Dale Brown's still the champ, and he proves it in this latest thriller. The weaponry, as usual, is top notch, and the story moves along faster than ever. I think, though, that he should consider giving Col. Bastan a promotion - he really has a lot of responsibility for that rank. Besides, he's conceited enough to be a general.

Jim DeFelice, did a great job telling this story in all three books of this series. Based on historcal fact and some fiction, the characters come to life. You get to know them, and wonder what will happen next. I wish he had done more in this series, and taken it to the end of the war.

A thoroughly enjoyable trip full of intrigue, romance, and danger in the profiteer's paradise that is post-Castro Cuba following an American Marine of Cuban extraction. The Communists may be out of power but that hasn't stopped them from wreaking havoc for the new government. The only regrettable part I found was the small amount of time given to the Marine Corps' new toy, the A/V-32 Pegasus attack jumpjet, but the descriptions of newly-friendly Cuba make up for it.

A very nice overview of Joan of Arc primarily for middle school students, though younger and older could probably read it, too. It makes clear how awesome Joan was, while keeping her very human. Well illustrated and easy to read, with references. A good introduction.

While the book does feature the F-22 depicted on the cover, it's really a B-story subplot that doesn't seem to really involve the Fericos at all. However, it does continue the unofficial series that DeFelice's works fall into with the reappearance of President Jack D'Amici and ties in the HOGS trilogy he wrote as James Ferro by revealing the ultimate fate of BJ Dixon.

DeFelice again proves himself the master of the genre with his latest techno-thriller. Jack Ferico, in a race to find his older brother, Danny, takes readers on a joyride like never before. Yet, BROTHER'S KEEPER is far more than simply an action/adventure. DeFelice expertly explores topics including family devotion, sibling rivalry, and self-pride. A jumbo-jet of a read!

BOOK REVIEW ARCHIVE: "WAR BREAKER" BY JIM DeFELICE (1993)

A future India-Pakistan war (of 1997) is detailed in this fictional thriller as Jim DeFelice sketches a frightful scenario of possible nuclear conflict in South Asia. Published in 1993, one is not surprised that this book has generated more curiosity after the events of May 1998, when first India demonstrated it's nuclear muscle followed by Pakistan's response. The veil of secrecy has now been raised from the nuclear programs of both countries, but in "War Breaker" a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan becomes reality. For fans of flying, aircraft buffs, and avid readers of espionage, especially those who are interested in South Asia, this book has a lot to offer. One has to look a little beyond the main character of down and out, on again off again CIA Agent Michael O'Connell to find a much more interesting array of characters that give this book a unique flavor. There is African American, James Greely, retired from the US Air Force who has never really ever flown the plane that he has been recruited to fly back on this mission (one of three Kahuta upgraded old US B-50 Bombers now nuclear ready named "Golden Bears", once secretly supplied to the Pakistanis by the Americans). The goal here is to prevent renegade elements in the Pakistani Military from using these planes now parked in Gilgit to drop nuclear bombs on Indian cities. Then there is Captain Sayyid "Rocket" Khan the Pakistani Air Force aerial combat expert, the other hero of this novel, who flies a mysterious stealth aircraft developed at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra called the "Snow Leopard". Captain Khan accompanied by the haunting thoughts of his soon to be wife Hir Ranjha and other pilots from the Pakistani Air Base at Sargodha make quite an impact in this book. There is also the confusing character of Lt. General Arjun Singh who leads a branch of the Indian Army that has invaded Pakistan and literally cut it in two, but who really just wants to advance to Lahore to fulfill his dream of a reunited Punjab ( but is wounded badly in the process and does much mystical soul searching in this book). Beyond these, the American President, the US Secretary of State captured in India by extremists, a CIA Director whose intentions are suspect and Morena Kelso, a O'Connell love interest feature prominently. And then there is the mercurial Princess Ghazzala Nizam Pakistan's Interior Minister, a powerful character who works for the Americans under the code name of "Blossom". Overall the plot of this novel tries to cover too vast an area yet the entertainment potential is hardly ever lost except for the difficulty in following Lt. General Arjun Singh's out of body experiences. Many generalizations are used in this story line, but they do not completely overwhelm it. The Pakistan Army gets a thorough drubbing in this book through the character of General Chenab yet the Air Force, well represented by Captain Sayyid Khan gets extremely high marks as do Pakistani scientific community in general. The Indian leadership comes off as reasonable but the vexing problem of Kashmir continues to project itself as a major irritant to the relationship with Pakistan. In light of the nuclear developments of 1998 in India and Pakistan, this book brings forth the possibility of a nuclear nightmare, which all rational people in both India and Pakistan and around the world would do anything to stop. Though the heroics of the CIA and Michael O'Connell make it all seem somewhat too easy to diffuse such a crisis, credit goes to the author for bringing this very serious subject to the curious reader.

Ras H. Siddiqui A Pakistani-American writer and journalist based in Sacramento, California.

A highly original and very much inspired thriller which might well come true! Although set in 1997 and written before then, the India-Pakistan war threat angle is a fact of real life. Especially with the nuclear testing and the fighting in the Kashmir province. This is portrayed in the narrative and has since come true. In the book, ex CIA agent Michael O'Connell has to get his hands on some souped-up B-50 bombers which the CIA built for Pakistan some time back, complete with stealth technology and nuclear armaments. He recruits a pilot who knows the planes well, and an arms tycoon living in southern Iran. Along the way, the story takes you through the war from both sides, with a subplot of the kidnapping of American politicians in New Delhi by Indian mercenaries, and even an Indian general having a religious experience in his dreams! This book is definitely not to be missed if you can get hold of a copy! The airborne action is as good(if not better) as anything Dale Brown has written, the characters are well crafted and deFelice does not bog the reader down in too much personal detail, the various 'near-future' technologies are well but easily explained and the background research into India and Pakistan is so brilliant you feel you're there. Overall, hard to fault.

