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Wingman #1
Wingman
Hawk Hunter, a former fighter pilot in the losing war against Russia, breaks out of hiding to help lead the American resistance
460 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1987
119 people are currently reading
508 people want to read
About the author
Mack Maloney
109 books161 followersMack Maloney is the author of numerous fiction series, including Wingman, ChopperOps, Starhawk, and Pirate Hunters, as well as UFOs in Wartime – What They Didn’t Want You to Know. A native Bostonian, Maloney received a bachelor of science degree in journalism at Suffolk University and a master of arts degree in film at Emerson College. He is the host of a national radio show, Mack Maloney’s Military X-Files. Visit him on Facebook and at www.mackmaloney.com.
Mack Maloney is the Pen name for BRIAN KELLEHER
Mack Maloney is the Pen name for BRIAN KELLEHER
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
March 8, 2021
I’ve looked and passed on this series for years. Finally I just figured I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did. I’ve never been much for post apocalyptic stuff but this wasn’t as far out there as I expected it to be. Hunter is an interesting character who seems to have something “extra”. That’s okay too. This is a long and prolific series. I’m not sure exactly where Maloney is going to keep taking me but I’m up for finding out.
March 5, 2011
This might be the book for you...He's got three nicknames. Hawk. Hunter. Wingman. He's got a hot French girlfriend, bisexual asian duo comfort women, random babes to bang. He's getting drunk whenever he's on the ground. He's got the fastest fightingest jet ever: the F-16. He can shoot down 100 bastard Russian planes without radar. He avenges the death of his old CO. He gets a crowd to chant USA, USA!
I couldn't put it down.
Expertly written in that action comes non-stop before you can call bullshit on it. I didn't know this genre existed.
If written 20-30 years earlier they would have called it pulp.
Finally, I would say it's quite too long. There's never any doubt how it's going to play out so I wish it wasn't stretched out.
Also gotta figure out how this was recommended to me. Weird.
I couldn't put it down.
Expertly written in that action comes non-stop before you can call bullshit on it. I didn't know this genre existed.
If written 20-30 years earlier they would have called it pulp.
Finally, I would say it's quite too long. There's never any doubt how it's going to play out so I wish it wasn't stretched out.
Also gotta figure out how this was recommended to me. Weird.
April 16, 2020
The Wingman series is one of the best of its kind to ever appear. Now, before anything else, it says "Men's Adventure" right on the spine, so you know it's aimed at men (or, more specifically, fourteen year old young men) who are looking for adventure reading, not philosophical meditations. It's simple and straight-forward testosterone-fueled patriotic fare are there are no shades of grey, the good guys are good and the bad guys are evil and need to be eliminated, and the goal is to keep the action going at Mach-5 or better. However, if that's what you're in the mood for, Maloney's Wingman is for you. There's plenty of military aviation techno-babble, superhuman deeds with more than a tinge of mysticism, more than a dollop of humorous banter, and a tense pace of pulp plotting. It's not great literature, but it is great Men's Adventure.
August 17, 2014
This has to be the single worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read.
The sole purpose of the book seems to be to show off the authors knowledge of planes.
The first two chapters were nothing but exposition in a conversation between two characters. The was not an ounce of character development in the whole book. At one point the lead character used the force (called by another name).
This book is what you would expect a horny twelve year old to write, if they were bad at writing.
I think this book gave me an illness, it's that bad.
Oh and someone needs to teach the author the meaning of the word "decimate"
The sole purpose of the book seems to be to show off the authors knowledge of planes.
The first two chapters were nothing but exposition in a conversation between two characters. The was not an ounce of character development in the whole book. At one point the lead character used the force (called by another name).
This book is what you would expect a horny twelve year old to write, if they were bad at writing.
I think this book gave me an illness, it's that bad.
Oh and someone needs to teach the author the meaning of the word "decimate"
August 10, 2015
This review is also posted at http://readingnookandcranny.blogspot....
I guess I should start by saying this book was originally published in the late eighties, ie it is older than I am. I did not know this when I started reading it, and perhaps this fact is one of the reasons I couldn't stomach it. When I received a galley from the publisher for review, I did not realize the book was so old. At the time I received it, it was an ARC for the ebook release. By the time I "finished" it, the book had already been published.
I put 'finished' in quotations because I didn't actually finish this book. Now, don't get me wrong, because I tried. I really did try. It took me a month and 55% of the book completed to finally call it quits. I kept thinking I could stomach it, that it would get better, that I would finally connect with the main character, Hunter, but none of those came to pass.
