Storming Heaven - Softcover

Former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the author of several best-selling military-action-aviation-adventure novels: Flight of the Old Dog (1987), Silver Tower (1988), Day of the Cheetah (1989), Hammerheads (1990), Sky Masters (1991), Night of the Hawk (1992), Chains of Command (1993), Storming Heaven (1994) and Shadows of Steel (1996). Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries.

Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. He flew over 2500 hours in various military tactical and training aircraft from 1978 to 1986 and was also a graduate of the U.S. Army Airborne School.

Dale is a volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine, a non-profit national charitable medical transportation organization who fly needy persons free of charge to receive treatment. He also supports a number of organizations to support and promote law enforcement and reading. He is a member of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association, The Writers Guild, and a Life Member of the Air Force Association and U.S. Naval Institute. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his Piper Aerostar 602P. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, scuba diving, and hockey. He lives in Incline Village, Nevada.

Even the most ardent pacifists may run for their guns after considering the ease with which America's cities are terrorized in the latest by Air Force veteran Brown (Chains of Command, 1993, etc.). Admiral Ian Hardcastle tirelessly warns Americans of their vulnerability to terrorist attacks in the illusory calm of the postCold War climate. His extreme warnings prove justified when Henri Cazaux, who was once tortured and sodomized by American soldiers stationed in his native Belgium, gets hold of an airplane and uses it to drop a large amount of explosives on Los Angeles International Airport, wreaking death and destruction after a thrilling chase by F-16 fighter jets. This incineration is so easy that he targets more airports around the country, enlisting (i.e., coercing) into his service his investment banker, his Colombian and British advisers, and numerous mercenaries, all of whom would die for Cazaux, not out of loyalty but out of fear of death at his hand should they fail. A multidepartmental task force assembles in Washington, but that damn Democratic administration just won't listen to military men like Hardcastle, learning its lesson only when Cazaux's master plan--an air/surface assault on Washington, DC--threatens our most treasured national monuments. Brown has mastered this genre, as seen in the riveting plane chases and the ease and humor with which he vents his own political frustrations: His parody of Bill and Hillary Clinton will amuse all partisans, but his contempt for modern women, placed here in positions of power but too incompetent to be of use, achieves misogyny with Cazaux's rape of his psychic, whose incredible response makes a mockery of real violence against women. Super chase scenes that don't let up until the planes run out of fuel or blow up, and a perfect villain who refuses to be exterminated until the last page. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.