I found this book at the library, and picked it up beacuse of the cover art. I couldn't put it down untill I was done. Defelice's first novel does a great job touching on everything from advanced aerospace technologies, the plight of pilots in the futre computer-driven world, to industrial imperialism and espionage. With a nice bit of predictable romance thrown in. Defelice really knows his subject, all his technologies are reality based, and he even ties in the famous Aurora spyplane as the Hero's first ride. Best of all, its a good intermediate between the casual reader's weekend material and the Clancy-style heavy read.

If you like new military technology with a story that keeps your interest this may be the book for you. It is a lighter & easier read than Clancy. Just right for a short holiday trip. My only complaint was that it was a bit predictable. I recommend it.

As soon as I saw the recommendation from Clive Cussler I should have known....
Dale Brown has written some good stuff but this is awful. Overly technical and the first half reads like a soap opera! No action until way into the second half of the book and while the action is well handled, the characters are on the dull side.
I am sure many of you will now enjoy voting that this is an unhelpful review, but this was a painful read at times.
Zzzzzzzzzz.

Was excited about this new series from Brown based on the goings-on at Dreamland. The opening novel takes place in 1995, not long after the events in his novel Day of the Cheetah. Basically, General Elliot is out of the picture at Dreamland, and Congress and all the other higher ups are close to closing this place down.

Enter Colonel Dog Bastian. He takes over Dreamland, figuring it will be ditched by the powers that be. This is the slow, and I mean slow part of the book, pretty much the first one half to two thirds of the book. Generally, we introduce new characters, besides Bastian, including his daughter and pilot Breanna Stockard, and her husband, who is wheel-chaired after a training accident in the prologue, Jeff. A few cameos from Dale Brown's other novels appear, such as McClanahan and Briggs. The only one that takes part in most of this novel from the past novels is Nancy Cheshire.

While they are working on projects at HAWC, tensions are mounting in Somalia, where Iranians are shipping in Silkworm missles. Also, involved is Libya. The Iranians are trying to get a "Greater Islamic League" set up against the west.

Eventually, our friends at Dreamland are sent over, in their modified EB-52 Megafortresses...along with U/MF's Flighthawks, which are unmanned planes flown by Jeff from inside the EB-52.

The novel picks up speed in the last one quarter as we have aerial and land battle scenes. Can the guys and gals of Dreamland succeed in their mission, and if so, this could save the Dreamland facility.

Also enjoyed Brown and Defelice adding some action from the Navy, and Marines in this one. If not for most of the book being slow, this would have ranked higher.

Betting the series will get better, now that the characters have been developed. Worth getting if you're a techno-thriller fan.

Dale Brown has collaborated with Jim DeFelice(check out his WAR BREAKER, by the way) to produce an excellent new novel set roughly around the end of Dale's DAY OF THE CHEETAH but tying in nicely with SHADOWS OF STEEL. In the story, Colonel Tecumseh DOG Bastian is assigned by the White House to get Dreamland, the secret base at Nevada's Groom Lake, back into shape or else defence budget cuts will force the place to close. The first half of the book deals with experimenting on new weapons systems, in particular the FLIGHTHAWK unmanned aerial vehicles and also development of the EB-52 Megafortress, another old favourite! Dale Brown has also done well in creating some new characters, such as hotshot F-16 pilot Mack Smith, paraplegic ex-pilot Jeff Stockard who is a leading player with the FLIGHTHAWK system and is also burned out, concerned about his marriage to Megafortress pilot Breanna Bastian Stockard, daughter of 'Dog'. All these personal dramas intertwine well when things heat up in the book's secomd half. As well as the new faces, we also get cameo appearances from Patrick MacLanahan, loose cannon General Brad Elliot(who I sadly miss, this character really rocks!), Madcap Magician SPECFOR operative Hal Briggs and also National Security Advisor Deborah O'Day, who is undecided about closing Dreamland. Overall, memorable characters, fast pacing, easy-to-read narrative and some interesting military technology which might be in use today(you just never know what they've got hidden away) and some pulsating action scenes in the air and on the ground with a deployment of a Marine Expeditionary Unit on a search and rescue mission make this new Dale Brown story well worth the read. I eagerly look forward to reading more in the DREAMLAND series!

I am an avid Dale Brown fan. I was excited to read Dreamland Nerve center. I was quite disappointed. I am not sure how much input Mr. Brown had on this project but it would be better if he took his name off of it. It was stale, predicatble and very cheesy. I think the characters are good but the only person who would actually enjoy reading this is a female highschool wall flower. It should be displayed in the cheap romance novel catagory. The next book in the Dreamland series can be nothing but better than this one. I will give Dreamland another chance because I like Mr. Brown. But, that being said, I can only take so much cheap romance.

Great second installment in the series. Brown revisits ANTARES, the mind/machine interface (see Cheetah) with some new twists.

this has got to be one of the very worse books i have read. love true crime but this one put me to sleep. waste of money- what can i say?

One easily forgets that the grandmother had as much right to her life as the teenagers did. They committed this murder and should be punished accordingly. There is little sympathy for cold blooded killers who use age and circumstances as excuses for their behavior.

When people see this book people think that this girl and this guy must be cold and heartless but, that is not the case. Wendy's grandmother emotionally and physicly abused her. Wendy's grandmother emotionally killed her. The only thing her grandmother didn't do was physically kill her. Which, I'm not so sure she wouldn't of done anyways. And as for James... it is not known for sure if he actually killed her. But, as bad as it sounds, James was just a pawn.