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Black Star (Thorndike Press Large Print Adventure)

Black Star (Thorndike Press Large Print Adventure)

List Price: $28.95
Your Price: $28.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic read
Review: Acts of Vengence and Hostile Intent were great, but I really loved Black Star. The realism and characters were super. I can't wait for the next book (assuming there is a next one). I have nothing to read now.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic read
Review: Acts of Vengence and Hostile Intent were great, but I really loved Black Star. The realism and characters were super. I can't wait for the next book (assuming there is a next one). I have nothing to read now.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another Riveting Read
Review: Bob Gandt has done it again! He takes us flying by the seat of our pants into another hair-raising thriller. This time he introduces us into stealth technology and what it feels like to fly a supersonic stealth fighter--to be visible one moment and invisible the next. It changes our whole concept of the aerial dog-fight. And again he develops a plot that is entirely possible in a world whose values are turning upside down between terrorism and the race for global power. Just as it happens in "Black Star," when Taiwan pre-empts another world war with its retaliation against the threat of a Chinese invasion, a small power could trigger a colossal 'nuclear showdown.' It's a fair question to ask: Has China ever stopped being the West's enemy or is it just more insidious in hiding its expansionist ambitions toward Taiwan and the Pacific Rim while it gains economical strength and global status? Our economies woo China just as North American industrials wooed Nazi Germany prior to World War II. Are we playing into China's hands and will Gandt's book become a preview of what our next generation of top guns will be fighting?

It's the reality of the plot that makes Gandt's book so chilling at the same time as it showcases Brad Maxwell and his fighter team of F/A-18 Super Hornets. Again Gandt takes us inside Maxwell's cockpit to feel the maximum pull of gravity as 'we' maneuver in fight-to-the-death aerial combat. The thrill of the story and the plausibility of the plot are not Gandt's greatest strengths, however. It is his ability to carry readers inside the heads and experiences of what our fighting forces are currently experiencing in battles against the war on terrorism all over the world. He helps us understand why our military people put their lives on the line every day, and he brings home a sense of patriotism that, for North Americans, decades of complacency, political cynicism and living on the fast track lost. And he does this with page-turning urgency.

Bob Gandt has established himself as the Robert Ludlum of the military thriller, and I look forward to a prolific succession of Gandt books in the years to come.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best yet of the Brick Maxwell series !!
Review: Brick Maxwell and the author certainly come into their own in this read. This book starts off with adventure from the get-go and never slows down. Once I started reading it, I could not put the book down. Resultantly, I read it in two days and now must wait anxiously/patiently for the next publication in this continuing series. The author has been able to blend the military techology of Tom Clancy with the fast paced action of Jack Higgins. If you are looking for a contemporary military thriller then this it it. !!!! i would suggest that you read the other two books in sequence to become better acquainted with Brick Maxwell and the supporting cast of characters. All of them great reads....but BLACK STAR the best yet. !!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Gandt Yet
Review: Gandt has given hi tech aerial combat the flavor of WW I dog fights with updated weapons. Reading this book puts you right in the cockpit with Brick Maxwell. The bad guys seem real. Hope Gandt keeps up the good work. Looking forward to next Brick Maxwell book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Gandt Yet
Review: Gandt has given hi tech aerial combat the flavor of WW I dog fights with updated weapons. Reading this book puts you right in the cockpit with Brick Maxwell. The bad guys seem real. Hope Gandt keeps up the good work. Looking forward to next Brick Maxwell book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely fantastic!
Review: Gandt has stuck gold again in this "Brick" Maxwell novel about a conflict between Taiwan and China. It is an action-packed treasure of an adventure, with a great plot and lifelike characters.
The measure of a technothriller author is his ability to write a work of fiction that reeks with realism. Gandt has done this for the third time. His experience in the Navy as a fighter pilot allows him to describe aspects of combat and life aboard ship that a bestselling accountant (you know who I'm talking about) can never seem to get right. For example, the first scene actually feels like you are there, landing a jet on the back of an aircraft carrier, and keeping your eye on the "meatball." And speaking of combat, there is plenty of it in this novel, some personal, some naval, most in the air, but thrilling and realistic. Gandt does not let up until the last page.
If you are a fan of Coonts, Huston, Brown, or any other air combat author, this is a novel for you... and by the way, even though this is the third "Brick" Maxwell novel in the series, Gandt tactfully avoids giving away plots of previous novels, so they can be read out of order.
Sadly, Gandt did not mention in the bio at the end of the novel if he is working on another novel...like he did in previous ones...so I'm hoping he'll keep writing...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: How to steal a stolen airplane
Review: I found the plot of "Black Star" pretty unrealistic, but it was audacious enough that I'm giving the book four stars.

The story starts a bit slow, but the last half of the book makes up for it, with many exciting descriptions of military conflicts. Character development is not all that great, but above average for a techno-thriller.

The best parts of the book are the fantastic descriptions of aerial dogfights and naval battles. Surprisingly, I thought that some of the battle scenes between various Taiwanese and Chinese naval vessels were more exciting than the aerial shoot-outs. Robert Gandt is good at making both kinds of combat scenes come alive.

My criticism about the lack of realism in the plot concerns the mission launched by the U.S. and Taiwanese military to steal an advanced Chinese stealth fighter. This sounds pretty crazy to me - I'm sure that in a real wartime situation that the allied forces would decide to simply destroy this aircraft. After all, the Chinese built this airplane using plans (stolen from the USA) for a corresponding American airplane. Why risk major loses trying to steal military "secrets" that you already have?

Still, it's an audacious undertaking and the story of how the mission works out is very exciting.

Another plus point is that there is some humor in the story. For example, there's an Air Force Major who fills the role of providing comic relief.

On the other hand, an additional minus point is that a totally unnecessary extra conflict takes place in the last chapter.

If you like military techno-thrillers about naval warfare in general and especially about naval aviation then I'd like to recommend this book.

Rennie Petersen

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another great effort by Bob!!
Review: I really enjoyed this third book in the series. The Sam "Brick" Maxwell character has been very well developed and I can't wait for more. This thriller is hard to put down as Bob takes you through an exciting tale of suspense as our hero must fight unseen aircraft and even gets in on hand-to-hand combat. When you take this one home, prepare for several exciting evenings of reading and forget about those JAG reruns.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Black Star
Review: It was an accident that I found Roberts Gandts book Hostle Intent and was elated that I found another writer that I liked and immediately went to the web to see what else he wrote much to my displeasure it was only 3 books I immediately got the other 2 and couldn't put them down it fits the imaginations and thrills that some people like to pretend too. I have in excess of 150 books yet to read as I won't read an author until I'm current on all his books [IE:Keith Douglass wrote 21 books in the carrier series and 20 books in the seals series] so they will be almost gone by the time Mr. Gandts new book Shadows of War comes out if not theres still Roberts,Bond,Coonts,Hagberg, Clancy,Herman,Henricks,Brown,just to name a few to keep me busy and Mr. Gandt is up at the top of this list with Black Star they just keep getting better and better.Mr Gandt keep them comming and I'll keep reading.Black Star was definately a 10 on my scale Thanks Ron


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