FALLOUT

Mining the ever-popular mother lode of military techno-thrillers, Huston's fourth novel (after Flashpoint) is a lukewarm effort with more spills than chills and even less plot credibility. Huston is himself a former navy "Topgun" jet fighter pilot, and this novel relies heavily on aviation jargon and modern aerial combat. Navy Lt. Luke Henry, a hotshot Topgun instructor, is forced out of the navy after being blamed for a deadly aircraft accident that was not his fault. Resolved to keep flying, he starts a private, commercial Topgun school in the Nevada desert. Almost immediately, he draws lucrative military contracts to train fighter pilots; a sneaky government official even provides him with Russian MiG-29 jets for training. But hopelessly naïve Luke is being set up. The terrorist bad guys play him like a cheap fiddle, bribing and blackmailing their way into the school. Aided by the Russian mafia, they hope to incite a nuclear war between Pakistan and India, but first they want to orchestrate the most devastating terrorist attack ever on American soil. Several exciting jet dogfights provide the action as Luke and his squadron pals battle the terrorists at high altitude, with air-to-air missiles zooming all over the sky. The aviation scenes are best, but back on the ground, Huston's characters and plot devices do not hold up. The only character of substance is a disgraced Russian pilot who has infiltrated Luke's school with an agenda of his own. Even the bad guys are corny caricatures of thugs and zealots, and Luke is left with nothing to do but shoot down nearly everybody in sight. (July)