Rating: 
Summary: Light Introductory Cute Read
Review: I read this book several years ago as the book was on special. It was an enjoyable light read for me as I was curious to find out
a bit about rural america and the flying experience around it. My specific interest was in terms of the actual flying and the
meeting of wonderful people around small american airports and how he paid for his flying. The book was a brief introduction
to the joy and tribulations of buying and flying an open cockpit airplane between small airports across most of america. I
wished he would of discussed a lot more the scenery and the characters he met along the way. I found that certain airports he
just mentions them without delving deeper even though I new that he had to spend a whole day flying just to get to these distant
airports. It will mainly satisfy addicts who want an introductory light read about flying across america. For better or worse, he
wets our appetite and leaves us with a growling stomach. Pilot (East coast North America, Utah, and Arizona)
Rating: 
Summary: A mediocre book about someone flying somewhere.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed 'Flight of the Intruder', and eagerly looked forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, as he stated in the beginning of the book, his publisher bought the book before he took the trip -- it shows. The possibilities of a 48-state flying/father-son Stearman journey across America immediately races towards Boredom Field and crashes short of the runway. I got very tired of hearing about the minutia of the ground-time versus the exciting world of flight. The more I read, the more I was hoping it'd get better. The story didn't focus on the point of writing/reading the book (at least not the first 1/4 when I quit.) Don't waste your time reading this book. This is a great book if you owe someone money for writing a story about flying. And Mr. Publisher -- Pay after you read it next time.
Rating: 
Summary: More than a flying book
Review: The Cannibal Queen is actually a 1942 Stearman open cockpit biplane and the book of the same name by Stephen Coonts is his story of flying it around the 48 continental United States. It's a great flying book, which is not surprising as Coonts is an ex-Navy fighter jock and the author of four best sellers, including 'Flight of the Intruder.' What got me about the book, however, is a very small sub-plot, namely the author's relationship with his ex-wife and three kids. Right at the start he has a vacation with the ex at DisneyWorld in Florida. Then later he has another get together with the ex in Washington state. Both events are painted as routine when in fact they're more surprising than anything that happens up in the air. There's also a good dose of denial over his son, David. On the one hand he says 'I have yet to carry a passenger in the Cannibal Queen who is unmoved by the experience.' Well, no. His son was so moved by it he fell asleep in the front cockpit. Like a lot of sons, David finds his father's interests barely tolerable. It's a good book though, you'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: Not "the best general aviation book in print"
Review: This book is entertaining and I enjoyed reading it, but it is not in the same league as e.g. Richard Bach's A Gift of Wings. The audiotape version, which I recently obtained from the local lending library, really highlights the author's more banal observations and the book's lack of structure. I had to turn it off halfway through the first cassette - a first for me! It's not a bad book, and I'm pleased to have it in my personal library. I don't agree with OmarUSAF's suggestion that it is boring; but it cannot reasonably be considered a classic. Mariana Gosnell's Zero 3 Bravo and (especially) Rinker Buck's Flight of Passage are better accounts of flying across America.
Rating: 
Summary: A book about small town America and flying.
Review: This book moved me and made me proud to be an American. Sure it is about flying, but it is really about small town America and the people who make this country the greatest in the world. There are great (true) tales about flying, and you can feel yourself transported back to a more innocent time. But this is now. Especially poignant is Coonts' return to Whidbey Island. This restores my faith in America. What an adventure; I can't wait to do it myself!
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable
Review: This is a great book about Coonts' flight around the US in a biplane without electronic navigation aids through mostly uncontrolled airspace. He shares his thoughts, experiences and observations along the way. This book will appeal primarily to pilots who can appreciate the freedom associated with this kind of flying.
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