Chains of Command

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding work, but will life imitate art?
Review: Great book! It keeps the reader glued as to how the invasion of the Ukraine and Moldova is happening and how the Soviet Union is rising again. Col. Tychina, Lt. Col Mace and Maj. Furness are in-depth characters. I personally had the privledge of actually meeting Dale Brown and getting my copy of this book autographed by him. Great author and another great work!

Rating:
Summary: Yick.
Review: I had been a casual fan of Brown's work until I paid money for this monstrosity. The plot is dull- a lame rehash of the countless "rise of the old USSR" that have flooded the genre since the events of 1991. The characters are weak, and the plot twists are weaker. Worst of all is Brown's disgusting Clinton-bashing, so naked in its hostility that it makes Brown look foolish and petty. Maybe Brown should have spent less time whining about Clinton than writing a better story. Better yet- he could give me my money back.

Rating:
Summary: Too technical
Review: I have read several books by Brown and he seems to suffer from Tom Clancey's urge to describe in minute detail the entire operations of a submarine. Only Brown's forte is airplanes and in the course of his plot he wants you to know as much about the operations of an airplane as he does. This creates many pages which I just gloss over hoping that something else in the overall plot will surface which will hold my attention. I did not even finish this book.

Rating:
Summary: First time Dale Brown reader - enjoyed it to the end
Review: I haven't read many of these war/espionage novels, but this one I picked up before a long flight and I stayed glued until the finish. I thought that the F-111 flying narratives and the techno-aviation stuff were terrific (maybe because I'm a pilot). The political intrigue was well constructed, and perhaps even scary because it seemed too close to reality. The clash between the Turkish, and the US Air Force's use of women combat pilots, was also an intriguing element for me and I thought that Brown did an astute job in portraying the depth of cultural mismatch. Fast moving and easy to read, yet tense and exciting.

Rating:
Summary: get the facts right
Review: I kind of like many of Dale's books, although I would rate them consistently lower than Clancy or Bond. This one is however below average. The first half is decent, especially the Desert Storm mission, although the top brass' reaction to the latter is unrealistic. The second half is a let-down, with totally unbelievable actions. And the Clinton bashing alone takes at least two points of the rating. By the way, maybe Mr Brown could buy a decent map of the world? The Hong-Kong gaff in Fatal Terrain has been highlighted before, but here he manages to mix up Slovakia (formed from the former Czechoslovakia) with Slovenia (formed from the former Yugoslavia), even in the map included in the book.

Rating:
Summary: The Action Is Measured In Kilotons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: If you like action, suspense, and well developped characters, you'll love Chains of Command. It features the RF-111G bomber and a new series of characters (if you're wondering, YES this novel is linked to the "McLanahan Timeline", though you don't get very many character crossovers). Some of the characters, like Lt.Colonel Daren Mace, you just got to love, and there's also an assortmant of characters that I hate even if they're only fictional, such as the White House's First Lady who doesn't know when to shut up. This novel also features stunning technology such as the AGM-131 Short Range Attack Missile (SRAM). This is the third Dale Brown Novel to go nuclear, and it also features a short but spectacular appearance by the top-secret "Aurora" spyplane. Essential reading!

Rating:
Summary: The last Dale Brown book I ever read
Review: Petty politics undermines what otherwise might have been a passable action novel. Brown's grudge against the Clintons gets the better of him and skews the novel away from its otherwise interesting plotline, toward the author's apparently bottomless hatred of the First Family. One gets the feeling that only the intervention of his publisher prevented Brown from using even cruder language, particularly in his depiction of the First Lady. I respect the fact that Brown may have strong feelings agains the Clintons, but other authors I have read do a much better job of keeping their novels from having such a vindictive tone -- next to Brown, Tom Clancy seems downright even-handed. Unless he only wants to appeal to the most bitter of Clinton-haters, Brown should consider toning down the rhetoric and focusing on fiction in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been a bit more realistic
Review: Southeast Europe is a region, which is highly explosive. The strike on Yugoslavia and the response of China, Greece and Russia to this strike proves this. So Dale Brown took a nice, clean shot when he decided to write about a conflict between Russia, Ukraine Turkey and a few other Balkan states. Although the book was based on a much possible scenario, I believe some ideas or 'fears' were too exaggerated to be realistic. First of all, it is seen that Russia doesn't have the power or even the fuel (I am not in anyway teasing the Russian readers and I know that Turkey was once in a similar situation after the Cyprus Offensive of 1974) to operate her Black Sea Fleet. Under present circumstances, it seems impossible for Russia to lead such an offensive all by itself. Another point I want to make is about the Turkish Military Forces. Although Turkey is 99 % Muslim, it is also famous with 'Raki'. I wonder if this irony pulled Mr. Browns' attention even a bit. I know a couple of Turkish Military officers, some ex- ones too and had the chance to meet some of the T-37, T-33 and T-38 pilots from Cigli Air Base, Izmir and F-16 crew from Murted Air Base, Ankara. I can assure Mr. Brown that the Turkish Military treats using alcohol outside active duty not much different than the Americans do. And they certainly don't treat woman combat pilots in the way he explained, especially if they're American. The Turkish Air Force and Navy will have some combat woman pilots flying the F-4's or F-16's, probably in the following 5 to 10 years. It may seem as though that I'm purely trying to defend my military and air force, but I can't catch such errors, small in appearance but huge in meaning, for other countries. Maybe there were such under-evaluated facts about Ukraine too. All I want to say is that Mr. Brown should have done better on research. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Brown for writing such a marvelous book that I enjoyed reading, except for a few chapters.

Rating:
Summary: Dale Brown's got a good one but didn't completed his homewor
Review: This is my fourth book by Dale Brown.Although i am a fan, i can not say this is the best novel of him.Again this time the aviation stuff and scenario was very good but i think Mr.Brown did not do his homework well.He should have made a better research about the countries and armies he is telling in the book.He reflects that women are treated as second class people in Turkey and even a Turkish Squadron Commander insults an allied female officer because he thinks women can not fight.Things seem quite acceptaple when you look from 8000 miles away.But when you get closer and do a good research you see the fact that women are serving in the Turkish Army ,Air Force and Navy for 75 years.With the most sophisticated weapons, well trained personnel and modern commanders Turkish Army is not the one described in this book.Other than this matter i can say i missed ol'McLanahan whom i got used to see in 3 out of 5 Dale Brown book.Anyway Mr. Brown is a good storyteller so you will definitely enjoy this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Brown is simply the best!
Review: This was my first book of Dale Brown. I finished it in a couple of days and then experienced some kind of blackness. I didn't have another of his books. So I simply went to Brussels and visited an English bookshop. They had all of his titles in their racks. In one day, I bought all other books. I now savour them. I read other authors like Tom Clancy, Harold Coyle, Richard Herman, etc. They are good but no one comes close to Dale Brown. I just hope he continues to write in this way for years to come.