Rating: 
Summary: Typical Brown - no surprises in these shadows
Review: "Shadows of Steel" tells of a covert air war against the militant Iranian government and its latest military asset, the Aircraft Carrier Khomeni. (This is actually the Russian carrier Varyag which changes owners from time to time and reappears with different flags and names in different Brown books - I think it makes its last appearance in the next Brown book, "Chains of Command" under the banner of Red China). To combat the threat of an expansionist Iran, the United States borrows a few B-2 Bombers, arms them with some unconventional weapons and sends them into battle. Leading the charge is the now legendary Pat Mclanahan, Brown's somewhat mythic hero (he's becoming more like the sort of laconic hero Eastwood played in those spaghetti westerns - he first appears "flying" a B-2 simulator, but isn't introduced; nevertheless, his "get-it-done" attitude makes his identity clear from the start). On the homefront, opposition to the secret airwar coems from the expected cabal of indigenous american baddies - left wing politicos and jealous navy types who seethe at seeing the USAF grab the glory.Other than that, we don't really have a particularly enlightening Dale Brown entry, and you can find more of whatever grabs you from his other books (more technobabble and tactical-aviation-speak from "Battle Born"; more large-scale combat from "Chains of Command", "Night of the Hawk" or "Sky Masters"; more air combat from "Day of the Cheetah".) Brown seems just to recycling his old stuff (evil regime gets too uppity; send in soem new hi-tech unit and weapons created just in time) and doesn't craft a very realistic story upon which to stick them. To give you an idea of how out of touch Brown is with the region in which he is focused on, consider the love interest here - a female Saudi soldier, in a country that doesn't even allow women the right to drive, or do much of anything. Yeah, that's perfectly plausible. Sick with those other books, but give this one a wave-off.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply high-tech!
Review: A really great story, complete with ground action, romance, drama and lots of action-packed suspense, guaranteed to make you not want to put this book down for the next few hours. Most high tech novel Brown has ever written since Hammerheads and Night of the Hawk. A real thriller!
Rating:
Summary: Dale Brown does it again
Review: Alright, this was the very first book of Dale Browns' I have read. Now, I have 5, with another 5 on order. This book is excellent. This one talks about the B-2 Bomber, and modifying it. Although I recomend you read Sky Masters first, you can read this before Sky Masters, like I did. This one has Patrick suiting up on a B-2 and going to fight the Iranians.
Rating: 
Summary: A frightening look at what could happen in the middle-east.
Review: As always Mr. Brown is doing a very good job of turning out very good books. This book is very good but only if read in the correct order in which the books go. If you don't read his books in chronological order they won't be as exciting. None the less this book is a smash thriller in itself espcially with all of the new charecters he introduces you to.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book - Inaccurate Cover
Review: Dale Brown almost always writes gripping stuff. Shadows of Steel is no different. While Dale Brown certainly takes quite a few creative liberties and some of the scenarios in his books may seem far fetched, Shadows of Steel is generally realistic. Iran is the key country in this book, and Brown gives them the military might to hold all the power in the Persian Gulf. It's up to Brown's hero Patrick McLanahan to destroy the Iranian threat using America's finest, the B-2 Bomber. The only real problem I had with the book was its cover. If you read Cyrillic and know your Russian navy, the aircraft carrier on the cover is the "Kiev". Brown's carrier in the book is the "Varyag", a totally different ship than the cover, and which was not completed and currently remains in dry dock in the Ukraine, rusting away indefinitely. Despite the incorrect cover, I praise Dale Brown for his originality in predicting the sale of the carrier to China, something which is very likely to happen. Another good book by Dale Brown that every serious military techno-thriller enthusiast should have on their bookshelf. For people who don't like all the technical information that is critical in a book in this genre, stay away! Dale Brown puts all the technical information in his books for a reason, to make them realistic. People who get overwhelmed by these kinds of books shouldn't write negative reviews just because of that. If you don't like technical information, don't read techno-thrillers. But don't put down the author for authenticity. Still, serious fans will enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read!!!! I've read all of Dale Brown's Books!
Review: Dale has brought back some great characters and introduced some new ones who are just as memorable.
I had a hard time putting this book down, and I'm waiting anxiously for the next one. Keep up the good work
Rating:
Summary: Beeaauutiful.....
Review: Gotta love it! Dale Brown's 9th novel, Shadows of Steel features a battle-scarred B-2A stealth bomber countering the threat of an Iranian aircraft carrier and an Iranian military coup. The novel did a tremendous job of conveying the dark fascination of carrying out precision strikes unseen by your enemy. In fact, the only complaint I could have was that in the dialogue everybody kept saying "B-2A", whereas it seems to me they would usually just say "B-2". But what do I know? Maybe the story relied a little bit too much on non-lethal weapons, and there was a minor innacuracy involving the maximum speed of the AIM-54C Phoenix missile, but these minor problems don't take much from the story. A must-read if you're a Dale Brown fan and a stealth bomber fan. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: GREAT READ-- also recommend THE OMEGA MISSILE
Review: I enjoyed this book greatly. An interesting premise-- given current events. I also recommend THE OMEGA MISSILE which I just read. Another scary book about what might happen if things go wrong!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing......too much techno-babble....
Review: I have been a fan of Dale Brown since Flight of the Old Dog and have read and enjoyed most of his work. Shadows of Steel however falls far short of Dale's other adventures. The old characters are welcomed back but the development of the new characters is shallow. He fills so much space with the techno-babble that one loses sight of the rather thin plot line. I enjoyed the fight sequences of Hammerheads, Day of the Cheetah and Silver Tower because they were done without every other word being a weapons acronym - a non-military reader could follow along and still remember the plot after the conclusion of the battle. With Shadows of Steel, I found myself skimming pages, looking for the end of the battle sequence, so I could return to plot and dialogue. This is the first lemon I've picked up from Mr. Brown and certainly won't give up on him because of it. I'm still hoping to read another book as good as Flight of the Old Dog, from any author in this genre. That, in my humble opinion was Dale's masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing......too much techno-babble....
Review: I have been a fan of Dale Brown since Flight of the Old Dog and have read and enjoyed most of his work. Shadows of Steel however falls far short of Dale's other adventures. The old characters are welcomed back but the development of the new characters is shallow. He fills so much space with the techno-babble that one loses sight of the rather thin plot line. I enjoyed the fight sequences of Hammerheads, Day of the Cheetah and Silver Tower because they were done without every other word being a weapons acronym - a non-military reader could follow along and still remember the plot after the conclusion of the battle. With Shadows of Steel, I found myself skimming pages, looking for the end of the battle sequence, so I could return to plot and dialogue. This is the first lemon I've picked up from Mr. Brown and certainly won't give up on him because of it. I'm still hoping to read another book as good as Flight of the Old Dog, from any author in this genre. That, in my humble opinion was Dale's masterpiece.
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