Fire Arrow

by Franklin Allen Leib

The terrorist hijacking of a chartered Navy aircraft sets the stage for frantic negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union and a dramatic, split-second rescue attempt that threatens to explode into global conflict.

Genres: Fiction, Military Fiction, Thriller, Adventure

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Franklin Allen Leib, a Navy lieutenant during the Vietnam War, served as a gunnery officer, boat officer, and navigator in support of Marine and Army operations. Subsequently, he served as a counterintelligence officer assigned to the Naval Intelligence Command in Washington. Now an international banker, Mr. Leib has an AB from Stanford and an MBA from Columbia. He lives in Westport, Connecticut. His first book, Fire Arrow, is a high-tech military thriller set in today's North Africa.

Reviews

[John (JC) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining ... Fast read.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second reading; the first time was when it was first released as a paperback. It is still as fast-moving as I remembered it being. It has some solid action sequences. It is an interesting story because of how "short" the story is; it takes place over four days, so it is pretty condensed as a result. It is definitely a "product" of the 1980s (specifically the TWA hijacking). The character development is decent (one of the main characters is a member of the Lakota tribe, which stood out to me because of how unusual that is).

The story involves a mixed force of U.S. military forces that seeks to free a group of 61 passengers plus the flight crew of a contracted flight taken hostage and forced to land in Libya. There is not a lot of time available, so it is a bit of a scramble to get the forces assembled, any kind of training completed, and the forces then put in place to make the attack. The ending was a bit interesting, too; I had forgotten how it all went down.

I also thought it interesting how the author was able to tie in the concerns regarding the failed hostage rescue attempt in Iran in 1979. That operation was also a "mixed" operation in that it involved units from different branches of the U.S. military. Actually, it felt like the author was rewriting history so that things went down the way he wished they had gone done (i.e. - Desert One would have succeeded). Another moment he "rewrites" involves a flight of FB-111 bombers out of England. In 1986, France refused to let a U.S. flight overfly France in order to bomb Libya in retaliation for a separate terror attack), adding another 2,000 miles or so to the trip. In the book, FB-111s are going to be used to bomb Libyan airfields to prevent the Libyan air force from interfering with the operation. France again refuses to allow the overflight, but the U.S. President orders the flight to cross France anyway because by the time the French could get any fighter response in the air, it would be too late. The head of France's defenses is notified as a courtesy; the French general says he will allow the overflight and not attack the bombers because mentally he agrees with the Americans' intended use of force but emotionally he hates how his country is being violated by the American military. So, in some ways, the book feels like the author's "wish list" on how he would have liked some different "moments" / historical events during that tumultuous time to have gone done.

I found myself wishing that maybe the Russian unit had actually assisted the Americans more by taking out the Libyan defensive forces. That would have made for a really crazy twist!

In any case, the author did a decent job of making what turned out to be a bit of a "momentum-killer" into a somewhat intense moment of "what's going to happen next?" The Soviet Premier dies and there is a change of power in the Soviet government, so the U.S. has to be very careful on how they handle this fluid, ever-changing situation in Libya. The Russian factions in the government are split because some of the "old guard" want to escalate the event even further and if not quite go to war with the Americans then throw a lot of mud in their eyes while others seek to de-escalate the situation and return to the status quo before the hijacking occurred. The American forces are preparing to pull completely out of Libya when this final Russian unit is forced to exit the burning warehouse in which they were "hiding." This force was originally supposed to rescue the hostages in order for them to be returned to the United States, but the U.S. intervening militarily threw the Russian plan into disarray.

I liked the "conversation between equals" as LtC. Loonfeather discussed how things would go down with his Russian counterpart. It meant that the "fate of the world" was in the hands of two soldiers on a battlefield not of their choosing working out a peaceful solution to a potentially volatile situation and their commanders back at their respective HQs in DC and Moscow had no say what happened "next" (actually, in DC as Moscow had other concerns at the time and this particular unit already had its orders which was not to start any problems or war with the Americans). So it was a pretty cool moment as the two commanders feel each other out on how to best handle the situation and build their trust of and for each other in the process.