One of my biggest beefs with this book is there isn't a whole lot of action for a by-the-seat-of-your-pants-fighter-pilot novel. Now, don't get me wrong, Maloney attempted to jam some action/flying sequences in there, but they all fell flat. Mack just did not seem like a storyteller. The writing style of this novel reminds me of a high schooler trying to write a report by googling things and looking them up on Wikipedia and then trying to add a few adjectives so that it doesn't seem quite so researched (this book, of course, was written in the pre-Google and pre-Wikipedia era, which is ironic). This is how Maloney describes jets. He makes a laundry list of the features and just continues to spew out plane names, many of which aren't even main planes in today's military. Tack on the fact that I'm supposed to believe these events are going to happen in the future after World War III and I'm just not buying it.
It isn't just the action sequences that fall flat. The dialogue is bland and generic, and the characters are basically the stereotypical men's men - pilots that do nothing by drink, fly, and have sex.
Perhaps I would have enjoyed this book better if I were male. Or if I were younger. But with future military type novels, I try to take more out of my reading experience, and this one just couldn't do it for me.
I guess I should start by saying this book was originally published in the late eighties, ie it is older than I am. I did not know this when I started reading it, and perhaps this fact is one of the reasons I couldn't stomach it. When I received a galley from the publisher for review, I did not realize the book was so old. At the time I received it, it was an ARC for the ebook release. By the time I "finished" it, the book had already been published.
I put 'finished' in quotations because I didn't actually finish this book. Now, don't get me wrong, because I tried. I really did try. It took me a month and 55% of the book completed to finally call it quits. I kept thinking I could stomach it, that it would get better, that I would finally connect with the main character, Hunter, but none of those came to pass.
One of my biggest beefs with this book is there isn't a whole lot of action for a by-the-seat-of-your-pants-fighter-pilot novel. Now, don't get me wrong, Maloney attempted to jam some action/flying sequences in there, but they all fell flat. Mack just did not seem like a storyteller. The writing style of this novel reminds me of a high schooler trying to write a report by googling things and looking them up on Wikipedia and then trying to add a few adjectives so that it doesn't seem quite so researched (this book, of course, was written in the pre-Google and pre-Wikipedia era, which is ironic). This is how Maloney describes jets. He makes a laundry list of the features and just continues to spew out plane names, many of which aren't even main planes in today's military. Tack on the fact that I'm supposed to believe these events are going to happen in the future after World War III and I'm just not buying it.
It isn't just the action sequences that fall flat. The dialogue is bland and generic, and the characters are basically the stereotypical men's men - pilots that do nothing by drink, fly, and have sex.
Perhaps I would have enjoyed this book better if I were male. Or if I were younger. But with future military type novels, I try to take more out of my reading experience, and this one just couldn't do it for me.
December 30, 2014
The book started with a hilarious parody of USA single handedly winning the WWIII in a massive air battle, only to be brought down by a communist conspiracy involving the Vice President, and the legendary fighter pilot hero Hawk Hunter being called to serve the country from his hermit lifestyle in the wilderness. The "USA Fuck Yeah" meter was peaking in the first chapter alone! Then I realized that apparently this was not in fact a parody, and realized I'm not man enough to finish this book. The age is *really* showing in this one.
June 21, 2013
This is easily one of the worst books I have ever read. A series of post-apocalyptic books focused on a fighter pilot appealed to me but this writer has no concept of aerodynamics other than being able to spell "F-16." His superhuman pilot protagonist is beyond unbelievable, especially when contrasted with the characterization of his maintenance crews as monkeys. At no time do any of the pilot characters carry on any conversation with the ground crews, not even a maintenance debrief on their jets. The story is so condescending of the maintenance support, you actually begin to wonder if the aircraft are actually being maintained by chimpanzees and orangutans. The greater story line of an America betrayed by the Vice President is rather overshadowed by the collapse of the Soviet Union but has gained some credibility in recent years with the actions of the current President. This book was so very unbelievably bad that I couldn't believe anyone with this little talent could actually get published. I believed his other books had to improve but they didn't. The one redeeming value of this book is to give hope to all wannabe writers because if this drivel can get published, anything can.
July 20, 2015
Several times as I read this book I thought "why do I keep reading?"
