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Adventure in the Persian Gulf
Jack “Rattler” Owen had a dream when he was growing up: to become a US Navy fighter pilot. He is now a Navy pilot in today’s US Navy, but he is flying the E-2C Hawkeye, not fighters.
“Treason Flight,” a thriller by T. R. Matson opens with Owen discovering flying the Hawkeye can be every bit as exciting as flying a Hornet. He is over the Persian Gulf, flying a broken Hawkeye to USS Nimitz.
The aircraft has suffered multiple mechanical failures. “The Book” calls for him to bail out. Rattler wants to save the aircraft. It is expensive and operationally valuable. Nimitz has only four, and losing one during a potential war patrol will hurt capability. Rattler asks permission to make one try and gets it. He succeeds, saving the aircraft.
It is a fast-paced opening, and “Treason Flight” never slows down from there. “Rattler” is soon flying against Islamic terrorist groups, seizing Persian Gulf oil platforms. Despite outstanding flying performance during these missions (including saving another crippled Hawkeye), Rattler cannot seem to get on the good side of “Skipper,” commanding the air squadron aboard Nimitz. The better Rattler does the unhappier Skipper gets. It is almost as if Skipper would have been happier if Jack had lost the aircraft.
As if getting hassled by the squadron commander is not enough, Owen is going through a divorce his spouse initiated. He will soon be single, trying to decide whether he should start a relationship with an Australian flight attendant he met on leave. Plus things keep going wrong on Nimitz. It is as if there is a saboteur aboard.
“Treason Flight” is more than another naval aviation thriller. The first thing setting it apart is Matson’s use of the Hawkeye as the central aircraft in the story. The Hawkeye is an unarmed, twin turboprop aircraft, used for airborne early warning. It is supposed to avoid combat, making it an unlikely star in a combat thriller.
Additionally, Matson makes the bad guys Islamic extremists. Today’s thrillers more frequently fall back on the woke choice of white nationalists. Matson even puts a few new twists into the Islamic terrorist theme, giving them unexpected allies.
The result is a refreshing and original story, with good guys to root for and villains to hiss. If you liked the aviation thrillers written in the 1990s and this century’s first decade, “Treason Flight” is for you.
“Treason Flight,” by T. R. Matson, Independently Published, 2021, 196 pages, $29.99 (hardcover), $14.99 (paperback), $7.99 (ebook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.
Published in Literature
Just bought the audiobook. Sounds like it is going to be fun.
Sounds intruiging, thanks for review – it sparked my interest.
Well, those buzzing turboprops will be noisy, but all else should be okay.
When I deployed to Qatar eight years ago one of our concerns was the GOPLATs (Gas and Oil PLATforms) and we knew where they all were. We also had to call it the Arabian Gulf as our friends in the region, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) didn’t like calling it the Persian Gulf. Sounds like an interesting book.
It centers around GOPLATs, so you might find it interesting. As a reviewer I get to call the Persian Gulf whatever I want.