Punk's War

An F-14 aviator takes his readers into the cockpits, ready-rooms, and bunkrooms of today's Navy to show what it's like to fight in a time of so-called peace. From the opening chapter where a Tomcat fighter squadron's commanding officer botches an intercept of a hostile Iranian F-4 to the final uplifting scene, his novel reveals the inner workings of the military as only an insider can. It is a thriller without an airshow groupie's pretense, a fighter pilot's story as honest as it is riveting. The action is gripping and authentic, yet it punctuates rather than drives the plot. Seldom has fiction been so real.Punk's War is part adventure tale, part introspective commentary. Adopting the tone of the quixotic lieutenants who populate its pages, the novel helps us understand the pressures on this new generation of warfighters. Along the way we are introduced to an engaging cast of characters: a self-centered careerist squadron commander hell-bent on fixing his tainted...