What I don't like about the book is that the titular character is stupendously omnipotent. Besides being the best pilot the world has ever known (at one point he takes on 100 other fighters all by himself in his modified F16). He is also able to re-engineer a very complicated airframe (F16) single-handed and without computers, or even electricity - simultaneously making it faster, more manoeuvrable, and capable of carrying additional payloads. He can compute trajectories and interceptions and then guide the weapons with his own mind (use the force Luke) better and faster than computers. At one point he somehow directs a hot air balloon against prevailing winds across hundreds of miles to land exactly where he wanted to.
Even my 11 year old son found it unbelievable.
What I don't like about the book is that the titular character is stupendously omnipotent. Besides being the best pilot the world has ever known (at one point he takes on 100 other fighters all by himself in his modified F16). He is also able to re-engineer a very complicated airframe (F16) single-handed and without computers, or even electricity - simultaneously making it faster, more manoeuvrable, and capable of carrying additional payloads. He can compute trajectories and interceptions and then guide the weapons with his own mind (use the force Luke) better and faster than computers. At one point he somehow directs a hot air balloon against prevailing winds across hundreds of miles to land exactly where he wanted to.
Even my 11 year old son found it unbelievable.
April 18, 2014
I am sure, if I were a teenaged boy, I would love,this series. Unfortunately, I am a middle-aged mother of a soon-to-be teenaged boy ... and it just doesn't sing for me. The Wingman is a post-apocalyptic hero-figure. He drinks like a fish, channels some kind of ninja-force Russian plane smooshing mojo and objectifies women (but at least he doesn't publicly rape them like the 'baddies' in the novel - although bedding Asian comfort women is pretty much the same thing if you look at it through my filters!) and saves the world on a daily basis ... Oh, all the while pining for his one true love, who he met while escaping from Europe to return to the paradise that isn't the food old U S of A (which isn't .. United, I mean!)
I read all of it. Every word. I have done my Lenten penance.
I read all of it. Every word. I have done my Lenten penance.
November 3, 2014
Overpowered roaring jet engines; female characters reduced to faceless entertainment; Russians stereotyped as cruel, stupid automatons; all steeped in a cauldron of military professionalism, freedom, and 'Merica!
As a post-apocalyptic vision, this book gives a bleak outlook on both the future of the human race (who I really gave up on about halfway through) and the retarded behavior of the survivors. Are we really likely to become people whose only impulses are remorseless killing, manic rooting, and heavy drinking?
Will be enjoyed by survivalists, 4WD drivers, and Bear Grylls.
As a post-apocalyptic vision, this book gives a bleak outlook on both the future of the human race (who I really gave up on about halfway through) and the retarded behavior of the survivors. Are we really likely to become people whose only impulses are remorseless killing, manic rooting, and heavy drinking?
Will be enjoyed by survivalists, 4WD drivers, and Bear Grylls.
November 20, 2014
Hmmmm... I should not like this book. It reads like a bad, 80s American action TV series. The only thing missing here is David Hasselhoff. The author has clearly never been near a plane and his objectification of women is ridiculous.
I should not like this book, I should not like this book... so why did I find it hard to put down. Maybe it's the same reason I end up watching bad, 80s American action TV series on cable TV.
Not sure if I should start book two :-)
I should not like this book, I should not like this book... so why did I find it hard to put down. Maybe it's the same reason I end up watching bad, 80s American action TV series on cable TV.
Not sure if I should start book two :-)
May 18, 2018
I read this book in high school 25 years ago and remember enjoying the action. It’s an easy read, but it’s really a pretty terrible book. It’s not well written, the characters are unrealistic and shallow, and the storyline is somewhat oversimplified and ludicrous. Maloney’s crutch of ending sentences with ellipses drove me crazy... (see what I did there?)
And yet there was a lot of action so I powered through. Despite rolling my eyes with almost every page, I read this one and book #4 in the series in just a few days of actual reading time. I’m going to donate this so I don’t make the mistake of accidentally reading it again.
Also, don’t let your kids read this, because the language - and explicit descriptions of sexual activity are very inappropriate today (heck, they were probably inappropriate in the late 1980s when these books were written). All bad guys raping women? All good guys having hookers or comfort women? Ridiculous.
And yet there was a lot of action so I powered through. Despite rolling my eyes with almost every page, I read this one and book #4 in the series in just a few days of actual reading time. I’m going to donate this so I don’t make the mistake of accidentally reading it again.
Also, don’t let your kids read this, because the language - and explicit descriptions of sexual activity are very inappropriate today (heck, they were probably inappropriate in the late 1980s when these books were written). All bad guys raping women? All good guys having hookers or comfort women? Ridiculous.
