Rating: 
Summary: Great Amalgam Of His Body Of Work To Date
Review: "Chains Of Command, Flight Of The Night Hawk, And The Tin Man", all lend past events and technology to Mr. Brown's newest work, "Warrior Class". The balance of the content is what I believe his readers have always enjoyed in his books, and further, this latest work also diverges a bit from those that came before. It adds uncertainty and questions the most fundamental reasons why the wizards from Nevada exist and what justifies their conduct. This book is a departure from previous works, not because the previous work had become stale, rather Mr. Brown appears to be giving a new direction and extending the life, legitimacy, and reader interest for the characters in his previous 12 Novels. I think the integrity he shows and the respect he demonstrates to his readers is something that many other Novelists who just turn out repetitive modifications of their previous work should take note of.My personal issue with this book is the reappearance of, "Tin Man Technology". The original book was my least favorite, and this time all was well until they literally started jumping. The technology used in the book is fascinating, and fun even when it gets a bit outrageous, but the Tin Man stills really strains credulity. The same can be said for some of the other technology, however there performance is more plausible. It would be interesting to know how far ahead Mr. Brown plans these books for they neither have continuity issues, nor do they resort to outrageous filler to make the stories work. The next book should be very interesting if it continues this time line, for as I mentioned Mr. Brown has radically altered some fundamental premises going back to, "The Flight Of The Old Dog". If you have enjoyed any of his previous books you will find much to like with his latest. The Tin Man is an aspect I could do without, but I'm sure other readers love it. Some of the past masters of this genre are either gone or have just become imitators of their early and best work. Mr. Brown has reached a, "Baker's Dozen", and he shows no sign of letting his readers down. The reason for the 4.5 star rating is that blasted Tin Trooper, and the initials of a new political player! Enjoy, well worth the time!
Rating: 
Summary: Brown maintains his mastery
Review: "Warrior Class" is Brown at his best.This is one of those rare novels that forces me to put work deadlines aside and forget about sleep. Having read his previous 12 titles, the characters seemed like old friends and even a few enemies. One of Brown's great gifts is transparently overcoming your credulity, so you accept without notice the occasional flight into another universe. Brown uses one device repeatedly to give his "white hat" characters a human side while relentlessly destroying the enemies of humanity: continual thoughts of and flashbacks to spouses, children, family, all those things that make us melt. The bad guys, of course, never think this way: they just plain enjoy murder and mayhem. Makes no difference to me because Brown's depictions of military action in the air are superb. Hard to believe in this era when wars are fought for real on your TV screen, that any author can get your pulse and to beat faster, but this is precisely what Brown does. He's a great writer of military adventures. Put "Warrior Class" on your reading list - and consider his other 12 books as well. Jerry
Rating:
Summary: Solid
Review: Author Dale Brown always writes a solid story, and it is
crammed with technical details that most readers will have to
actually study in order to follow his story-line. If a reader
tries to skim through this one, he will lose most of the feeling, and his time will be largely wasted. Brown's books
are meant to be delved into, and some time is required. His
books would benefit from a glossary of terms, because so much
military jargon is used.
In this one, the heroes, US military men, some current, some
with that in their background, have to fight a lackluster
US President while they engage some Russian thugs intent on
cornering a large portion of the non-Arab oil in the world.
The Russian is a modern Russian mafia-type, who is a murderer
who is enthralled by the concept of more and more power, and
all the money he can corner. He has been a "white-slaver,"
drug lord, enforcer, and all that is bad, but he has also
been successful in making much money and being able to bribe
officials of many countries on a large scale. His scheme is
to use geopolitics on a world scale, with all that extremely
large bribes and the promise of more, and to get access to
several former Soviet republics so he can built a very long,
protected, oil pipe line, so he can sell oil to Western Europe
and corner that market.
He is so ruthless and without scruples, he attracts the attention of the new-age US warriors, who have to use the very
latest in US weapons, including those not officially in use
by the US military. Those new warriors dazzle their opponents
with modern technology unknown to most, including the reader,
but the author makes it all very interesting. We keep wanting
to learn more about the most modern weapons being developed, because we hope our US forces will actually have such weapons
available for their use in the near future.
Brown has a lot of access to the most up to date information,
so perhaps his writing forecasts the future of weaponry.
