Rating: 
Summary: Super Thriller, Super Story and a Mystery to Boot
Review: I went out and bought this book because of the reviews below. Everyone just seemed to be singing FIRE FLIGHT'S praises. Every review so positive, and then there was the bit about all those fires in California in the news. Anyway, I figured I couldn't go wrong and I was I ever right. FIRE FIGHT is one super thriller. From the very beginning, when Jeff Maze is spotted in the Caymans, we know something is not right, then when his plane crashes in the next chapter, it puts us on our guard through the rest of the book, on the edge of our seats, wondering what's going to happen next.I especially liked the part where the rock star Jimmy Wolf uses his influence with the government to pull a water carrying helicopter away from a town that was threatened by the fire to save his expensive home. The chopper drizzles water on the house, but Jimmy gets on the phone, calls his influential pals, demands they unload it all. The pilot says no, because he knows that to do so would destroy the home. Jimmy is furious, threatens the pilot, the pilot dumps the agua and Jimmy's home is flattened under the deluge. Poetic justice, I liked that. Then Jimmy went on to become a hero. I liked that too. There's lots of stuff going on in FIRE FLIGHT, but it's very easy to keep track of everybody, I never got lost and I didn't put the book down till I finished. Again this is a super thriller, a super book, a wonderful story and a mystery to boot.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the Best Thriller this Season!
Review: I've been in the business of wildland firefighting and airtankering for more than three decades, and I'm darn proud of the image of my brethren that John Nance paints in this grand novel. Clark Maxwell and Bill Deason, if not psuedonyms for real airtanker pilots, represent the best among us, and the flight sequences are steller. So, for that matter, is the character development, and the depth of Clark's attitudes and opinions and struggles, especially where Karen Jones is concerned. I've known at least three Karen Jones in the smokejumper circles, and Nance's descriptions are dead on. I'm aware there are some rancid comments from one of my mad-about-everything fellow pilots posted here, but disregard his nonsense. This is great fiction against the background of the real deal, and you can take that from one who's been there. Recommend this to evryone you can. If they listen to this man, we just might get some things fixed in Washington!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the Best Thriller this Season!
Review: I've been in the business of wildland firefighting and airtankering for more than three decades, and I'm darn proud of the image of my brethren that John Nance paints in this grand novel. Clark Maxwell and Bill Deason, if not psuedonyms for real airtanker pilots, represent the best among us, and the flight sequences are steller. So, for that matter, is the character development, and the depth of Clark's attitudes and opinions and struggles, especially where Karen Jones is concerned. I've known at least three Karen Jones in the smokejumper circles, and Nance's descriptions are dead on. I'm aware there are some rancid comments from one of my mad-about-everything fellow pilots posted here, but disregard his nonsense. This is great fiction against the background of the real deal, and you can take that from one who's been there. Recommend this to evryone you can. If they listen to this man, we just might get some things fixed in Washington!
