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3.0 out of 5 stars
Generation X Finally Has A War Novel!, 19 Jun 1998
By A Customer
For those of us born after 1964, the Vietnam War is a distant blur. Sure, we've heard stories about it, and some of us even vaguely remember a big round green table in Europe where Kissinger and company tried to settle the turmoil in Southeast Asia. Thoroughout the 70s and 80s, we LEARNED what happened in war, but we didn't LIVE it. All of that changed in 1991. The Gulf War helped shape our view of international conflict and resolution...we saw war, we EXPERIENCED it firsthand. And in a couple of ways, we experienced it like no other generation before: First of all, this war was on TV 24 hours a day. And secondly, this war was won quickly with few American casualties. Aside from a few isolated incidents (the Challenger tragedy, the Iranian hostage crisis ending to name two), the war with Saddam probably represents the most important geopolitical event for the 20 to 30-something crowd. Jaco has written a novel here that will please the occasional reader of historical fiction, especially one that falls, like I do, into the aforementioned category. The tale of a news reporter trying to uncover the truth, while not a new plot, is given a nice treatment as it moves from Haiti to Washington to the Middle East. One starts to wonder if Peter Dees, the gritty correspondent for GTV (read "CNN") will get to the bottom of chemical warfare shipments between the U.S. and Saddam Hussein. The book reads almost like a movie: I could almost see Bruce Willis as the reporter Dees, Alan Rickman as Dennis Kingen (the CIAesque contact, and Helen Hunt as Melinda, Dees' romantic interest. The main plot, while not always surprising, keeps the book moving. And even the minor characters Jaco introduces are interesting: an American-educated Iraqi stuck behind the lines, two GIs who work "psychological operations" against the enemy, and the mysterious Chairman of the Global Television Network to name a few. And who can't say they haven't known a Timothy Volga sometime in their lives--t! he boot-licking, brown-nosing enemy of Dees? "Dead Air" is a fun read--entertaining and engaging. A fine novel for those of us for whom the Gulf War was our first, and hopefully our last. Bob Mendenall
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