Flight of the Intruder (Jake Grafton Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

The "hero" of the story is Jake Grafton, in some ways Stephen Coonts' alter ego. Jake is a U.S. Navy pilot flying missions over Vietnam in an A6 Intruder, a carrier-based attack bomber. This is exactly what Stephen Coonts himself was doing at that time, making the book somewhat auto-biographical. It also makes the story and the descriptions sound totally authentic.

The strength of the book is this authenticity and the fact that Stephen Coonts has strong feelings and opinions about how the Vietnam War was being fought. These feeling and opinions are presented via the characters, especially Jake Grafton.

Jake Grafton is portrayed as a very real person with very real conflicts and problems in his life.

On one hand Jake is proud to be a warrior fighting to defend his country. On the other hand he is disgusted by the mass killings that his bombings cause, and hates what he is doing.

On one hand Jake believes in the warrior code of "keeping the faith" with his fellow warriors and his superiors in the military. On the other hand he feels that the U.S. military has been betrayed by the political leaders who are the highest command in a democratic country's military hierarchy.

The missions that Jake flies are extremely dangerous. First he has to dodge flak and missiles over Vietnam while flying so low he risks hitting the ground, and then he has to return "home" to a dangerous carrier landing at night in bad weather.

The ultimate paradox in Jake's life is that he is so brave and self-controlled that he has been given the call sign "Cool Hand". But at the same time he is suffering from so much stress that he has developed palsy, a tremor in his hands.

The descriptions of the combat operations are fantastic. Stephen Coonts really brings to life the hell of flying through flak and dodging missiles and the terror of night-time carrier landings in miserable weather. At the same time the book also contains great descriptions of the joys of flying when the weather is beautiful and no dangers are being faced. Stephen Coonts' love of flying and his real-life experiences during the Vietnam War are what makes the book really appealing.

The only real criticism I have is that there is a major plot element that is a mistake. Jake decides to bomb a target in Hanoi in violation of orders. This is unnecessary from the literary point of view - the book would have been better without this escapade. It is also a mistake from the point of view of the characters - Jake doesn't really seem like someone who would do such a dumb thing.

A few final notes:

The book is currently out of print, but is well worth looking for in used book shops or on the Internet.

This book was the first in what became a series of ten "Jake Grafton" books written by Stephen Coonts, many of which I recommend. I especially like "The Minotaur" (1989) and "Liberty" (2003).

A movie was made based on this book. It's fairly good, although the editing is a bit uneven.

In summary, a very good first book, and a good start to an interesting series of books, many of which I recommend.

Rennie Petersen