What do you think?
Rate this book
Jake Grafton #4
The Minotaur
The thriller from New York Times bestselling author Stephen Coonts—now available as an ebook
At the height of the Cold War, Captain Jake Grafton becomes entangled in the hunt for a spy selling high-tech military secrets to the Soviet Union
Naval pilot Jake Grafton flies fighter jets with ice water in his veins. But when he’s assigned a desk job in the Pentagon as the head of a top-secret stealth bomber program, his nerve is tested as never before. Colleagues start dying mysteriously, test flights are sabotaged, and the program is threatened at every level. If Grafton can’t infiltrate a web of espionage and counter-espionage centered round the deadly traitor, code-named the Minotaur, he stands to lose much more than just his career.
The Minotaur is an exhilarating thriller and fascinating procedural, revealing the complexities of military technology R&D.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Stephen Coonts, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.
450 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 18, 1989
498 people are currently reading
955 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Coonts
180 books754 followersStephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American thriller and suspense novelist.
Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town and earned an B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968. He entered the Navy the following year and flew an A-6 Intruder medium attack plane during the Vietnam War, where he served on two combat cruises aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He accumulated 1600 hours in the A-6 Intruder and earned a number of Navy commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68). His navigator-bombardier was LTjg Stanley W. Bryant who later became a Rear Admiral and deputy commander-in-chief of the US naval forces in Europe.
After being honorably discharged from duty as a lieutenant in 1977, Coonts pursued a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He then worked as an oil and gas lawyer for several companies, entertaining his writing interests in his free time.
He published short stories in a number of publications before writing Flight of the Intruder in 1986 (made into a movie in 1991). Intruder, based in part on his experiences as a bomber pilot, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in hardcover and launched his career as a novelist. From there he continued writing adventure-mysteries using the character from his first book, Jake Grafton. He has written several other series and stand-alone novels since then, but is most notable for the Grafton books.
Today Coonts continues to write, having had seventeen New York Times bestsellers (out of 20 books), and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and son.
Taken from Wikipedia
Learn more about Stephen Coonts on the Macmillan website.
Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town and earned an B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968. He entered the Navy the following year and flew an A-6 Intruder medium attack plane during the Vietnam War, where he served on two combat cruises aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He accumulated 1600 hours in the A-6 Intruder and earned a number of Navy commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68). His navigator-bombardier was LTjg Stanley W. Bryant who later became a Rear Admiral and deputy commander-in-chief of the US naval forces in Europe.
After being honorably discharged from duty as a lieutenant in 1977, Coonts pursued a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He then worked as an oil and gas lawyer for several companies, entertaining his writing interests in his free time.
He published short stories in a number of publications before writing Flight of the Intruder in 1986 (made into a movie in 1991). Intruder, based in part on his experiences as a bomber pilot, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in hardcover and launched his career as a novelist. From there he continued writing adventure-mysteries using the character from his first book, Jake Grafton. He has written several other series and stand-alone novels since then, but is most notable for the Grafton books.
Today Coonts continues to write, having had seventeen New York Times bestsellers (out of 20 books), and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and son.
Taken from Wikipedia
Learn more about Stephen Coonts on the Macmillan website.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
June 6, 2019
This military thriller, written in 1989, revolves around the Pentagon and the Navy's efforts to build a stealth bomber. Not surprisingly, the Russians are interfering. Also explained is how Jake Grafton and Toad Tarkington still live after purposely crashing their A-6 into another enemy aircraft mid-flight in the last book, "Final Flight". Counts' talent as a writer grows in this tale and I'm hooked on his characters, very happy knowing I have 30 years of his books left to read. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure this is his third book so I have no idea why it's labeled "Jake Grafton #4" by Goodreads.
April 15, 2019
With The Minotaur, Stephen Coonts makes Jake Grafton's transition from Navy pilot to multi-faceted military, intelligence, Capitol Hill comfortable person all but a foregone conclusion. This isn't a surprising development given the fact this book was published in 1989 and the series is still going strong. However, I really appreciated this transition happening in a natural way for the central character rather than being forced down my throat.
This book starts with Jake Grafton searching for his purpose and plans following his mid-air collision, the subsequent coma, and the fall out from the events in the previous novel. Given a chance to continue his Naval career, this time with a posting in the Pentagon overseeing the development of a new stealth aircraft, Grafton shows he's capable of handling a desk job and the people/politics which come this type of posting. He seems to be very relatable as well as competent in his own way; bringing consistency to both the character as well as the series.
One of the elements I really enjoyed about this book was the management of multiple, related storylines. I enjoyed the inclusion of Toad Tarkington, a character from the previous novel. His character is entertaining, youthful, and still flying. I also really enjoyed the Soviet cell and the players in that thread. I thought Coonts did a great job slowly tying them all together, not too fast to make it seem thrown together, nor too cute to make it seem implausible. It was really well done.
In the end, I found myself looking to see which book is next in the series, grateful to have decades of material to get through.