September 27, 2018
OK, I did finish it, so it gets two stars, but I was sick to my stomach through most of it. Story about a terrorist who thinks he is a patriot, with all the “soldiers” in the book there is not one female - females being relegated to only being prostitutes in this world, except that the hero always gets them for free because he is so good. Wow... had to wash my eyes out with soap.
I will give it excitement - I continued to read because the action was done pretty well though the other faults about did me in.
I will give it excitement - I continued to read because the action was done pretty well though the other faults about did me in.
December 13, 2013
By far, this is the best book I own on my bookshelf. It was exciting and memorable, and does not talk down to the reader. You can tell it was made for a young adult audience, which makes it shine (in my personal opinion.) While some people believe it ignores the basic functions of aerodynamics, that doesn't particularly matter, because of the actual drama and interest and setting that it creates. It reminds me of a video series from the 80s (?) called Space: Above and Beyond, which is about space pilots in the USMC. They had no real idea of how you would fly in space either, yet the show glowed from its great writing and interesting characters, much like this book. There are parts of this book that are definitely skippable, however.
March 19, 2015
The worst book I have read in a long time. Predictable misogynistic pilot porn filled with shove it down your throat patriotic drivel. The characters are flat stereotypical crap. The main character is a flight God for all intensive purposes and completely unbelievable. The plot line itself is stupid and rushed in the beginning all so we can rush to predictable outcomes filled with fighter pilot ego massaging plane porn. I got this in a humble bundle so I paid less than a dollar for the book. I want my money and time back. How was this ever even published let alone turned into a series?! The only people who are going to enjoy this are fighter pilots who want to inflate their egos a bit more than they already are, if they grew up during the Cold War they just might five star this book.
May 8, 2014
Outstanding story line! This is a true "it could really happen" scenario. There are also some wonderful scenes that actually give the reader a "how-to" on handling certain situations, especially if looked at from a different viewpoint. The battle scenes are intense and the characters easy to understand. Great read! Looking forward to the next one.
February 6, 2009
yes,
I read the whole series.
Mom thought it was good that I was reading anything.
I thought I really liked jets and sex scenes with...
wait for it...
Dominique.
HAWK HUNTER YA'LL
HAWK HUNTER
I read the whole series.
Mom thought it was good that I was reading anything.
I thought I really liked jets and sex scenes with...
wait for it...
Dominique.
HAWK HUNTER YA'LL
HAWK HUNTER
September 15, 2014
I'm surprised I finished it...I guess I kept hoping it would get better.
June 23, 2016
A sexist Mary Sue becomes one with his plane and also 'Murica. Couldn't finish it.
Read
August 6, 2021I've written a long rambling review and deleted it. So here we go... I am dismayed by the negative reviews I've just read. I first read this book when it hit the shelves back in the 80's. I got them all fresh off the shelf when published. Now I find out there are 4 more books published since 2013. I'm going to have to get them. I won't give anything away by saying if you like Tom Clancy or maybe Jerry Ahern (RIP to both of them) you should like Maloney. Their characters are all cut from the same cloth, the good guys being good, the bad guys being bad. Was it "PRO-'Murican"? What if it was? Ronald Reagan was in office, and the cold war was raging. Lech Walesa was raising hell in Poland, and the Berlin Wall was still solid. Nukes were at the forefront of everyone's mind with "The Day After" making headlines months before it even aired with no commercial breaks after the missiles flew to avoid breaking the narrative. I believe that meant there was 2 hours of commercial television without commercials. This had never happened in television before and to my knowledge it hasn't happened since. "The Wingman" series is a product of the 80's. Our heroes were larger than life: Luke, Leia and Han; Indy, Max, Snake, Jack Ryan, and the list could go on. They all had their own worlds to live in and they did it well. Hunter did what Maloney created him to do. He saw what needed to be done, and he did it. Sometimes with surprising results and once... he had a reunion with a friend we'd thought dead for a few books. He even got thrown into an alternate reality and got stuck there for a few years. I can't wait to find out how he gets home. So many books... so little time.
August 15, 2023
Wingman soars as an adventure series
This series was a nice summer read. What is interesting is that some series only hint at the circumstances that the USA was defeated. This explained how there was traitors in the government and worked with the Soviet Union to destroy the very idea bof the US.
The novel deals with Hawk "Wingman" Hunter who after WW III and the New Order, the country is divided into like little fiefdoms. He joins some of his ex-air force buddies to defend a little fiefdom which is almost like before the war. He receives the last F-16 and becomes one of the leaders of the United American Resistance, the rest of the air forces are Older jets of the 60's and 70's.
