Strike Force Behind The Book: strikeforce.mp3 Writers Roundtable Interview With Dale Brown ATARI ACT OF WAR: DIRECT ACTION LINKS Dale Brown Interview With: Peter Anthony Holder When a former pilot turns his hand to thrillers you can take their authenticity for granted. His writing is exceptional and the dialogue, plots and characters are first-class... far too good to be missed.' --Sunday Mirror ‘Dale Brown is a superb storyteller’ --WASHINGTON POST ‘Dale Brown is the best military adventure writer in the country’ --CLIVE CUSSLER

Other Authors' Work
by Dale Brown, 2007

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED AT TheBigFiveOh.com Blog @ Yahoo.Com, 02/01/08

About all the newsy stuff happening right now is the weather, AGAIN, and I didn't want to be writing just about the weather in my Blog. Yes, we're gotten another 4-5 inches today, and we're expecting another 4-5 inches overnight. Almost old news in the dog days of winter in Tahoe. At least we're GETTING snow, unlike last year.

I was asked by the folks at the Reno Gazette Journal newspaper to write book reviews, so I've been reading like crazy--W.E.B. Griffin's "The Shooters," Kim Ponders's "The Last Blue Mile," Clive Cussler's "The Chase," and Stuart Woods's "Beverly Hills Dead." It's like reading for fun, except it's an assignment, which is like "business," so I'm good with it.

Sidetrack: I'm not a vacation or "enjoyment" guy. I'm bored after just two days on vacation, even in Hawaii or Florida. I prefer "working" vacations. If I can spend 3 hard days in a flight simulator in Orlando or Scottsdale, I'll gladly hang out at the pool or go to Disney World with the family. Otherwise, I'll be cordial for one or two days, and then you'll find me in the room on the laptop. That's the way I am. Deal with it.

Let me give you a sneak peek at my reviews so far:

I loved the wanton violence, sex, and treachery in Stuart Woods's "L.A. Times," and "Beverly Hills Dead" is its prequel, but it pales in comparison. I was very disappointed in the ending. Woods even used a FOOTNOTE in a novel (referencing "L.A. Times")--that's a big no-no. The Hollywood behind-the-scenes stuff was good, but as a "whodunit" it was awful. One thumbs-down.

I love W.E.B. Griffin's writing style, and I might even snitch it. Few paragraphs are more than three sentences long, which makes his prose snappy and crisp. He doesn't belabor characterization or descriptions, but sprinkles in just enough detail to let you build yourself a good mental image, then quickly moves on.

But in a novel entitled "The Shooters," shouldn't there be some SHOOTING? There is exactly FOUR PAGES OF COMBAT IN THE ENTIRE BOOK! The rest is setup. It's GOOD and clever setup, but setup is dialogue, and to me dialogue should be used sparingly and is useful only to set up the next combat scene. In "The Shooters," there's only ONE combat scene. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? Another partial thumbs-down.

Clive Cussler's "The Chase" starts out very good, but it's not the modern-day "NUMA" story I thought it would be--it's set in the early 1900s--but it has a lot of promise, so I'll be sure to go back to it.

I met Air Force Reserve Major Kim Ponders at BookMania 2008 in Stuart, Florida, and I was hoping to spend some time talking to her, but I never got the chance. But I did buy her second novel, "The Last Blue Mile," about one of the first female cadets in the Air Force Academy. It starts out on a parade field with the cadet squadron training officer berating the cadets. Good enough, realistic, well done, interesting perspectives--let's move on to the meat of the story. Since I'm previewing books to choose which I'll review after "Beverly Hills Dead," I skip ahead 20 pages to see what happens next...

...and THE CADETS ARE STILL ON THE PARADE GROUNDS BEING BERATED BY THE TRAINING OFFICER! We see the commandant of cadets fretting over a cheating scandal involving the squadron, but LITTLE ELSE HAS HAPPENED IN 20 PAGES! C'mon, Kim! Thrillers are supposed to be THRILLING! I need to read more, but so far it's not blowing my skirt up.

At BookMania 2008 I met Carolyn See, who does book reviews for the Washington Post. She advised me not to write reviews about books by friends. Well, I chose these four novels because I know the authors. I can't say I'm friends with them, but I'm definitely acquaintances of each, and I'm an admirer of them all, and I'd go so far as to say I'm a fan of Stuart Woods, Clive Cussler, and W.E.B. Griffin.

They are all big boys and girl, so I don't think they'll hate me for speaking my mind. They're welcome to respond, or give me their opinion about my work. In fact, W.E.B. Griffin wrote an incredible review of "Flight of the Old Dog" for the Washington Post back in 1987, which probably launched my career almost as much as President Ronald Reagan holding up a copy of Tom Clancy's "The Hunt For Red October" in front of the White House Press Corps and proclaiming "It's a good yarn."

Writing book reviews is an interesting exercise for me. I'm glad I agreed to do it, and I hope they ask me to do it again. My opinion of their work is a bright reflection on my own, and for that I'm grateful for the experience.

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