This book starts with Jake Grafton searching for his purpose and plans following his mid-air collision, the subsequent coma, and the fall out from the events in the previous novel. Given a chance to continue his Naval career, this time with a posting in the Pentagon overseeing the development of a new stealth aircraft, Grafton shows he's capable of handling a desk job and the people/politics which come this type of posting. He seems to be very relatable as well as competent in his own way; bringing consistency to both the character as well as the series.
One of the elements I really enjoyed about this book was the management of multiple, related storylines. I enjoyed the inclusion of Toad Tarkington, a character from the previous novel. His character is entertaining, youthful, and still flying. I also really enjoyed the Soviet cell and the players in that thread. I thought Coonts did a great job slowly tying them all together, not too fast to make it seem thrown together, nor too cute to make it seem implausible. It was really well done.
In the end, I found myself looking to see which book is next in the series, grateful to have decades of material to get through.
April 7, 2021
I am enjoying this series and will continue. I would give this 3.5 stars if I could. It's a different kind of fiction than I usually read and I enjoy learning about different aviation aspects as fictional innovations are interspersed. Remembering the advent of the stealth bomber era in the 80's and 90's was interesting. I worked for a company that was doing some work for Northrop who built the B-2, so I learned a bit back then. Test pilots, cold war jockeying, spying, and government bureaucracy are all exposed and explored in this novel.
I have had the next book in the series, Under Siege, on my shelf for some time and started reading it before I realized it was book 5 in the series. NOW I can pick up reading that one. It started off better than any of the other 4 now that I can compare.
I have had the next book in the series, Under Siege, on my shelf for some time and started reading it before I realized it was book 5 in the series. NOW I can pick up reading that one. It started off better than any of the other 4 now that I can compare.
September 28, 2019
This was a suspenseful and intriguing novel seamlessly covering both the many technical aspects of equipment procurement and project development as well as dealing with an unknown spy present at the highest levels of the Pentagon. From sleeper agents to a military development project (which bears many similarities to the F35 program, even though this was published a decade before the F35 program started), this book started off a little slow but ended with a bang! It even brought back one of my favourite characters, Lt Toad Tarkington!
January 7, 2008
This was my least favorite Stephen Coonts novel. It moves slower than most and the charachters are not great either. The story is outdated also but what can you do about that? If there is one nice thing I can say about this book, its that Grafton and his family do appear more human in this story then they have in many others.
October 21, 2017
Maybe if I read the books before this one I would have liked it better but I’m not sure. I liked nothing about this book. It was long and tedious to get through. Very boring. A big waste of my time.
March 3, 2022
For today, this book is out of date. Very boring, reading this book wate of time. I gave up reading.
January 17, 2023
4 stars
Solid thriller with a meticulously constructed plot. Par for the course when it comes to Stephen Coonts. While the story bogs down in some places, it really captures the political intrigue of a true Cold War era spy novel. While there is some flying described in The Minotaur, I did miss the protracted combat flight scenes from his previous books. Given the author's history as a combat decorated naval aviator, he has the rare ability to put the reader in the cockpit, achieving real moments of sublime eloquence when describing the thrill of flight. That said, this is another great entry in the Jake Grafton series that holds up well, even after 30 odd years.
Notes and final thoughts: Lots of colorful language and swearing, but realistic for the characters and their environments. Some brief sex scenes, but much less descriptive than those found in Final Flight. The main character, Jake Grafton, is more likeable (for me anyway) compared to previous books. I suppose he's chilling out with age... Toad Tarkington plays a fairly major role in this one, again, and while he's a total cad, he's endearing in his own weird way... Which brings me to the introduction of a new character, test pilot, Rita Moravia. I really liked the addition of a badass female test pilot - this would have been fairly new territory when the book was first published in 1989. And finally, to mention the slow spots... A lot of time is devoted to the intricacies of R&D as it relates to the military industrial complex, and the final revelation of spy identities gets a bit circuitous.
All in all, I highly recommend this series for readers who enjoy the following topics: Aviation, military aviation, military/political/spy thrillers.
Solid thriller with a meticulously constructed plot. Par for the course when it comes to Stephen Coonts. While the story bogs down in some places, it really captures the political intrigue of a true Cold War era spy novel. While there is some flying described in The Minotaur, I did miss the protracted combat flight scenes from his previous books. Given the author's history as a combat decorated naval aviator, he has the rare ability to put the reader in the cockpit, achieving real moments of sublime eloquence when describing the thrill of flight. That said, this is another great entry in the Jake Grafton series that holds up well, even after 30 odd years.
Notes and final thoughts: Lots of colorful language and swearing, but realistic for the characters and their environments. Some brief sex scenes, but much less descriptive than those found in Final Flight. The main character, Jake Grafton, is more likeable (for me anyway) compared to previous books. I suppose he's chilling out with age... Toad Tarkington plays a fairly major role in this one, again, and while he's a total cad, he's endearing in his own weird way... Which brings me to the introduction of a new character, test pilot, Rita Moravia. I really liked the addition of a badass female test pilot - this would have been fairly new territory when the book was first published in 1989. And finally, to mention the slow spots... A lot of time is devoted to the intricacies of R&D as it relates to the military industrial complex, and the final revelation of spy identities gets a bit circuitous.
