1086 The President's Plane is Missing, by Robert J. Serling (read 11 Oct 1970) This type novel has a difficulty apparently insurmountable: It cannot be realistic because some of these people one should have heard of: e.g., Verdi cannot be Speaker of the House under Johnson's successor, because if he were he'd be in the House when Johnson was President. And so on. This book in its plot was simplistic--the President fakes a vacation trip so he can meet with the Russian Premier to ward off a Chinese attack. The President's plane goes down. The Vice President is about to start a preventive war. The President reappears. Well... ( )

A good mystery written by Rod Serling's brother. The president's plane has crashed, but the president's body is missing. Told from the viewpoint of a newspaper reporter - with typical reporter emphasis on event over characterization. The technology is dated now, but it is nevertheless an excellent tale. ( )

A competently-written cold war novel that must have been a lot more powerful at the time of publication. Plausible and well-plotted, a little short on characterization, this is the story of the events that follow the crash of Air Force One with the loss of all on the plane, nearly leading to thermonuclear war before a dramatic almost-surprise resolution. The author, by the way, is the brother of Rod Serling of "The Twilight Zone". ( )