Air Force Eagles

This third novel in the Eagles series eschews the melodramatic plot twists that characterized Trophy for Eagles and Eagles at War. Here Boyne offers a straightforward technothriller/adventure story focused on the U.S. Air Force during its first decade of existence. Although Boyne remains better at storytelling than at characterizaton, word? formula? OK as is/ pre characters familiar from the earlier books--Frank Bandfield and Hadley Roger--interact with hissable villains (a careerist officer, a racist congressman) to keep the action moving. The narrative advances `move' in previous sent through the military's ? post-1945 retrenchment, the Korean War, McCarthyism and the years of nuclear deterrence. Technical matters, like the development of the B-47 bomber and of aerial firefighting, are handled with convincing expertise, as is the protagonists' captivity in North Korea. Black fighter ace John Marshall and his wife Saundra anchor a particularly strong civil rights subplot, whose resolution brings the novel to an emotionally satisfying conclusion. And knowledgeable readers will note the memorable cameo appearance of Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., despite the fictional name in which Boyne has disguised him. (June)