All in all, I highly recommend this series for readers who enjoy the following topics: Aviation, military aviation, military/political/spy thrillers.
July 1, 2023
Two books in one. A spy thriller and a glimpse into shore duty at the puzzle palace- Pentagon. Jake gets the job as project manager for the Navy’s new replacement attack bird, the A-12, to replace the venerable A-6 Intruder. A high stress job where no good deed goes unpunished. He’s replacing an officer who was murdered- a murder that has been glossed over and kept secret. The FBI is involved. The agent in charge, Luis Camacho, counterespionage is a formidable presence and gets equal time in this narrative. A pretty good yarn where the reader is constantly questioning the allegiances and motivations of the characters.
December 7, 2024
This is the fifth book by Stephen Counts that I have read and it is by far, my least favorite. It is described as a thriller but it seems as if much of the book involves descriptions of various meetings. There were a few exciting elements in the book and that's why I did not rate it with one star. There were many parts of the book when I felt like I was reading a nonfiction manual about how various projects get approved by the government. Maybe if I was looking for that, I would have loved it but as it was, this was a lot more boring than any of his other books.
November 16, 2018
Fun ride
Fast, fun read. Jake and Toad working together on top secret projects the Russians are anxious to snatch. Corporate espionage, political intrigue, exciting flying, and spies abound. All this with a little romance thrown in for good measure.
Definitely recommended for Grafton fans.
Fast, fun read. Jake and Toad working together on top secret projects the Russians are anxious to snatch. Corporate espionage, political intrigue, exciting flying, and spies abound. All this with a little romance thrown in for good measure.
Definitely recommended for Grafton fans.
June 15, 2021
If you have read and enjoyed any other Stephen Coonts books, I'd suggest giving this a go.
Whilst a bit dated (the A-12 progam was terminated years ago, and there is a quaint reference to 5.25 inch disks), this is still a pretty decent read for someone who wants to read a well written techno/espionage thriller.
Whilst a bit dated (the A-12 progam was terminated years ago, and there is a quaint reference to 5.25 inch disks), this is still a pretty decent read for someone who wants to read a well written techno/espionage thriller.
September 8, 2022
One of the first Jake Grafton books. A little slow at first with all the military jargon and specs about planes & weapon systems. Halfway through the story gripped my attention and didn’t disappoint. Even at the end it left me wondering who was telling the truth and who was really a good guy vs traitor.
October 30, 2017
Stephen Coonts is a fabulous translator of aviation-speak into the written word. Minotaur was a little difficult to follow because of the large number of characters. Still a great read and his insight into the Washington DC swamp with regard to procurement is priceless
September 28, 2019
Page Turner with Suspense
Another classic by Coonts. He writes in such a way that its mystery making it a page turner. I enjoyed how it was a military story, but it felt like a spy/espionage story. Great job Coonts I look forward to reading your other novels.
Another classic by Coonts. He writes in such a way that its mystery making it a page turner. I enjoyed how it was a military story, but it felt like a spy/espionage story. Great job Coonts I look forward to reading your other novels.
January 4, 2021
Not my favorite Jake Grafton novel, but a good solid book none the same. The spy stuff, instead of the flight stuff, set me off a little because Jake was such a great aviator. Still a solid book, just don'w start the series with this book!
March 21, 2021
Somehow I managed to stumble onto this series but completely out of order. I need to go back to book one and read them in order. I like all the technical flying parts and I liked the mystery in this one.
March 31, 2021
Recommended. The best Jake Grafton yet - this time, the fighter ace is grounded, working on evaluating experimental military technology for the Navy and trying to find a Russian mole passing on classified information. Really enjoyed this one.
June 9, 2021
Pretty complicated and boring in spots, although an interesting premise. Written in 1988-9. Fall of the Soviet Union must have interrupted the story, or made it difficult to follow the original outline.
May 27, 2024
This is a good story, even though three decades old. It's kind of fun recalling spying in the last days of the Soviet Union. The plot in this one is strangely contorted in a way that perhaps only makes sense in that era.
November 16, 2024
My first Jack Grafton book. I have read all of the Tom Clancy books, many of Dale Browns. I find Grafton another great character like Jack Ryan. I understand this book subject wasn't a typical Grafton type book. More of a spy vs spy intelligence genre. Looking forward to reading the others in this great series.
April 22, 2025
Just barely "three" stars. The author obviously knows what he is writing about, and I don't have a problem with all the "technical" material offered in the book, but I would like a few more "thrilling" moments.
June 8, 2017
This was my husbands book that I read to him when we travel. We both enjoyed the suspense and the intrigue.
July 12, 2018
A very good book,it goes into the world of military procurement of new planes.it's
full of twists and turns,that will make you look at the process in a whole different light.Well worth the read!
full of twists and turns,that will make you look at the process in a whole different light.Well worth the read!
August 29, 2018
Great book
February 11, 2019
Always love Jake and Toad!
Read
July 5, 2019Sequel to Final Flight...Jake Grafton lives!
Read
July 6, 2019Very detailed
February 22, 2020
436 pages
April 5, 2020
Another really good story about Russian spies in DC in the 80's. Reminds me a bit of a Tom Clancy yarn.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews