High Flying Fiction
(Updated August 2006)
Let your imagination take flight with this list of books featuring aeronautics, compiled by Reader Advisor Susan Higgins. Whether you find yourself flying with feathered wings, streaking across the sky in an airplane, or hurtling through space in a time travel machine you will discover plenty of adventure along the way.
To order any of these titles, contact the library by email, mail or phone. You may also request these titles online through our OPAC. Happy Reading!
The Advocate by Bill Mesce.
RC 51707, BR 13282.
England, 1943. Two American bombers suddenly attack a third plane as well as civilian witnesses on the ground. As Major Harry Voss of the Judge Advocate General's office delves into the incident, he uncovers secrets that the higher-ups want to keep concealed. Some violence and some strong language.
All Fall Down by Lee Gruenfeld.
RC 40245.
An airliner pilot's instruments are misreading, sending him off course. This, only a day after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington had received a warning outlining this exact incident. FBI agent Jack Webster helps his former colleagues at NTSB track down the blackmailer, who is threatening a repeat performance. But a veteran pilot in an old plane must face the sociopath head-on. Strong language and some violence.
Blaze of Glory by Michael Carreck.
RC 20469.
Newly-trained Royal Air Force bomber pilot Tony Marlowe quickly learns that night bombing raids over Germany are not as glorious as wartime propaganda make them out to be. His missions become meaningless, gut wrenching ordeals of terror and survival. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex.
Booby Trap by William Stevenson.
RC 26226.
Gabbiya, a Quaddafi-like Arab leader, buys a group of islands in the Caribbean and wants to put his flag there. A group of private citizens are determined to stop him. Led by Pete Casey, an ex-Vietnam P.O.W. turned marine technologist, the group includes Alison Bracken, a beautiful lady lawyer, and Melanie, who may be a double agent. They set out on the daring mission in a battered World War 2 airplane. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex.
Eagle Station by Mark Berent.
RC 42374.
Loyalty stemming from their days at the Air Force Academy in the 1950s unites the men as they fight in Vietnam in 1968. Ken Tanaka and Court Bannister fly their F-4s on dangerous missions over Laos. Manuel Dominguez is a rescue jumper whose daring helps him forget the injustice of his dismissal from the academy. Strong language, violence, and some descriptions of sex. Vietnam War series, book 4. Series code VNW.
Falcons by Ray Rosenbaum.
RC 39672.
Ross Colyer first crosses swords with Broderick Templeton III, son of a United States senator, in 1941 when both are young pilots in Hawaii. They avoid each other when they meet again in England but are sent together to Africa to train for a secret mission to destroy Romanian oil refineries in Ploesti. Then the mission goes awry and they end up in enemy territory. Wings of War series, Book 1. Series Code WNG. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex.
Fatal Terrain by Dale Brown.
RC 45110.
When tensions erupt between Taiwan and mainland China, America's options are limited by its recent military cutbacks. On the scene is United States Air Force pilot McLanahan in a modified B-52 equipped with the latest cruise missiles. When war breaks out, McLanahan's lethal payload turns the tide of the conflict. Patrick McLanahan series, Book 6. Series Code MLP. Strong language.
Firebreak by Richard Herman, Jr.
RC 41461.
The second Gulf War has ended, but Iraq, Syria, and Egypt are planning a joint attack on Israel. Israel threatens to use its powerful nuclear weapons if Iraq uses its deadly nerve gas. Hoping to avert another war, United States President Zachary Pontowski sends to the area a squadron of fighter planes, one piloted by his grandson Matt. Pontowski Family series, book 1. Series Code PON.
Firefox by Thomas Craig.
RC 23858.
The new Soviet super warplane, codenamed “Firefox”, has a unique weapons system activated by the pilot’s thoughts. Recognizing that “Firefox” is years ahead of western developments, British and American intelligence forces conspire to steal it. Firefox series, book 1. Series Code GAN. Strong language and violence.
Flight into Fear by Kyle Duncan.
RC 6051, BR 2064.
A soft assignment becomes treacherous for a pilot employed by an airplane delivery service when he is forced to fly to England with one of America's most wanted men.
Flying Hero Class by Thomas Keneally.
RC 34298.
It should have been a routine flight from New York to Frankfurt for Frank McCloud, his wife, and the Australian aborigine dance troop he manages. Their New York show had been a success, and Frank had sold his novel. But a group of Palestinians hijacks the plane and tries to convince the dancers that their country is being taken over and that McCloud is to blame. He is subjected to a show trial and witnesses an execution before the flight ends. Strong language.
Ground Zero by Richard Hubert Francis Cox.
RC 24979.
Tipped off by a beautiful airline hostess, unemployed ex-Royal Air Force fighter pilot Tom Lloyd answers a want ad from CONOIL, an international oil company. CONOIL wants to blow up a plane carrying an atomic bomb from Pakistan to Libya, thus preventing Qaddafi from using the weapon. Some strong language.
Hammerheads by Dale Brown.
