Block Out Some Time for Blackout

This is one scary book, even if some of the action and characters seem just a bit unbelievable, a little too death-defying, a little too talented to be real people or events.

"Blackout" gives us two heroes, not one, both of whom manage to survive the most amazing and frightening series of events as they are chased around the world by bad guys for, at least a while, rather unknown reasons. A lot of otherwise nice folks get bumped off in this book, through plane crashes, Vietnamese jungle booby-traps, shootings, fires, you name it. It's bloody and gruesome at times, though at all times well written.


But the violence takes a back seat to the depiction of technology, most revolving around airplanes, but involving weapons as well. And this is where author John J. Nance really shows off his stuff, because in real life, he's a pilot and aviation news commentator on TV.

Even if you've had no desire to find yourself on the flight deck of an airplane, that's where you'll spend a lengthy chunk of time, and you'll learn a lot. You'll learn a little more about FBI procedures, bureaucratic rivalries and more.

The basic story is this: someone has managed to knock a commercial airliner out of the skies but no one knows how or why. No one seems particularly eager to announce to the world that this capability exists.

Enter reporter Robert McCabe, who, without knowing it, has access to information about the power that can cripple the commercial aviation industry. Enter, too, FBI agent Kat Bronsky, who hooks up with McCabe somewhat unwillingly, as he is pursued by the bad guys trying to get the information from him that he doesn't know he has. Lots of people die as the bad guys pursue McCabe and Bronsky; only a handful of people around them survive as they make their way from Hong Kong to Vietnam to Hawaii and ultimately the West Coast, solving the mystery in the process.

Several people betray them, wittingly and unwittingly. I wasn't terribly surprised by the ultimate unmasking of one of the betrayers, but other readers may find other suspects more compelling. I do know that I wouldn't want to be one of the numerous innocent drivers or pilots who routinely get bumped off in this story.

This is an exciting read, exploring a matter of science and technology that is disturbing and shouldn't be lost in the story line that develops over temporary lust in a backwoods cabin, teenage angst or anything else.

I also felt I'd learned how to fly a plane after reading this book, which is really scary.