Rating:
Summary: TOP FLIGHT AUTHOR READING
Review: It's often a treat and a privilege to hear an audio book read by the author. Such is the case with "Fire Flight" read by popular John J. Nance. He brings an understanding and nuance to the tale that even the best vocal performer may not achieve. Fiery infernos are spreading rapidly, very quickly out of control and threatening to engulf two national parks. Flames will also level countless homes and buildings in the park. Fighting the fires is an antiquated fleet of aircraft called air tankers. These planes should have been replaced long ago to say nothing of risking their pilots lives as they attempt to contain the raging blazes. Clark Maxwell, an experienced pilot had no intention of joining this battle until he receives a call from Jerry Stein, a friend and owner of a fleet of air tankers. Soon after Maxwell becomes a part of the fire fighters mysterious air disasters begin to occur. It's not long before he has good reason to believe that an evil force is behind these crashes. Winds are fanning the flames and people are panicking. As Maxwell probes further his investigation causes him to question officials he would never have believed might be involved in such a horrific conflagration. Those who like their thrillers laced with action will find much to like in "Fire Flight". - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: TOP FLIGHT AUTHOR READING
Review: It's often a treat and a privilege to hear an audio book read by the author. Such is the case with "Fire Flight" read by popular John J. Nance. He brings an understanding and nuance to the tale that even the best vocal performer may not achieve. Fiery infernos are spreading rapidly, very quickly out of control and threatening to engulf two national parks. Flames will also level countless homes and buildings in the park. Fighting the fires is an antiquated fleet of aircraft called air tankers. These planes should have been replaced long ago to say nothing of risking their pilots lives as they attempt to contain the raging blazes. Clark Maxwell, an experienced pilot had no intention of joining this battle until he receives a call from Jerry Stein, a friend and owner of a fleet of air tankers. Soon after Maxwell becomes a part of the fire fighters mysterious air disasters begin to occur. It's not long before he has good reason to believe that an evil force is behind these crashes. Winds are fanning the flames and people are panicking. As Maxwell probes further his investigation causes him to question officials he would never have believed might be involved in such a horrific conflagration. Those who like their thrillers laced with action will find much to like in "Fire Flight". - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: TOP FLIGHT AUTHOR READING
Review: It's often a treat and a privilege to hear an audio book read by the author. Such is the case with "Fire Flight" read by popular John J. Nance. He brings an understanding and nuance to the tale that even the best vocal performer may not achieve. Fiery infernos are spreading rapidly, very quickly out of control and threatening to engulf two national parks. Flames will also level countless homes and buildings in the park. Fighting the fires is an antiquated fleet of aircraft called air tankers. These planes should have been replaced long ago to say nothing of risking their pilots lives as they attempt to contain the raging blazes. Clark Maxwell, an experienced pilot had no intention of joining this battle until he receives a call from Jerry Stein, a friend and owner of a fleet of air tankers. Soon after Maxwell becomes a part of the fire fighters mysterious air disasters begin to occur. It's not long before he has good reason to believe that an evil force is behind these crashes. Winds are fanning the flames and people are panicking. As Maxwell probes further his investigation causes him to question officials he would never have believed might be involved in such a horrific conflagration. Those who like their thrillers laced with action will find much to like in "Fire Flight". - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Death, Duty, Love, Honor, Treachery, This Book Has it All
Review: John Nance has long been one of my favorite authors. He does for the airplane what Dick Frances does for the race horse. When Nance writes he puts you in the cockpit with the pilot and copilot. You're there as they take the plane off, as they fly it, as they land it and as they get in trouble in it. He puts his pilots in incredibly unbelievable situations and, with a deft few lines of prose, manages to make us buy into it. Is it possible for a lone pilot to land a plane upside down on a truck racing down a runway and have the pilot survive? Well, I guess so, because I was there, I felt the pilots fear, than his acceptance when he knew he was going to die, then his hope when offered a possible solution, than his cool detachment as he went about doing what he had to do to get the aircraft down, and finally his relief when he walked away from it all. Only John Nance could write a scene like that. In Mr. Nance's other works you pretty much knew who the good guys and bad guys are. In FIRE FLIGHT you kind of don't. The distinction between good and bad is blurred, the characters are more flawed than in his past books, more human. So human that you might almost be reading about someone you know. However there is one bad guy that stands out and that's the fire. The fire is definitely a very bad hombre and it takes some very brave people to combat it. Nance gives us brave pilots, brave smokejumpers, a brave but sleazy owner of the firefighting watertanker fleet, a brave but arrogant rock star and assorted other brave individuals. Even the guys we don't like are