The whole "love interest" was a giant meh for me. Granted, the Israeli IDF captain - Leah Rabin - sounded extremely attractive, but it still felt forced in some ways because she was the only female on the "rescue force" and really seemed to only be there for the "main" main character William Stuart to have a couple of sexual encounters with. Regardless, she was a pretty cool character even if she was somewhat put into the background during a good chunk of the battle. She did not completely fit my "mental image" of an IDF soldier, especially a female one, but then again, I am not personally familiar with any IDF soldiers or officers nor the amount of training they have received. Overall, I suppose the author did a decent job of creating this character. On the plus side, she did inspire some of the female hostages to arm themselves and be ready to fight back if necessary (and she strongly inspired some of the younger girls who were taken hostage).

I am not familiar with how well the Navy SEALs were trained throughout the 80s. There was one point where the SEAL commander on the ground says he could use 2-4 more men (two at a minimum but four would have been better) for the mission. For some bizarre reason, none could be found out of the other SEALs. I personally did not find that very believable. Also, if they were going to allow a female Israeli commando to take part in the mission (albeit "secretively" and without official sanction), I don't see why they couldn't have had some British SAS personnel on the team (as they would have had some experience with hostage situations). It seemed like that was one of the weaker parts of the book to me. Also, the Israeli agent/commando had zero HALO training, so the argument against acquiring the necessary SEALs was invalid because she was able to accomplish the jump with even less training than the SEALs get or go through.

There were some cool moments in the book. Like how I never realized that there was a "light" tank that was actually light enough to be carried in the back of a C-141, let alone be airdropped out of the back of an aircraft while in-flight. I actually looked up this light tank, the M-551 Sheridan, and read more about it, so it was fun to increase my knowledge that way.

The descriptions of the shells of the American battleships in flight was pretty awesome, too. There are some "older" cruisers and destroyers in the fleet that are also used to shell the Libyan positions both on the beach and back aways from the coast, so that was pretty cool to read about as well. It reminded me of some of the naval bombardments in the Pacific during WWII that I have read about.

The author also did a decent job writing the Libyan forces. They were not completely inept and were able to put up a relatively capable defense. In any case, they were not expecting American forces to be dropped in the middle of their defenses, which would have caught most people off-guard. I was actually somewhat surprised by this because of how the author presents the Libyan commander/dictator in comparison to the leader of the terrorists and the terrorists themselves. The Libyan commander/dictator, Baruni, comes across as a bit weak and spineless, as no longer having the strength and vision he apparently had when he was younger and "good friends" with the terrorist leader. The terrorist leader is presented as "strong" and vicious; he is also a liar and willing to kill anybody if it will further his "cause" (to punish America for supporting the Israelis and Middle Eastern countries he is not happy with by causing the country some kind of "pain").

I also liked the interactions between Stuart, Loonfeather, and Stuart's SEAL friend, Commander Philip Hooper. I felt they were realistic and natural. They had a good camaraderie (well, Stuart with Loonfeather and Stuart with Hooper; Loonfeather and Hooper's developed throughout the story and came into their own by the end of the book.

It is definitely a product of the late 80s/early 90s (when technothrillers really seemed to come into their own after Tom Clancy wrote The Hunt For Red October and especially Red Storm Rising) as well as how "all Vietnam Vets are broken people". Red Storm Rising was my first introduction to "technothrillers" as opposed to "just" military fiction (which tended to be historically in nature and usually based on WWII) or "spy thrillers" (like Firefox or Firefox Down!), and I read Hunt For Red October after that. In any case, it was fairly fast-paced throughout and I felt the author did not necessarily get too bogged down with "techno dumps" in the midst of his writing. I felt he gave just enough information to inform the reader while keeping the narrative flowing and not distract the reader. It was a fun book to revisit.

[Ron Baumer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another action packed thrill ride by Lieb. A must read.