An interesting story with a lot of detail that moves along
and keeps the readers' interests.
Rating:
Summary: Solid
Review: Author Dale Brown always writes a solid story, and it is
crammed with technical details that most readers will have to
actually study in order to follow his story-line. If a reader
tries to skim through this one, he will lose most of the feeling, and his time will be largely wasted. Brown's books
are meant to be delved into, and some time is required. His
books would benefit from a glossary of terms, because so much
military jargon is used.
In this one, the heroes, US military men, some current, some
with that in their background, have to fight a lackluster
US President while they engage some Russian thugs intent on
cornering a large portion of the non-Arab oil in the world.
The Russian is a modern Russian mafia-type, who is a murderer
who is enthralled by the concept of more and more power, and
all the money he can corner. He has been a "white-slaver,"
drug lord, enforcer, and all that is bad, but he has also
been successful in making much money and being able to bribe
officials of many countries on a large scale. His scheme is
to use geopolitics on a world scale, with all that extremely
large bribes and the promise of more, and to get access to
several former Soviet republics so he can built a very long,
protected, oil pipe line, so he can sell oil to Western Europe
and corner that market.
He is so ruthless and without scruples, he attracts the attention of the new-age US warriors, who have to use the very
latest in US weapons, including those not officially in use
by the US military. Those new warriors dazzle their opponents
with modern technology unknown to most, including the reader,
but the author makes it all very interesting. We keep wanting
to learn more about the most modern weapons being developed, because we hope our US forces will actually have such weapons
available for their use in the near future.
Brown has a lot of access to the most up to date information,
so perhaps his writing forecasts the future of weaponry.
An interesting story with a lot of detail that moves along
and keeps the readers' interests.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Guys abhor a vacuum
Review: Dale Brown infuses Warrior Class with more politics than in previous books I have read. While I am not sure his President Thorn could be elected, I am intrigued by the problem he creates. The new President decides it is time for America to fold her tent in Europe and Asia and return all forward deployed forces back to CONUS. This is isolationism taken to its extreme. This creates a huge power vacuum (that pretty well mirrors the inadequacies of the real world European Union). Into the breach steps a Russian Mafioso named Kazakov. He gains access to a stealth bomber of dubious origin and commences to prosecute a private foreign policy. There is plenty of cutting edge military hardware and air to air combat in the book. But the real crux of the matter is the world that emerges as America withdraws. I think most American would appreciate an occaisional thank you instead of stick in the eye, but there is a very serious and underlying message here: Can we as a nation afford to luxury of packing our bags and retreating behind our oceans, or do we have a national security interest in maintaining a global military posture? There is plenty here to consider and it is wrapped up in a good story. Douglas De Bono
Author of ROGUE STATE
and the upcoming Terror Wars Series
Rating: 
Summary: Warrior Class - Vigilante Fantasy
Review: Dale Brown's latest journey into his fantasy of the "good vigilante" (Warrior Class)is the least interesting of his recent books; the background and tech info is generally interesting but when he starts promoting the idea of "everyman as arbitor of good and bad" the book becomes of little interest to anyone over the age of 15 or with an IQ exceeding double digits ... his rant is getting old
Rating:
Summary: I can only hope he keeps this up
Review: Dale Brown, the man who started me reading books and got me away from the TV and video games, has done it again and writen another book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The technology in this book is absolutely outragous, but he tells you how it's done, and shows you that not only are these weapons not from "Star Treck" but that they most likely exist today. On top of this he lets us in on just how possible it is for certain things to happen out in the world and shows us just how real the possibility of a mad drug smuggler/terrorist practically taking over a foriegn country can be. He also shows us that if we don't watch out, our government won't do anything if someone like Paval Kazakov really does exist. With all this on top of his amazing ability to tell a story, the book probably couldn't get much better (unless it was longer, I hate it when a good story ends). So, like I said, I hope he keeps it up, and I can't wait for his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Was it worth waiting for? YES!!!!
