Air Force Eagles - Hardcover

Boyne, Walter J.

3.38

16 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0517576090 ISBN 13: 9780517576090

Publisher: Crown, 1992

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In the final volume of the Eagles trilogy, aviation pioneers Frank Bandfield and Hadley Roget team up with master fighter pilot, John Marshall, to rebuild American airpower. 25,000 first printing.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Boyne completes the trilogy covering the birth of the American Air Force that began with Trophy for Eagles and Eagles at War. Covering the years from the end of WW II to the beginning of missile development in the late 1950's, Boyne's cast of fliers, manufacturers, and politicians slog their way through demobilization, the Berlin airlift, the Korean War, the McCarthy menace, and the birth of the civil-rights movement. The framework for the action, which is largely earthborne, is the racist scheming of Arkansas Congressman Milo Ruddick. Ruddick, who controls Air Force appropriations, uses his considerable power and influence to advance the careers of his son and son-in-law at the same time that he thwarts the careers of more deserving fliers--particularly that of John Marshall. Marshall, one of the black graduates of the WW II Tuskegee flight school who's now working as a test pilot, loses his chance to be the first man to break the sound barrier when Ruddick orders his removal from the test program. It's the first of a series of ordeals that will beset Marshall. Working for the fledgling Israeli air force, Marshall shoots down two Egyptian planes but can't go on record as the first black ace since his employment is a secret. When he's called up for the Korean conflict and again comes close to becoming an ace, his kills are credited to Congressman Ruddick's son-in-law. Captured and tortured by the North Koreans, Marshall survives to find that, while he was out of circulation, his beautiful wife, with the help of a handsome African-American entrepreneur, has become the new queen of black cosmetics. While Mrs. Marshall's business grows, so does the military-industrial complex--as well as the new growth industry, McCarthyism. Heavier on politics and social activism than Boyne's many flying fans may feel necessary, but that's life. -- Copyright �1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

This third novel in the Eagles series eschews the melodramatic plot twists that characterized Trophy for Eagles and Eagles at War. Here Boyne offers a straightforward technothriller/adventure story focused on the U.S. Air Force during its first decade of existence. Although Boyne remains better at storytelling than at characterizaton, word? formula? OK as is/ pre characters familiar from the earlier books--Frank Bandfield and Hadley Roger--interact with hissable villains (a careerist officer, a racist congressman) to keep the action moving. The narrative advances 'move' in previous sent through the military's ? post-1945 retrenchment, the Korean War, McCarthyism and the years of nuclear deterrence. Technical matters, like the development of the B-47 bomber and of aerial firefighting, are handled with convincing expertise, as is the protagonists' captivity in North Korea. Black fighter ace John Marshall and his wife Saundra anchor a particularly strong civil rights subplot, whose resolution brings the novel to an emotionally satisfying conclusion. And knowledgeable readers will note the memorable cameo appearance of Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., despite the fictional name in which Boyne has disguised him.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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