sea; launching and recovering jets, night flights, and living conditions aboard ship. But more importantly, Commander Carroll pulls back the cover of glitz and glamor of jet fighter pilots to reveal the inner workings of the mirad of inter-personal relationships that exist in a modern jet fighter squadron, aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier, and ashore in the Pentagon and other command-and-control headquarters that supervise and manage Naval Aviation. The reader is shown how the decisions of one man in a pressure situation can affect the delicate balance that exists between war and peace. But there's more. Commander Carroll has also entertwined throughout the entire 224 pages of this story the stuggle of character that is present at all levels of leadership. We see the difficult tension that always exists between honesty and deception, between integrity and pragmatism. There are many valuable lessons about ethics and leadership in these pages. Don't let the title fool you; this nations needs men like Punk. May his tribe increase!
Rating:
Summary: A "real" aviation book
Review: For those of us that thought Claney's books were good, Punk's War is a step above. The action is believable, the technical points are accurate and the emotions run true. For anyone looking for a "true" naval aviation work of art, this is it!
Rating: 
Summary: Aviator's Lame Attempt at a Modern Day "Mr Roberts"
Review: I tried to go into this book with an open mind, but it's just so...Aviator...oh, woe is the aviator, the surface guys just don't understand us, we just fly because we love to fly; all the typical stereotypes. I definitely agree with the Tom Clancy comparison, because it contains a lot of the self-serving whining that Clancy has regressed to in Executive Orders, Rainbow Six, and Bear and Dragon. I do give Mr Carroll credit for the broader picture of ennui and frustration he paints, and the scenes actually in the cockpit are very good. He is not a bad writer, but if you want the original version of this story, read Thomas Heggen's "Mr. Roberts."
Rating:
Summary: Tom Clancy Has Major Competition
Review: Looking at his subject - fighter jocks on an unamed carrier - from the inside looking out, Ward Carrol mixes plausible character plots with riveting accounts of high-tech warfare in the high-tech age. Only someone with the knowledge the author has - 17 years as a RIO (radar intercept officer)on a fighter- could relate the intricate ways in which modern air warfare is conducted. Carrol's insider knowledge far surpasses Tom Clancy's increaingly derivitive books with their all too familiar plots.
Rating:
Summary: Unlike Clancy, Not Everything Works
Review: Many of the reviews rightly focus on the military aspects of this book. And yet as a civilian, I found the book immensely satisfying as a character study and a slice-of-life portrait. Yes, they are Naval aviators on "the boat," and yes, the fact they are fighting a war impacts their behavior. But the focus of the story, and ultimately the power of the book, is on these men as men, as human beings. Carroll's gift is the three-dimensional qualities he gives his characters so that you recognize your own friends and pieces of yourself in them (both for good and for bad... we all have a little Soup in us). It is because of Carroll's strength as a writer that you fully experience their frustrations with their jobs, their bosses, and the system. And that experience is universal. We've all been there, and we all need to learn how to deal with our imperfect control over the imperfect systems we find ourselves in. Punk's War is an eloquent statement about life, not just the military.
Rating:
Summary: Not just for the military...
Review: Many of the reviews rightly focus on the military aspects of this book. And yet as a civilian, I found the book immensely satisfying as a character study and a slice-of-life portrait. Yes, they are Naval aviators on "the boat," and yes, the fact they are fighting a war impacts their behavior. But the focus of the story, and ultimately the power of the book, is on these men as men, as human beings. Carroll's gift is the three-dimensional qualities he gives his characters so that you recognize your own friends and pieces of yourself in them (both for good and for bad... we all have a little Soup in us). It is because of Carroll's strength as a writer that you fully experience their frustrations with their jobs, their bosses, and the system. And that experience is universal. We've all been there, and we all need to learn how to deal with our imperfect control over the imperfect systems we find ourselves in. Punk's War is an eloquent statement about life, not just the military.
Rating:
Summary: Unlike Clancy, Not Everything Works
Review: Punk's War doesn't have much to do with Iraq or Iran. Its bombs don't fall from planes as much as they float out of Ink Jet printers as fitness reports. Punk's war is against a strained supply chain, surly master chiefs, the human need to sleep and jets that are older than the pilot. It's a tale of the modern navy where one guy tries to do his job despite the best efforts of the chain of command to thwart him. Read this book.
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