Review: Finally, this exciting new Dale Brown novel is available in the UK, I snapped it up last week and finished it in less than 2 days. This is another great and above all, entertaining entry in the Patrick MacLanahan timeline series. The story concerns a radical shift in US foreign policy when an independent Presidential candidate gains power and withdraws all US forces from overseas and downsizes the military. PAvel Kazakov, a Russian businessman and Mafia heavy, muscles in by taking advantage of a war breaking out in Kosovo and Albania. Using his Metyor-179 supersonic stealth bomber, he attacks targets all over the Balkans to intensify the conflict and bribe the Russian Federation into sending their own troops in - as peacekeepers, or to guard his oil pipeline project? Kazakov has designs on Europe's oil supply, you see . . . and who can stop the escalation of war? Why enter our old friends Patrick MacLanahan, who, considering he's the main character, seems to be upstaged by Kazakov's reign of terror . . . Rebecca Catherine Furness, EB-1C Megafortress captain who featured in CHAINS OF COMMAND and BATTLE BORN taking part in a disastrous CIA extraction mission deep into Russia to rescue a spy who has vital information about Kazakov's aircraft factory; B-1 pilots Dev Deveill, Annie Dewey and Old Dog navigator David Luger involved in a love triangle, and a big welcome back to geeky Jon Masters who runs Sky MAsters Inc. - the company that provides the high-tech gadgets used to fight the war against Kazakov. The TIN MAN electro-reactive body armour also makes a re-appearance and these outrageous and amusing scenes(particularly during the final chapters when the action REALLY kicks off) add to the overall enjoyment of the story! Once again, Dale Brown goes for all-out action, awesome technology which may be feasible one day(what's to say it hasn't been developed now . . .) and some interesting political angles as President Thomas Thorn and his all-for-America-only policies upsets the balance of harmony in the White House; now is that more dangerous than Kazakov taking over Eastern Europe? WARRIOR CLASS is Brown at his best once again, and I also very much look forward to DREAMLAND when that's out over here! Don't miss this winner!
Rating: 
Summary: Dale Brown crashed and burned
Review: First: I am (or was) a Dale Brown fan. I loved "Flight of the Old Dog" and "Shadows of Steel", two of his best. Then... "The Tin Man" came, and nothing was the same again. OK, in all his books North Americans are tough but sensible, intelligent but down-to-earth, loveably undisciplined but real team players, capable, loyal, and honest, etc. etc. Enemies, however they are, are nasty, ugly, stupid, heartless, unimaginative, ruthless, corrupt, and so on. American allies try to be American and can't make it but we love them anyway for trying. Prior books had so much action, technical data and suspense that we could easily "suspend disbelief".
Many of Brown's stories are based on the cycle: thing must be done/USA government won't let us/do it anyway(blowing up half the non-USA landscape in the process)/escape miraculously/all forgotten due to achievement. In prior books one enjoyed so much all that happened that we forgot that basically, all books are the same!
Now, suspense is impossible, as we all know that USA's planes will get through, and once most of the trash (that is any non-American that is not an American-lover) is blown to bits, the Tin Mans go in and kill all the rest. Help!.
In conclusion, I believe Mr. Brown has gone the Clancy way, his books today must be written by a ghost group and he will continue to produce Tin Man drivel as long as he can sell it. What a pity, I really loved the man. Maybe I'll buy 'Wings of Fire', just to see if Brown goes back to his old style.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Military Thriller
Review: For the first time since Washington, an independent wins the election for president of the United States. Thomas Thorn owes nothing to either the Republicans or the Democrats. The former Desert Storm hero believes in isolating America. He orders the ground troops home from Europe, as he has no desire to use the Armed Forces as peacekeepers. With the Yankees returning home, old rivalries flare up throughout Europe. Many of them are orchestrated by the avaricious Russian druglord Pavel Kazakov, who wants to build an oil pipeline to the Baltic. He needs the cooperation of several former Soviet Republics. To accomplish his goal, Pavel devices a deviously clever plan that keeps the area filled with minor skirmishes and battles. This would lead to the Russians returning to take control and rebuild their former empire. Only General Patrick McLanahan stands in his way and he must defy his Commander-in Chief. Dale Brown is one of the best writers of techno-thrillers on the market today. Fans of Clancy will love WARRIOR CLASS especially with the radical change in American foreign policy and the world reaction to the withdrawal of the only superpower. The story line is loaded with military action that supports the theme of "My country, right or wrong, my country" vs. the value of doing what the individual believes is the right thing. Harriet Klausner
|