RC 32048.
The "hammerheads" was the nickname earned by an elite Coast Guard unit charged with intercepting contraband liquor during Prohibition. Admiral Ian Hardcastle is given the task of stopping the influx of illegal drugs into the United States. His strategy is to disband existing forces and resurrect the "hammerheads." Their weapon is a hybrid helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft. Rear Admiral Ian Hardcastle series, book 1. Series Code HRI. Strong language.
Headwind by John J. Nance.
RC 52810.
When an international warrant threatens former American president John Harris, commercial jet pilot Craig Dayton defiantly takes off with Harris on board. While airborne, Harris arranges assistance from disbarred judge Jay Reinhart and a group of World War 2 veterans.
The Kill Box by Chris Stewart.
RC 50630.
On a return flight from the Middle East, Air Force One crashes, killing all aboard including the vice president. When investigators find lethal biological agents in the wreckage, Captain Charlie McKay leads a retaliatory air strike force to Iraq in an attempt to avert another terrorist disaster. Violence.
The Last Dogfight by Martin Caidin.
RC 8896.
This is a World War 2 novel set in the Pacific about aerial combat, military strategy, and fighter pilots. The action culminates in an exciting contest of courage and skill in the "last dogfight" between an American ace and a Japanese fighter pilot. Strong language.
The Last Kamikaze by M.E. Morris.
RC 33230.
Saburo Genda is primed for his final flight when it is suddenly aborted by the surrender of the Japanese to the Allies. Now, as the fiftieth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor nears, Genda still seeks revenge on America for the death of his family. Meanwhile, George Sakai, a second generation Japanese-American enlisted to thwart terrorists, learns that Genda is already airborne in a stolen Zero fighter plane and headed across the Pacific toward the West.
Medusa's Child by John J. Nance.
RC 45964.
Air freight pilot Scott McKay discovers on board his plane an armed atomic weapon with a device that could cripple every computer in North America. Spurning official orders, McKay directs his craft seaward, away from populations and into the teeth of a hurricane. Strong language.
Pandora's Clock by John J. Nance.
RC 41988, BR 10529.
After American 747 flight 66 leaves Germany, a passenger has a heart attack. Pilot James Holland is shocked when London refuses to let him make an emergency landing. The passenger was exposed to a mysterious virus and no country, not even the United States, wants to handle a possible epidemic. Doctor Sanders of the CIA is Holland's only real ally, but Sanders must convince the pilot of that in time to save him. Strong language and violence.
The Ransom of Black Stealth One by Dean Ing.
RC 31094.
Black Stealth One is the most sophisticated aircraft in existence. It cannot be detected by radar, and, chameleon-like, it has the capacity to take on the color of the background against which it flies. Kyle Corbett has stolen the prototype of the plane and kidnapped Petra, a young and beautiful engineer. Now the CIA and KGB are after him. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex.
Running by Robin Shaw.
BR 2239.
Two mountain climbers attempt an airplane caper. They inform the airline that a pressure bomb is on a scheduled flight and demand that $50,000 be dropped on a mountainside in Idaho.
The Sound of Wings by Spencer Dunmore.
RC 23388.
A mixture of aeronautics, mystery, the occult, and romance. Adam Beale, an unhappily married copilot, avoids a collision with a monoplane that only he can see. When he identifies the plane as a Bellanca used by Mae Nolan in a doomed 1927 attempt to fly across the Atlantic, he comes to understand why Nolan and her ghost plane are trying to contact him. Some strong language.
Targets of Opportunity by Joe Weber.
RC 37770.
Marine pilot Brad Austin is puzzled when he is transferred back to the states and told by civilian Cap Spencer to change his identity and turn in his uniforms. Austin, along with three other pilots, is asked to test fly a rickety North Vietnamese plane. Why this is so hush-hush soon becomes apparent: Spencer is CIA and he wants the pilots to fly this bucket of bolts into enemy territory for surprise attacks. Some strong language and violence.
Turbulence by John J. Nance.
RC 54676.
Meridian Air is noted for horrible customer service that causes passenger rage. Mutiny aboard Flight 6 gains momentum after the captain makes an emergency landing in Nigeria. No one in the plane is aware that the CIA believes terrorists are on board. Some violence and some strong language.
Up in the Air by Walter Kirn.
RC 53856.
Ryan Bingham travels from city to city across America performing a job he hates, firing people. He is a citizen of "Airworld," a parallel universe of airplanes, airports, chain food, rent-a-cars, and suite hotels. He is close to attaining his frequent-flier goal, one million bonus miles, before he quits or is fired himself. Some strong language.
When the Wind Blows by James Patterson.
RC 47042.
In Colorado, FBI agent Kit Harrison searches for a laboratory that is illegally bio-engineering children to fly. He enlists help from veterinarian Frannie O'Neill when she sees a child flying in the woods. After rescuing the girl from her hunters, Kit and Frannie go after the other bird children. Max Series, Book 1. Series Code MAX. Some strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex.