BATTLE BORN

The return of the tin man, retired USAF Brigadier General Patrick McLanahan, Brown’s chief hero among those who have saved the world from China’s invasion of the Philippines in Sky Masters, of Taiwan in both Fatal Terrain and The Tin Man (1998), and in various novels saved Europe from a war between Lithuania and Byelorussia, Europe from invasion by Russia, and been on hand for Gulf War II. Bestseller Brown’s technothrillers never involve small stakes. The man himself is civilian director of a high-tech company making cutting-edge advances in strategic devices for the armed services. Battle Born kicks off the Second Korean War when a joint US/South Korean—Japanese aerial war game goes awry as South Korean pilots break away and give a supportive attack on Communist forces facing a massive popular uprising. Not long after, the South Koreans come into possession of two North Korean thermonuclear gravity bombs. Will Asia ignite WWIII? Will Dale Brown? As it happens, technospecialist McLanahan has been training a hot-shot group of young pilots who simmer to save the world should North Korea boldly attack South Korea, which in itself means that, yes, China will come the aid of a fellow Communist nation and Brown & McLanahan be right at home fending off the Chinese Air Force. Meanwhile, how will he romance Lt. Col. Rebecca Catherine Furness, and how will the new EB-1 Megafortress with its amazing LADAR (laser radar) navigation device come into play? Chockablock technotalk lifts skyward on plottoblast as Brown flips on all the electrosensors seeking the next Danger! Danger! Danger! signal. (Note: Brown names as US Vice President one Ellen Christine Whiting just as New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman gets touted for the VP slot with George W. Bush. Now that’s futurific.)