The main villains is the Mid-Aks out of Baltimore and the Family in Chicago, they are constantly invading their neighbors. Where there is a Titanic final battle in St Louis.
The action moves and keeps you all involved and enjoyable book.
This series was a nice summer read. What is interesting is that some series only hint at the circumstances that the USA was defeated. This explained how there was traitors in the government and worked with the Soviet Union to destroy the very idea bof the US.
The novel deals with Hawk "Wingman" Hunter who after WW III and the New Order, the country is divided into like little fiefdoms. He joins some of his ex-air force buddies to defend a little fiefdom which is almost like before the war. He receives the last F-16 and becomes one of the leaders of the United American Resistance, the rest of the air forces are Older jets of the 60's and 70's.
The main villains is the Mid-Aks out of Baltimore and the Family in Chicago, they are constantly invading their neighbors. Where there is a Titanic final battle in St Louis.
The action moves and keeps you all involved and enjoyable book.
April 14, 2019
A MM. SYFY. Mystery Adventure Flying Thriller (Wingman - 1))/WE KIK Happened And The United States No Longer Exists
MM. haz. penned the first novel in the Wingman series which begins as the Wingman comes down off of his mountain in the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont.
When the Wingman arrives at the defunct Otis CAN be finds his old squadron commander ready to start a flying war across the United States. The Wingman engages a multitude of aircraft. During one of his mission he spots a Russian Aircraft knowing then that he was going to engage in a long career. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
MM. haz. penned the first novel in the Wingman series which begins as the Wingman comes down off of his mountain in the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont.
When the Wingman arrives at the defunct Otis CAN be finds his old squadron commander ready to start a flying war across the United States. The Wingman engages a multitude of aircraft. During one of his mission he spots a Russian Aircraft knowing then that he was going to engage in a long career. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
April 30, 2019
The writing is so bad. The author has a degree in journalism, how I am not sure. This is among the hardest American slanting, cliche filled collections of garbage I can recall running into. Super soldier takes out 100 enemy air craft in single flight. Somehow magically a single person fighter jet holds 20 sidewinder missiles, 6 m61 cannons with full stores, and seemingly endless fuel, but can slow to a crawl and be flown as if has vtol (iirr that is legit installed in a later book).
Somehow despite the utter dung being slung upon the page, I enjoyed the book, again.
Somehow despite the utter dung being slung upon the page, I enjoyed the book, again.
September 18, 2024
I usually don’t like writing book reviews unless the book is either fantastic or really bad. This book was not fantastic. What did I think of the book (audio book)? Meh, or worse.
I thought the book series would be interesting, the premise was intriguing. But…., the story was made painful to listen to by:
1) it was chock full of cliches, many times 3 or 4 (sometimes more) in one sentence alone; and
2) the reading was just not very good.
I put the first 4 books in the series on my want to read list, they are being removed as soon as I get done submitting this review.
I thought the book series would be interesting, the premise was intriguing. But…., the story was made painful to listen to by:
1) it was chock full of cliches, many times 3 or 4 (sometimes more) in one sentence alone; and
2) the reading was just not very good.
I put the first 4 books in the series on my want to read list, they are being removed as soon as I get done submitting this review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2021
Awesome start to what will be a great series. I love books about when SHTF. And this had a spin on it that I haven't thought of before. I am excited to see how the rest of the series turns out for Hunter.
May 14, 2021
I couldn't put it down
This Was my 1st read of this genre And I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I'm looking forward to the next in the series and expect find it as fast, Furious, and entertaining
This Was my 1st read of this genre And I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I'm looking forward to the next in the series and expect find it as fast, Furious, and entertaining
Read
May 8, 2022Still holding strong years later.
I remember buying this in paperback when it first came out. It was a strong read that thrilled me and kept me feeling patriotic. The classic David versus Goliath story. My granddaughter reads it with me now and she loves it the way I still do.
I remember buying this in paperback when it first came out. It was a strong read that thrilled me and kept me feeling patriotic. The classic David versus Goliath story. My granddaughter reads it with me now and she loves it the way I still do.
May 13, 2017
Wingman
A good story. It is a little slow in places. The characters are well done and easy to follow them.
A good story. It is a little slow in places. The characters are well done and easy to follow them.
January 5, 2018
This book caught my imagination when I first read it back in High School. I love to re-read it over and over again.
January 28, 2018
Unrealistic but entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews