Don Brown (2) (1960–)

So, so, so, so badddddddd!!!! I ended up speedreading the second half of it just because I wanted to see how this trainwreck of a book would end. I was put off by the cramming of Christianity down the throat of the reader, but I was downright offended by his characterization of Democrats as being the shady actors while Republicans were pure as the driven snow. And the horrible, horrible, horrible xenophobia, racism and religious intolerance against Muslims (apparently they're all terrorists, show more ya know) was disgusting. But what bothered me more than all of that was the baddddddddddd writing. You're going to spend 3 or 4 days preparing for the prosecution of three terrorists and the trial lasted 3 days?!? In what universe would that EVER happen? And in what universe would two relatively inexperienced JAG officers handle the prosecution. It was just total complete horse$hit. And holes you could drive a truck through, including dropping the story line of a wrongful conviction (but I guess since the guy was Filipino that was cool with this racist author). Good grief!! I recently read one of Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan books and that was MUCH MORE BELIEVABLE than this piece of garbage. I'm so glad that I got it for free. Honestly, Brown should have paid me to read it. show less

The author was a Navy JAG and can't see past that experience. If he'd just stick to lawyering, this book might be OK. However, he ignores the other Services in operations and JCS/POTUS deliberations, making that part of the book unbelievable. To further exacerbate the irritation, he hired a Brit narrator James Adams. Adams just does not sound USN and the accent grates...I'd believe Royal Navy. The characters fit their roles and the female politician running for President seems so much like, show more well...Hillary...in her left leaning actions. That the chain of command left Zack twisting in the wind relative to her, is really incomprehensible. The book is quite a fun read even if I do find myself saying "BS" quite often. show less

Intrigued by the commanding cleanness of the book cover, I picked up Detained by Don Brown, a military and political thriller in which Hasan and Najib Makari, a father and son from Lebanon, are wrongly accused of terrorism against the United States.

I appreciated the believable humanness in characters like Matt Davis, a Navy JAG officer, and Emily Gardner, a TSA lawyer: flawed individuals still with striking qualities I rooted for. The racist ignorance of some of the agency officers got under show more my skin, making me all the more anxious to see what would become of the Makaris. And a little ways after I passed the unputdownable point that propelled me through the rest of the novel, the haunting, painfully fitting prayer of a Lieutenant Commander Garcia echoed right into my core--"Lord, if it is possible, take this cup from me."

Now, I did have to get over a number of the exclamation points. It's just a style preference, but in modern adult novels, especially in ones handling serious subject matter, it gives the drama an over-the-top feel when a third-person narrator essentially shouts (!) at the reader, rather than reserving exclamations for the characters' dialogue. Also, there's a lot of phrase repetition that doesn't appear intentional; some of the comments characters make aloud, particularly a few from Secretary Strayhorn, don't really come off as natural, seeming mostly to the purpose of spelling issues out for the reader; and the narrator steps away from storytelling for a few paragraphs early on to explain Navy jets and aircraft carriers in present tense, which consequently pulled me out of the story as well, for a moment.

Still, overall, the author effectively makes a case for truth, justice, and faith in this engaging novel, and I've every intention of picking up the next book in The Navy JAG Series whenever it releases--hopefully sooner than later.
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BookLook Bloggers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. show less

This book is my favorite style of military history--telling the story from the point of view of an individual warrior and his experience of combat.

The Last Fighter Pilot tells such a story--of Jerry Yellin, who led his squadron during the last WWII fighter mission over Japan. It is a good, short read and captures Yellin's background, experience and difficulties of the war well. The author's description of Yellin's first night on Iwo Jima was particularly good.

The book suffers from two show more flaws. The first is the title; a misleading message about the subject of the book. There have been thousands of fighter pilots since Yellin and many have faced combat more intense and difficult than he did. He wasn't the last fighter pilot. He was one of the flight leads on the last fighter mission of WWII.

The second is the author's, shall we say, forced, stilted and sometimes over-adoring prose. The story tells itself and an informed reader doesn't need the author's help in drawing conclusions. One example:

"Fearless in facing death was a must. Jerry, for his part, had both the talent and the motivation. He'd become a fighter pilot to kill Japanese solders, to exact vengeance on them for attacking his country and killing his countrymen, and to defend freedom. And that's exactly what he was going to do."

A story well-told doesn't need such commentary from the author. The story is the commentary.

In the end, though, it is a good, personal look at aerial combat, the triumphs and losses that every warrior experiences and worth the time if a reader can see past the faults. show less