Storming Heaven

Rating:
Summary: Still think it can't happen?
Review: A demented arms dealer with a foreign name (Henri Cazaux) and a grudge against the US government accidentally hits upon a plan to unleash hell against it. Once brutalized by American soldiers, Cazaux now deals in weapons that will be used against all Americans. On the brink of capture, flying a cargo plan full of ammo, Cazaux accidentally bombs an airport. Realizing how defenseless airports and American cities are in general, and how much havoc he can raise when he wants to, Cazuax sets off on a terror campaign using airliners stocked with explosives to bomb airports. The government responds by stationing Patriot batteries around airports, but Cazaux finds a way past those as well. The only man who can end the reign of terror is Ian Hardcastle � the sort of strident, no-nonsense genius that drives all of author Dale Brown�s books. (Usually, the starring role is given to Brad Elliot of �Flight of the Old Dog� and its sequels). Hardcastle�s biggest obstacles aren�t left by the wily Frenchman, but by the government bureaucracy, the liberals and the week-kneed administration that reflects all that is evil of the Clinton administration. (Though I think �Chains of Command� was more overt...against the Clintons). Unfortunately, this has got to be one of Brown�s weakest books � though most of them fall into a pattern (geo-political crisis erupts just as some innovative USAF officers perfect a new secret weapon), this one just has random destruction. The only hint that the plot is proceeding anywhere is the ferocity of the attacks and the cover-art on my copy showing what looks like Air Force One on a direct course for Washington. Double-unfortunate is how this book will likely be resurrected over the next few weeks to cynically cash in on today�s coordinated terror attacks. Nothing else in this book really deserves the attention � Cazaux is as typical a demented villain as Brown can create while his followers are suitably mercenary in their motives. When it looks like the plot �after a massive climax near the end � will dust itself off and begin anew, the supporting cast of villains take matters into their own hands, as if they�ve had enough of this book. Benefit from their experience, and read something else. For massive slam-bang Dale Brown, read �Fatal Terrain� (sorry, haven�t read �Warrior Class� yet).

Rating:
Summary: A Real Nail-Biter!
Review: Be prepared to have plenty of time to read before you pick this up & start reading, as you won't be able to put it down. One of Brown's best works so far. It brings the reader right into the action and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire book. "STORMING HEAVEN" Will make you think twice before 'hanging around' an airport! It was especially tense for me as I live in the area where the first part of "STORMING HEAVEN" takes place, and I know the area well. Even without that connection, "STORMING HEAVEN" is a must-read for all who enjoy Dale Brown's books and those like him who write about aviation and the all of the excitement which surround it. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Did Hollywood write this Book?
Review: I like Dale Brown and his work but this book is not good. There are way too many holes in the book. The way the bad guys are able to escape the inept government at every turn is aggravating. Also, midway through the book, the main terrorist discovers that he is the sword of Satan from a tarot reading women. What is that whole section book about? Totally out of place in military thriller. The story is interesting, but the book didn't flow like most of Dale Brown's book and the many holes insult the reader's intelligence. Overall I give 2 stars because of the interesting story, but not one of Dale Brown's best works.

Rating:
Summary: An example of life imitating art.
Review: I originally read this book a couple of years ago and enjoyed it greatly but at the time I didn't give the fictional events depicted within much thought. However, as of Sept. 11, 2001 they have become chillingly real. Its incredible how much of Dale Brown's plot has become fact. Its enough to make me wonder whether Bin Laden has read this book or not. God help us all.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting, but...
Review: I was glued to my chair by this book. I thought it moved well and I liked the military technology and jargon. However, I was turned off my Mr. Brown's thinly veiled dislike of the Clinton administration. Mr. Brown should keep his politics out of his books.

Rating:
Summary: This is one for the trash.
Review: Review of "Storming Heaven" by Dale Brown.

It seems almost impossible to buy a well-written action novel. They all seem to be written by people who haven't learned how to write a book with characters, real characters who stand up off the page. "Storming Heaven" is, regrettably, no exception.

"Storming Heaven" is yet another of those books written by men who like to have their photos taken standing on military vehicles wearing baseball caps. This book is written in 'head hopping' mode, which is usually reseved for romance novels. The writer hops about from character to character. After a few pages the unfortunate reader feels quite dizzy.

One might hope that the publisher could advise this writer on learning how to write in a focussed viewpoint. This would be a slim hope as the book seems to have been published from its first draft and without benefit of an editor. An example of the nonsense:

(The viewpoint for the moment is supposed to be with Vincenti, a fighter pilot)
The stress in the controller's voice was painfully obvious and Vincenti knew why. As soon as he heard a break, Cazaux interjected . . .

In the above, it should be 'Vincenti interjected' not Cazaux, who is fleeing from the fighter. Evidently the writer can't remember which viewpoint he's in, so there's not much hope for the reader.

The text is chock full of acronyms, all of which are lovingly explained - not once, but over and over. 'The Air-Force E3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning And Communications System)' . . . 'The WAO, or Weapons Assignment Officer, was the overall supervisor of the section of the command center that controlled the fighters from takeoff to landing and monitored the entire intercept." . . . (yawn) and if I see one more time, 'The HUD (Head Up Display) I shall scream. Boring, boring, boring. If the author really needs to soak in acronmys then let him include a glossary of terms. Better still let him write nonfiction. He should have had plenty of practice since this book is written like a stuffy nonfiction weapons manual.

Apart from the above, the writing style is extremely dull. When Brown introduces a character he stops the story dead, with large passages of exposition concerning who this is, where they went to school, and so on, instead of gradually releasing such information a little at a time while keeping the story alive. E.G:
' Hardcastle was tall and lean, with gray hair, a bit longer than he wore it in his Coast Guard days, swept gracefully back from his forehead. "Character lines" were deeply etched around his narrow blue eyes, giving him a hawklike image to match his politics. He wore lightly tinted glasses now . . "
- and on and on and on, nearly two pages of this boring tripe. This description begins on page five. You'd think that Hardcastle, from his two solid pages of yawn-making, 'was', and 'were', and 'what he was wearing' must be a crucial character, but Hardcastle then disappears as a character and still hasn't reappeared by page 105, which is the point I was unable to continue reading this pulp and consigned it to the trash. Which is where it belongs. 'Nuff said.

Rating:
Summary: excellent ......excellent
Review: When I watched the WTC bombing-by-jet in horror, my thoughts almost immediately turned to this book, which I had read several years ago. At the time, it scared me because it was so plausible. Now that it's happened, it seems even more amazing... I need to go back and re-read it.

I enjoy pretty much all of Dale Brown's writing. Unlike many of his contemporary "military action /high-tech adventure" authors, he knows how to write compelling characters, without sacrificing the technology and attention to strategy that attracts readers to this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Foresight of America's vulnerability to terrorism
Review: When I watched the WTC bombing-by-jet in horror, my thoughts almost immediately turned to this book, which I had read several years ago. At the time, it scared me because it was so plausible. Now that it's happened, it seems even more amazing... I need to go back and re-read it.

I enjoy pretty much all of Dale Brown's writing. Unlike many of his contemporary "military action /high-tech adventure" authors, he knows how to write compelling characters, without sacrificing the technology and attention to strategy that attracts readers to this genre.

Rating:
Summary: The Most Thrilling Action Story
Review: When it comes to the real thriller rather than aero techno thriller, Another Brown's perspective took the side inner country where the enemy have been there planning what we were not expecting. The Most Thrilling Action Story. Brilliant!