I also salute the author's contribution in WWII. However, "The Pilots" is just too disjointed and -- quite frankly -- predictable to recommend. Apparently much of the book was written as short stories, which is fine. But there should have been some effort to edit these into a seamless whole, rather than just slap them together between covers. As a result, we often hear the same bits of information over and over. Trust me, Mr. Spencer, by page 228 we KNOW that "Blake Hurlingame was Steve's boyhood friend who now flies B-24s!" And too many of the incidents were telegraphed far in advance. When Addie finds the .45 automatic in her nightstand drawer, we KNOW she's going to need it in just a few pages! On the plus side, some of the flying sequences were quite enjoyable. There just weren't enough of them. It seems to me that if you're writing a novel about combat flying in WWII, you pretty much know who your audience will be. And it's not women. Therefore, I would suggest cutting down on the "romance" and jacking up the action. Just one guy's opinion. Still, it's a quick, painless read and flying novels are hard to find.
(By the way, one positive: The new trade paperback edition has the appropriate P-38 on the cover.)