brave, I suppose because, good or bad, it takes a mighty brave person to combat a raging wildfire. The book opens in the Caymans where we see Jeff Maze, one of the DC6B watertanker pilots. We instinctively know he's up to no good, after all, if you've done any kind of reading, you know the Cayman Islands are the Caribbean's answer to Switzerland, secret bank accounts abound. However Maze goes down to a fiery death in the next chapter, so we know right away that there is something rotten in Denmark, as Shakespeare would say, because we learn the plane should have been inspected and any problems should have been detected and fixed. So there you have it, the beginning of a super story that has it all. Death, duty, honor, love, treachery, lying, deceit, bravery, exciting flying scenes, bar brawls and the backdrop of it all, a fire that will take your breath away as your fingers burn through the pages. Pardon the pun. Jeremiah McCain
Rating:
Summary: Fire Fighters by Air, Mystery Most Exquisite
Review: Misty Ryan is on vacation in the Caymans when she spots boyfriend Jeff Maze. Impossible, Jeff is supposed to be back in the States. There was no reason for him to be in the Caribbean. Misty gives chase, Jeff alludes her. She goes to the airport, sees an aging DC6B just like the one Jeff flies when he's dumping water on raging fires. Again, impossible, it was against federal law for those tankers to be used outside of the States. She takes another look at the plane across the field, feels a momentary flush of relief as the tail isn't painted the red of the firefighting fleet. But her relief is short lived, because in the next instant she sees Jeff walking out toward the plane with another woman. Back in the U.S. months later Jeff goes down in one of Jerry Stein's firefighting tankers while battling a raging fire that threatens Yellowstone. One of the wings ripped off the plane and that shouldn't have happened if the planes had been maintained as they were supposed to be as required by law. And thus begins a different kind of thriller for John Nance. Yes, there may be just a few international overtones in the conclusion, but this is mostly a story about a group of pilots who fly the water tankers and the smoke jumpers who parachute into the middle of a fire to fight it at its heart. There is love, intrigue, death and even a little comedy. And there a mystery that'll have you guessing and re-guessing while you burn the midnight oil as you try and figure out whodunit in this super five star book. Reviewed by Stephanie Sane
Rating: 
Summary: action-packed forest fire fighting tale
Review: Near West Yellowstone, Wyoming the fires are out of control. They threaten the two nearby popular National parks and the local populace. The National Forest Service is undermanned and the outlook is bleak. Air tanker fleet owner Jerry Stein knows they need more specialized help so he asks his friend former fire bomber pilot Clark Maxwell to join the fray, which he does. Besides fighting the out of control fires, Clark must deal with seeing his personal "pinup girl" married smoke jumper Karen Jones. A pilot dies in a plane originally intended for Clark's use. A second pilot almost has his wings clipped in the same way. Fighting fire and his feelings for Karen, Clark finds time to investigate who and why someone is sabotaging the planes. The action is hot and heavy as expected form a John J. Nance thriller, but the author also makes sure his key characters, especially the star, are fully understood. Clark is a strong protagonist, who struggles between his secret love and doing what he believes his right. The sabotage conspiracy seems a bit stretched, but then again in a world where jets crash into buildings perhaps not. Fans will enjoy this action-packed tale that brings alive the dangers of forest fire fighting. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Sabotage or Neglect, Either Way Death is the Result
Review: Pilot Clark Maxwell is horrified when Jeff Maze's flight goes down. They were flying separate planes, old DC6Bs that had been converted to water tankers to fight forest fires. Jeff had been piloting the plane Clark was supposed to fly. Then, all of a sudden, he's got problems of his own. One of his engines goes and it's all he and his co-pilot can do to baby the plane back to the field. Then another engine flames out. They barely make it back. Clark wonders about the service the planes were supposed to be getting and about Trent Jones, the head mechanic, even as he finds himself falling for the mechanic's wife, Karen. Clark surreptitiously inspects some of the planes, finds that service that was supposed to be performed hadn't been done. He suspects the owner of the fleet, Jerry Stein, because Jerry had been know to play it pretty close to the vest. At first Clark thinks maybe Jerry had been fudging the maintenance to save a buck, then he suspects his boss may have been using the planes illegally and not writing down the hours, thus making the time between service a lot longer than legally allowable, but the real reason behind the mysterious crash and others to come will always be just beyond his grasp, in fact the truth may never be known. This strong character driven story grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go until long after I'd finished. Nance successfully takes his readers into the heat and the heart of raging infernos, the air above them and the towns threatened by them. He draws you into the lives, loves, hopes and fears of the pilots, firefighters and smokejumpers. He is a master of intrigue and he spins a mystery I guarantee that you won't figure out until the very end. Review Submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
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