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The 17th Day
Seventeen days...the average life expectancy of a British aviator during World War I. Last three weeks and you were practically a veteran. Paul Hyde dropped out of college to join the Royal Flying Corps, looking for a grand adventure. And grand it was, or so he assured himself when planes were crashing all around him. Today is his 17th day. Will he be able to beat the odds?
©2012 Stephen Coonts (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
©2012 Stephen Coonts (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published May 8, 2012
60 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Coonts
180 books755 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.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 3, 2017
World War I short story that is very interesting.
April 26, 2020
This novella was originally published in the anthology Victory. It was later included in The Sea Witch.
December 8, 2021
This was a great ww1 plane story! Really liked looking at the old fabric and wood planes and how far we have come!
August 24, 2013
In his preface, Stephen Coonts explains that he always wanted to write a novel about World War I, “but it never happened.” He did, however, write this short story about World War I flyers. It is plain to see from his attention to detail that the subject interests him a great deal.
Paul Hyde is an American who was looking for some adventure. This led him to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps where the average life expectancy of the pilots was just seventeen days. Against all odds, Paul survived through his first sixteen days and is now facing that critical number. If he survives today, he just might make it out of the war alive.
The 17th Day is short, only a little over an hour long, but it is packed with plenty of action. Coonts did a nice job of bringing the aerial battles to colorful life with his simple but elegant phrasing. In his preface, he also gives a brief history of World War I aircraft, specifically focusing on how primitive they were and why they were so dangerous to fly, going so far as to describe them as “flying match-heads.” Through Paul Hyde’s eyes and thoughts, we can see what a difficult job these airmen had, but the background information in the preface also helps to increase the tension and suspense of the story.
I thought Dick Hill did a wonderful job with the narration of The 17th Day . Some narrators sound like they are reading a story, and some narrators sound like they are telling a story. Dick Hill is definitely of the latter variety. His dialogue sounded good, and his character voices were convincing. I would like to hear Dick Hill on a longer audiobook.
Steven Brandt @ Audiobook-Heaven
Paul Hyde is an American who was looking for some adventure. This led him to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps where the average life expectancy of the pilots was just seventeen days. Against all odds, Paul survived through his first sixteen days and is now facing that critical number. If he survives today, he just might make it out of the war alive.
The 17th Day is short, only a little over an hour long, but it is packed with plenty of action. Coonts did a nice job of bringing the aerial battles to colorful life with his simple but elegant phrasing. In his preface, he also gives a brief history of World War I aircraft, specifically focusing on how primitive they were and why they were so dangerous to fly, going so far as to describe them as “flying match-heads.” Through Paul Hyde’s eyes and thoughts, we can see what a difficult job these airmen had, but the background information in the preface also helps to increase the tension and suspense of the story.
I thought Dick Hill did a wonderful job with the narration of The 17th Day . Some narrators sound like they are reading a story, and some narrators sound like they are telling a story. Dick Hill is definitely of the latter variety. His dialogue sounded good, and his character voices were convincing. I would like to hear Dick Hill on a longer audiobook.
Steven Brandt @ Audiobook-Heaven
April 19, 2015
The 17th Day is short, only a little over an hour long, but it is packed with plenty of action. The author explains that he always wanted to write a WWI story and finally did. The 17th day is a compelling and gripping story of a fighter pilot's life during that conflict. It reads/listens like other exciting novels and the ending is quite touching.
January 9, 2013
Good story; short and interesting.
November 13, 2015
CD book for my commute this week...only 1 CD...early Coonts short story fleshed out dealing with an American flying for the British in early WWI...just OK
February 9, 2013
A very well done story that shows ver accurately the problems with WW 1 aircraft and the dangers the pilots faced every mission. A great, exciting tale.
July 16, 2017
Not a book but a short story. Nonetheless, a delightful read for pilots and those interested in this conflict.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews