Fatal Terrain Paperback – April 1, 1998

This book keeps your attention!! Anyone who likes this genre will enjoy this book. Brown is very much in the Clancy mold.

Another excellent core scenario: what lengths will China go towards to re-take Taiwan? How will the United States react? This is a recurring real-life scenario. Fatal Terrain sees the Mao Zedong aircraft carrier repaired en route to Taiwan and the launch of hostilities between China and Taiwan.As with his other books, the basic premise is excellent, but the delivery is flawed (even taking into account historical hindsight). A few salient facts that we know about China and Taiwan, even back in 1997:1. China has thousands of missiles aimed at Taiwan. Dale Brown accepts this, yet these missiles play a far more minor role in the Chinese campaign than to air-to-air combat and air-launched strategic and tactical bombing campaigns. It's a difficult circle to square.2. Taiwan and China were, even in 1997, beginning their process of economic integration. There is no mention of economics in this (or nearly any other Dale Brown opus), or the fact that a nuclear strike on Taiwanese territory is probably not a first strategic option for Chinese military planners.3. Once again, the basic scenario calls for Patrick MacLanahan to defy common sense and national law and take to the skies to defend a plucky ally (Taiwan) against a menacing Communist threat (China). This is so unrealistic, particularly as we are dealing with B-52s, as to be laughable. Mix this in with the continual self-doubts and internal conflicts, and one wonders how this crew even managed to take off, let alone take on swarms of modern fighter aircraft.Brad Elliot was such a pain in the ass, I was happy to see him fly his aircraft into the ground by the end of the book. While I've heard of some arrogant generals, I've never seen anything like the fictional lengths Brown goes to cast Elliot as a "hawk". Most of the time, he comes across like a grandfather in dementia.I'm on my Dale Brown "trip", reading the back issues again thanks to Kindle. I read them in paperback when they first came back, and am going back in time, dipping into the ones I missed or don't remember. Amazon is perfect for this. What's not perfect is that the recurring themes are getting so entrenched in these series, once can practically predict what will be on the next page. I'm now wondering what happens if Stratfor could hire Dale Brown to tart up some of their scenarios. It would make for excellent reading.It's also interesting to see how rapidly things have changed in so little time. I remember starting freshman year when the Berlin Wall came down. By 1997, the UK had handed Hong Kong over to China, and China was worrying about export-led industrialisation. In 1998-99, a series of tariffs started falling with China's GATT membership, and by 2001 it had entered the WTO, leading to a flood of exports to the United States and Europe (and everywhere else).To make a long story short, it's interesting to see just how far China has come since then, and (relatively speaking) just how much power Taiwan has lost. Hopefully, a military solution to the reunification of Taiwan and China is off the table. And yet, the Chinese military has been improving by leaps and bounds. Something tells me that no matter how awkward Dale Brown's specific work of fiction is, the issue of Chinese superiority over the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait has not disappeared.

Patrick McLanahan and the Old Dog crew are back for another round. In this book, Taiwan has declared its independence and the United States has decided to back them. The Chinese are deeply offended by this and unleash a full scale war against Taiwan. The Old Dog crew comes to the rescue but ends up sidelined by bureaucracy within the US command structure. They keep fighting in spite of their troubles and ruffle some feathers along the way.I liked the fact that the "bad guys" - in this case, the Chinese, weren't incompetent for most of the book. They used some unconventional tactics (borrowed from Sun Tzu) that actually worked. I wasn't as sure that it was realistic that they were a little too eager to start throwing nukes around.Dale Brown clearly has some strong feelings about how the US should manage and use their heavy bombers, and sometimes he's a little too heavy-handed in trying to make those who don't share his views look like idiots.But the battle scenes in this book were very well done, and there were a lot of them. I felt like the book ended quickly, given how long it took to build to its conclusion - when I saw there were 20 pages I had no idea how they would wrap it up so fast. But overall it was enjoyable. If you like military thrillers you'll like this book, if you don't, then you definitely won't.

So much nonstop action that sometimes you feel like you are strapped in the B52 going along for a wild bumpy ride . Thanks

An entertaining story, indeed, but it seems that the author has a penchant of overloading the reader with a lot of technical terminology and it takes a bit before the gist of the plot develops. Indeed this has happened several times with his topical genre, especially about the bombers and the political machinations in DC. He does a great job in depicting the sinister Chinese admiral, the snidish-politician, the conniving admiral, and of course raises the bar about the main character McLanahan's and his crew, very aptly humanizing them. I am duly impressed at his ability to describe all of the technical jargon about the aircraft, the missiles, and the electronics involved. An excellent read, though perhaps it would serve him to tone down the high technical nomenclature, 'cause, just how many of us readers are there out there who can decipher all of the technological-avionic mumbo-jumbo? So what's next for Patrick McLanahan and his merry band of high tech pilots and crew? Looking forward to it!

I read this book in 2014, but it was obviously written some time before 1997. So to really enjoy the book, which I thoroughly did, you just have to put the current date out of your head and take it for what it is - another Dale Brown hi-tech military adventure story. There are several distinct sections of the book depicting utterly tense, action-packed combat, and I enjoyed those the most. There are other, rather lengthy sections which contain extended dialogue between major political and military figures. In those sections, which are interesting, there is some drama, and a great deal of strategy and politics - and virtually no "action". I think there could have been a little less of those sections, but the book would be incomplete with none of them. In some form or the other, they are necessary to the book. So despite their excessive (in my opinion) length, they belong where Mr. brown has put them. I'm glad I read this book, and recommend it to those of you who enjoy this kind of intense military adventure story.

I don't read this type of book however when l do always enjoy them,just try one and you will be bitten!!Me buy them ,Russell Melling

Sorry to hear about Brad.Take the position Patrick.Trust more additions to family will eventuate.i trust this is really a figment of your imagination Dale and notsomething that could really happen?

Great book. Very heavy on technical and political info but it got my blood boiling. Once again, beaurocrats prove how useless they are.

Entertaining read. Love the tech details. Looking forward to the next Dale Brown adventure. Might need a new adversary though.

dale brown never fails to write a great thriller, have been reading his novels for the past few years