Dark Wing

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The A-10 tank-killer aircraft, so effective during Desert Storm, is nicknamed the ``Warthog'' in affectionate recognition of its stubby but powerful lines. Herman's latest tribute to Air Force machismo (after Force of Eagles ) takes an A-10 squadron into Southeast Asia in the near future, as civil war erupts in China. Colonel Matt Pontkowski, grandson of a former U.S. President and a featured player in earlier Herman novels, takes command of the motley but earnest group common to this genre, including beautiful and skilled female pilot Skeeter Ashton and a band of resourceful scavengers known as ``The Junk Yard Dogs.'' At the same time, the Chinese rebel leader has rescued a Rambo-like Hawaiian MIA from a Vietnamese prison; joined by a young Chinese woman with ESP, they launch their own plan to save China from succumbing to a brutal military dictatorship. The large but stereotyped cast of characters only just manages to stay in control of the situation and one another; particularly unfortunate is the author's assumption that unattached men and women thrown together in crisis will necessarily fall in love. Herman's speculations about possible future conflicts are interesting but unsurprising, while his prose is serviceable but forgettable, weakened by reminders of his previous books and hints of more to come. Overall, this is a weak entry that matches the Warthog's inelegance but not its power; meanwhile, the workhorse of Desert Storm awaits a more imaginative champion. (May)

Library Journal

The last of a long line of military men, Pentagon desk jockey Col. Matt Pentowski wangles his way to command of the 303rd Air Force Squadron, flying A-10 Warthogs. Upon his arrival, Pentowski must choose between deactivating the 303rd or volunteering for a clandestine operation, code-named Dark Wing. His mission is to provide air support for Chinese rebels battling the Communist government in Beijing. Along with his friends Tango, Ripper, Maggot, and the Junkyard Dogs, he's in his element in a Warthog cockpit. At the same time, he must fight political battles with the rebels, his superiors, and Washington, D.C. The Warthogs finally turn the tide of battle, forcing Beijing to negotiate a peace with the rebels. Herman captures Air Force life and combat tactics well, as he takes the reader through the crisis from several characters' viewpoints. He commands the reader's attention until the last page. A high flier that is highly recommended for all fiction collections.-Grant A. Fredericksen, Illinois Prairie Dist. P.L., Metamora

Dennis Winters

A brilliant fighter pilot, Col. Matt Pontowski is weary of his duties in the Pentagon and transfers to the air force reserve to command a squadron of ground-attack aircraft about to be phased out as obsolete. When civil war breaks out in southern China, however, the supposedly outmoded planes become the key to an American intervention. In order to fulfill his mission and return his troops to their homes, Pontowski must fight not only the enemy but rivals jealous of his success within his own alliance. Herman's background as an air force fighter pilot lends credibility to the electrifying battle sequences.

From Barnes & Noble

Colonel Matt Pontowski and his about-to-be-disbanded A-10 "Warthog" squadron are plunged into the vortex of a full-scale civil war in China, in which the fate of Pontowski, his family, his fliers--and the whole world--is at stake. Air Force realism at its best.