Fatal Terrain
Encyclopedia
Fatal Terrain is a 1997 novel
written by Dale Brown
. Patrick McLanahan, the airforce ace returns after his secret bombing missions over Iran
in Shadows of Steel.
has planned a massive invasion of the Taiwan
ese islands and the Formosa Strait, as the Taiwanese have claimed their country to be independent. The People's Liberation Army
plans a full scale attack to retake the islands which it sees as rightfully the property of mainland China.
The American government, which has recognised Taiwan's independence is willing to back them up in case of an impeding attack. Kevin Martindale, the President of the United States, sends the top secret EB-52 Megafortress with the crew—Patrick McLanahan, Bradley Elliott and Nancy Cheshire—to monitor the situation over the international waters around the Taiwanese islands.
Meanwhile, the Chinese have sent their aircraft carrier
"Mao Zedong" (formerly the Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag
) along with their strongest destroyers to attack and regain the islands. Admiral Sun Ji Gouming, the ferocious young admiral of the People's Liberation Army Navy
plans to use nuclear weapons to force Taiwan to surrender.
The Chinese play a blame game and rouse the Taiwanese forces into attacking first. By this the world opinion turns against the Taiwan and America. In retaliation, they mount a massive nuclear strike on Taiwan decimating most of their defence.
Elliot and his crew evade their grounding orders and set off on a renegade mission to destroy the Chinese nuclear silos. During the raid, the Megafortress comes under heavy attack. Elliott forces Patrick, his wife Wendy and Nancy to eject and flies the damaged bomber into the last silo, blowing it up.
Finally, the Chinese accept a ceasefire after Admiral Sun Ji Gouming voluntarily surrenders to the Americans at Kadena Air Base
in Japan, following his deal with the Chinese president not to reveal the Chinese plans of attack in exchange for a ceasefire.
The Megafortress crew makes it back to the United States. The President announces that he has decided to reopen the HAWC as Elliott Air Force Base. He also appoints General Samson as its Chief Commander and requests McLanahan to act as the Director of Operations. McLanahan, reluctant on the offer looks ahead to his future life with Wendy becoming a father to their son Bradley McLanahan—named in honour of their beloved friend Bradley Elliott.
Maj. Patrick Mclanahan - Bombadier on board the EB-52
Wendy Tork Mclanahan - Systems officer on board the EB-52 and wife of Patrick Mclanahan
Nancy Cheshire - Co-pilot and navigator on board the EB-52
Gen. Terill Samson - Chief of Megafortress operations during the war and later chief of HAWC
Adm. George Balboa - Commander of the Navy and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff
complained of "tinny dialogue and leaden prose" but praised the author's knowledge of military technology. The hard cover edition, by Putnam, reached number 14 on the New York Times best seller list in August 1997. The paperback edition, by Berkley, reached number 6 on the New York Times best seller list in April, 1998.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Dale Brown
Dale Brown
Dale Brown is an American author and aviator, most famous for his aviation techno-thriller novels, with thirteen New York Times best sellers to his name.Brown was born in Buffalo, New York...
. Patrick McLanahan, the airforce ace returns after his secret bombing missions over Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
in Shadows of Steel.
Plot
The People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
has planned a massive invasion of the Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese islands and the Formosa Strait, as the Taiwanese have claimed their country to be independent. The People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
plans a full scale attack to retake the islands which it sees as rightfully the property of mainland China.
The American government, which has recognised Taiwan's independence is willing to back them up in case of an impeding attack. Kevin Martindale, the President of the United States, sends the top secret EB-52 Megafortress with the crew—Patrick McLanahan, Bradley Elliott and Nancy Cheshire—to monitor the situation over the international waters around the Taiwanese islands.
Meanwhile, the Chinese have sent their aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
"Mao Zedong" (formerly the Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag
Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag
Varyag was to be an Admiral Kuznetsov class multirole aircraft carrier of the Soviet Union. She was known as Riga when her keel was laid down at Shipyard 444 in Nikolayev December 6, 1985. Design of the carrier was undertaken by the Nevskoye Planning and Design Bureau...
) along with their strongest destroyers to attack and regain the islands. Admiral Sun Ji Gouming, the ferocious young admiral of the People's Liberation Army Navy
People's Liberation Army Navy
The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...
plans to use nuclear weapons to force Taiwan to surrender.
The Chinese play a blame game and rouse the Taiwanese forces into attacking first. By this the world opinion turns against the Taiwan and America. In retaliation, they mount a massive nuclear strike on Taiwan decimating most of their defence.
Elliot and his crew evade their grounding orders and set off on a renegade mission to destroy the Chinese nuclear silos. During the raid, the Megafortress comes under heavy attack. Elliott forces Patrick, his wife Wendy and Nancy to eject and flies the damaged bomber into the last silo, blowing it up.
Finally, the Chinese accept a ceasefire after Admiral Sun Ji Gouming voluntarily surrenders to the Americans at Kadena Air Base
Kadena Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...
in Japan, following his deal with the Chinese president not to reveal the Chinese plans of attack in exchange for a ceasefire.
The Megafortress crew makes it back to the United States. The President announces that he has decided to reopen the HAWC as Elliott Air Force Base. He also appoints General Samson as its Chief Commander and requests McLanahan to act as the Director of Operations. McLanahan, reluctant on the offer looks ahead to his future life with Wendy becoming a father to their son Bradley McLanahan—named in honour of their beloved friend Bradley Elliott.
Main characters
Ret. Gen. Bradley Elliott - Killed in action by flying his plane into a nuclear missile siloMaj. Patrick Mclanahan - Bombadier on board the EB-52
Wendy Tork Mclanahan - Systems officer on board the EB-52 and wife of Patrick Mclanahan
Nancy Cheshire - Co-pilot and navigator on board the EB-52
Gen. Terill Samson - Chief of Megafortress operations during the war and later chief of HAWC
Adm. George Balboa - Commander of the Navy and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff
Reception
Reviewer Jeff Popple of the Canberra Times (Australia) called it an "enjoyable techno-thriller, full of state-of -the-art military hardware and simplistic right-wing politics." He said the details about technology were convincing, but said "the dialogue and characterizations are less convincing." He recommended it for fans of the genre. Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
complained of "tinny dialogue and leaden prose" but praised the author's knowledge of military technology. The hard cover edition, by Putnam, reached number 14 on the New York Times best seller list in August 1997. The paperback edition, by Berkley, reached number 6 on the New York Times best seller list in April, 1998.