Desert Lightning: Storm Birds

by Mack Maloney and Brian Kelleher

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1612321410
• ISBN13: 9781612321417
• Release Date: October 2011
• Publisher: Speaking Volumes, LLC
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

First novel of pulp series beats many self-contained books

The first of a pulp series of books, "Stormbirds" is more self-contained than many more serious novels. The story of this first book begins with VE day. The end of the war in Europe heralds a newer war with the Soviets. Monopolizing and exploiting German technological breakthroughs will be critical in the new cold war. In "Stormbirds", a cadre of USAF officers gathers captured German rockets and planes in a remote desert base. They've got captured pilots and scientists as well - but can't trust them much. Instead, using ENIAC, they amass a small number of USAAF pilots with the idea of forming the first of America's jet fighter squadrons. Distrust of the Germans and their planes is only one the problems - our heroes must also contend with an insane chain of command determined to make the cranky planes work and fight in ways they were not designed to be used. Kelleher obviously devoted a lot of time to detail other writers would have glossed over (especially in one unforgettable scene describing a hideous end for the luckless pilot of a rocket plane). If the characters aren't exactly out of Henry James, they're better than the mannequins of other books, and the flight scenes prove the author has an uncommon interest in the adventure of aviation.

Action/adventure. Like a Mack Bolan novel but has true stuff

It's easy to dismiss this book as just another Mack Bolan type action/adventure novel but don't do it! The writing style is pure pulp fiction but somebody did a lot of research for this book. It's a story about some WWII pilots that get coerced into joining a secret government research project developing captured German technology for U.S. use. The author has little liking for government red tape and mismanagement and takes every opportunity possible to showcase the people in charge making idiotic decisions. What makes the book interesting is that many of the thing depicted as fiction in the book actually happened. The airplanes described are authentic. The action/adventure sequences are total fiction but some of the details of the U.S. bring Germans to the U.S. after WWII to work in the U.S. defense industry are true. It seems very odd that someone writing this type of book would get so many details right. If you don't like action/adventure you will not enjoy this book or the other two in the series. You might want to read it though if you are a government conspiracy buff. If any author puts the government (AEC/FBI/State Department etc) in worse light than Brian Kelleher does in his Storm Birds books I haven't run across them.