Blue Devil Island

In Rainey's enjoyable WWII adventure with a superfluous SF plot twist, courageous American flyers with the navy Blue Devil unit shoot down Japs above the Solomon Islands. The U.S. airmen, led by Lt. Cmdr. Drew McLachlan and based on remote Conquest Island, see fast and fierce action, occasionally suffering a tragic loss. Then, in the cinematic tradition of the period, the story veers into horror flick territory with SF undertones when the airmen discover peculiar savages in the caves of Conquest's mountainous landscape. For good measure, Rainey (The Lebo Coven ) also throws in a gigantic, monstrous extraterrestrial with galaxy-ruling ambitions. The novel benefits from the author's obvious interest in WWII aircraft, and readers nostalgic for the era's war movies and pulp fiction will enjoy the ride. (Jan.)