Shattered Bone

by Chris Stewart

Overview

Shattered Bone: The theft, hijacking, or unauthorized flight of a B-1B bomber loaded with nuclear weapons. Such activity is to be considered a class “A” security violation. The incident aircraft will be destroyed using any and all means available. Its destruction is the highest priority.
–Air Force code manual 13-12

A nightmare scenario becomes terrifying reality when the Ukraine calls in an undercover agent from the old Russian regime who has lived in America nearly all his life and is now an elite bomber pilot. Drawn back to his home, the agent is pitted against a Russia ambitious to rebuild its tyrannical power. As his stolen bomber sweeps down on its target, the world braces for nuclear war, and everyone is left to wonder: Who is the renegade pilot working for?

Shattered Bone crackles with an authenticity and life experience rarely encountered in techno-thrillers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590772836
Publisher:	M. Evans & Company
Publication date:	03/03/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	372,685
File size:	706 KB

About the Author

Chris Stewart was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. In 1995 he was awarded the MacKay Trophy for ‘significant aerial achievement’ for his role as senior project officer of Coronet Bat—a bombing mission which set the world record for the fastest non-stop flight around the world, demonstrating the capability of the B-1 Lancer. Stewart has written fourteen books including The Miracle of Freedom: Seven Tipping Points That Saved the World. He is a U.S. Congressman representing Utah.

Editorial Reviews

We learned from a recent John Travolta movie that "broken arrow" is the military code for a stolen nuclear missile. Now we discover, in this sputtering first thriller by U.S. Air Force Major Stewart, that "shattered bone" is code for "the theft, hijacking or unauthorized flight of a B1-B bomber loaded with nuclear weapons." Stewart (who set world time, distance and speed records for B-1s in 1995) writes about flying with grace and power, but his prose stalls when it comes to character and plot. Battling the imperialist plans of a new Russian premier, Ukrainian leaders deploy one of their deepest moles, 29-year-old U.S. Air Force Captain Richard Ammon. The secret agent disappears after an apparent mid-air explosion, then resurfaces in Ukraine, where he is recruited to steal a B1-B and use it to destroy Russia's still-active missile sites. Feeling some (justified) distrust of Ammon, the Ukrainians take his American wife hostagesoon Ammon finds himself fighting to save her from her captors and the U.S. from nuclear war. A more sophisticated, experienced writer might have pulled off such a doozy of a setup; regrettably, despite wonderful airborne action scenes, Stewart's albatross of a narrative loses all its strength as soon as it touches the ground. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The US is drawn by design into a potentially dangerous belligerency pitting Russia against Ukraine: a top-notch technothriller from first-timer Stewart, an active duty Air Force officer honored for his feats as a B-1 bomber pilot.

Posted to America by the Soviet Union as Richard Ammon, at age 18, Ukrainian Carl Vadym Kostenko earns a from UCLA and becomes a USAF jet jockey. Eleven years later (during which time the USSR implodes), Kiev calls in Ammon (who has long since disclosed his deep-cover status to American intelligence authorities). Although puzzled by the postCold War summons, the F-16 pilot plays along. Once back in his nearly forgotten homeland, the Air Force captain learns that he's the linchpin in a fantastic scheme devised by Ukrainian armed forces to protect the newly independent nation from a Kremlin madman bent on restoring the Soviet Union. While the two neighbors get into a costly shooting war, then, Ammon returns to the States, accompanied by the dastardly Morozov, of uncertain loyalties. Covertly assisted by the White House and Pentagon, the crew—soon working at cross purposes, as Morozov shows his true colors—makes off with a Stealth bomber and heads for the battlefields of Eastern Europe. Ammon is gravely concerned about his beloved wife, who's being held hostage by Morozov's cronies, but he soldiers on nonetheless, carrying out a desperately risky, low-level mission that could precipitate a global holocaust in a Shattered Bone—USAF code for the unauthorized flight of a B-1B loaded with nuclear weapons.

An impressive debut, complete with suspenseful action, plausible geopolitical scenarios, and authoritative detail on the small wonders of advanced military technology.

Kirkus Reviews