[Hijacking Of · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writer, from the first few pages, demonstrated his lack of factual knoweldge of aviation, aircraft security and terrorist activities. This book was written before September 11th and the world has changed accordingly. However, given that consideration, the author clearly is not factually informed about many things he posits in his first novel. Military transportation usually is provided by Military Airlift Transport Command - however, there are times when civilian aircraft are contracted. The normal crew compliment for a DC-8 during this pre-911 period would have been three pilots (not two) and four or five flight attendants (not two). Furthermore, air route traffic control call signs never have alpha numerics. There never would be a call sign (41 Alpha)

His Chief of Naval Operations "CNO" named Archer Daniels. Odd choice. Seems like the author could not develop an appropriate name for his CNO but happened to read about Archer Daniels Midland in the financial news; adopting the name without consideration to how that would be accepted by his reader(s).

The good news is that his plot lines were plausible and seemed to be realistic. However, he had too many characters - five or six Russian politians including KGB spy-types. Similarily, he had five or six middle eastern characters. His Mossad-based lead character Leah engages in gratuitous sex and then moves on.

The president was believable - as were the half dozen cabinet members and politicos.

After having read about one-third of the book, I put it aside as being too complex, too complicated and essentially unbelivable.

[Vickii Bendit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

This book was so intriguing. First of all because I've lived through most of the wars, hijackings, and terrorist actions that have made the news. I was a child when the Vietnam war began, and I went as the veterans were spot upon in their return. The second reason I was intrigued by this book was the dedication portrayed in the military characters, and the fanaticism of the terrorists. The characteristics were spot on and believable.

[Tom Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting drama in the Middle East

Fire Arrow is a gripping, detailed story of A hostage situation in the Middle East that details the response of our military with a plan based on the spy overhead pictures and the how the military reacts to a changing situation that is exciting, I loved It!

[Anthony P Rossillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great summer read

A very realistic account of a hijacking and subsequent rescue. The military response was true as to how a rescue would be executed. The author must have had some background in tactics and strategy. This book really keeps you engaged and entertained. As they used to say,a real page turner.

[Jonathan McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic

I would not be surprised if this was used as a training exercise at any number of prestigious military academies. My initial reservations that it was dated were blown away by the quality. Fine book

[PATRICIA BATES · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quote arrow

Best book I've read all summer. So go
L of detail and great story line. Proud of America fighters and they don don't really know about all the equipment talked about but am sure proud of our country that has such weapons

[Thomas Paker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good military actio

Good read lots of action and very good understanding of military protocol and armaments. Recommended for military buffs and those who like good military thrillers.

[Paul Feaheny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire arrow review

Excellent book well written ,militarily correct in terms of tactics, weapons etc. Holds the reader's attention well. No hesitation in granting 4 stars and look forward to reading other material from this author

[Martin Lesher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death Among Us

Fast moving and insightful, shows strength and fortitude.
With events happening with strong motive,unison and complete understanding
All military units acting in concert , helped to win this situation
Good read

[James L. Goodloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to put down

Fire Arrow is one of those books you don't want tho out down. Characters are will developed and presented. The action is continuous. Highly reclined for those that enjoy military fiction.

[Deborah Beaumont · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me reading

Really enjoyed the path this book took. Was a great read that I could not put down until the end.

[Sue Zee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, will definitely read more by this author

[Arnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! If I didn't know better I would think it was a true event!

[Jc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast action shoot-em-up. Mostly unbelievable, but fast.

[Lyle French · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story moves along freely

A really good read and not full of military jargon. This story just seemed flow along easily and not a lot of places where it would bog down.

[Ron Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this many years ago and then again recently. It's a great read.

[Ryan Mcghee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing sequel to a book which was written after it. I liked how Leib kept the details to a bare minimum on some parts of this book so he could go back later and flesh out The Fire Dream. Fire Arrow is intense action, and if I were a Hollywood producer I'd be trying to get this made into a movie ASAP.

[Cordelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's a reason this book sat on my shelf for twenty years before I read it. Too much battle detail for me to completely enjoy it.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

the calvary coming to the rescue airborne style

[Jordan McIntosh · Rating 2 out of 5]

the sex scenes were random and weird

[Cws]

A Lei

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to put down, especially for those of us that we're adults during the Cold War.