Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.

by David Michaels (House Author), Grant Blackwood (Writing As), Tom Clancy (Series Creator)

Una nuova serie dal maestro indiscusso del technothriller. Il turbolento pilota Troy Loensch, addestrato nel programma sperimentale HAWX dell’Air Force americana, accetta la proposta di un suo ex generale, Raymond Harris, ed entra in Firehawk, la più potente organizzazione privata a cui il governo degli Stati Uniti appalta le operazioni militari. Ma l’ambizione e la sete di potere dell’ex generale vanno ben oltre il prestigio imprenditoriale, e Troy sospetta che Firehawk sia solo la facciata di un complotto molto pericoloso. Quando accetta di collaborare con la Cia e spiare Firehawk, la conferma dei suoi peggiori timori lo mette nel mirino di Harris, deciso a insediarsi alla Casa Bianca al posto dell’amministrazione eletta dal popolo. Anche a costo di scatenare una seconda guerra civile americana, e instaurare un regime di terrore che rischia di minacciare il mondo intero.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Military Fiction, War, Action, Video Games

306 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 2009

Reviews

[Chris The Lizard from Planet X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Clancy’s Hawx By David Michael’s is a video game tie-in novel based on Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s HAWX franchise.

Set a few years before the events of the first Hawx game, We follow former hot shot Air Force fighter pilot Troy Leonsch who signs up with private military contractor Firehawk and gets the action he misses and a hefty paycheck. But are PMCs a good idea? Troy isn't so sure. When the CIA asks Troy to secretly help investigate Firehawk, he does, and discovers a deadly plot against the United States government.

This was a decent book. Not the best, but good enough to keep my interest engaged. However, all of the characters in this story are very shallow. Relationships are seemingly focused only on lust and sex. And the time in between many of the scenes in this book jump ahead suddenly and unexpectedly. The best thing about the story were the detailed dogfights that take place up in the air between advanced aviation aircraft. I envisioned the flight scenes from the movie, "Top Gun" throughout this storyline as good pilot takes on bad pilot.

Overall, If you like a book with a fast read, shallow characters, and lots of adventure, then this book is good for you. Otherwise, save your money and stick with a real Tom Clancy novel instead.

[Wenzel Roessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed how the book started but the more and more I read the less and less I liked it. If you consider this a light hearted action military novel then four stars is not a bad rating. But if you are looking for something with more substance and a deeper plot then this is a 3 star book. Plus it ends on a cliffhanger and no sequel.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit too juvenile for my taste.

p109: "you ought to able to outfly and outshoot an su-25 in a dogfight when you're flying an f-16."

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than one would expect from a video game tie-in novel written under a pen name shared by several different authors. Sure, it's Tom Clancy Lite, but, if you're a fan of the movie TOP GUN, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I guarantee you'll be humming "Highway to the Danger Zone" the entire way through.
This could have easily been a four-star read, were it not for some very poor writing and the fact that all the characters felt bland: generic action hero man (an ex-football star, of course); elegant-but-tough romantic interest girl (raised in the country, always substitutes "y'all" for "you," even when talking to another individual); Stable-but-boring boyfriend of romantic interest girl; egomaniacal arch-villain; etc. None of the characters feel unique, none are particularly interesting.
Author Grant Blackwood (the man behind the pseudonym) excels at describing dogfights and getting all the military- and aviation-related details right, but his prose is often fumbling. Sometimes, even laughably bad. "She relished the feel of his wide receiver arms as he wide-received her" is without a doubt the worst line I've read all year.
The way that relationships work in this novel is a little disturbing. Girl A cheats on Guy A with Guy B, so Guy A decides to sleep with Girl A's co-worker, Girl B, until he can finally sleep with the girl he really wants, Girl C, who is using Guy A to cheat on Guy C, who is close buddies with Guy A. Girl C actually prefers Guy C, but she just can't resist Guy A because he's got SUCH A HOT BODY and is SO DAMN GOOD IN BED. But it's all good, because, you know, women's lib.
I'm sure Tom Clancy would've written it differently.
The plot of HAWX is a bit meandering; although, personally, I thought the long set-up ultimately served to make the rest of the story more meaningful and more believable. So, I was totally OK with it. Things do get pretty far-fetched and comic-booky toward the end, but at no point does the book ever cease to be fun and attention-grabbing. As long as you don't compare it to vintage Tom Clancy novels written by the man himself, you're bound to have a good time.

[Justin Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first noticed this book, the first thing I noticed was the "cool" looking cover of a fighter pilot flying through what appears to be a cityscape with a fireball behind him. The fact that it was written by by acclaimed author Tom Clancy (R.I.P) was definitely a bonus. I had high hopes for this book and to a certain extent they were met. One of the things that kind of threw me was the millitary lingo/jargon that was in there at certain points. The storyline itself isn't bad in my honest opinion. I did enjoy the overall feel of the book and certain aspects even peaked my interest ie) the training that hal and troy were going through & and the relationship between Troy and Jenna. The one thing I wasn't too keen on was the whole overtaking of the government by a PMC. I for one really hope and pray that this never actually happens, seeing as how the guys who ran the PMC weren't exactly the best intentioned people. Overall I enjoyed this book & maybe someday I'll go back and read the rest of Mr. Clancy's books

[Greg D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was a decent book. Not the best, but good enough to keep my interest engaged. However, all of the characters in this story are very shallow. Relationships are seemingly focused only on lust and sex. And the time in between many of the scenes in this book jump ahead suddenly and unexpectedly. The best thing about the story were the detailed dogfights that take place up in the air between advanced aviation aircraft. I envisioned the flight scenes from the movie, "Top Gun" throughout this storyline as good pilot takes on bad pilot.

If you like a book with a fast read, shallow characters, and lots of adventure, then this book is good for you. Otherwise, save your money and stick with a real Tom Clancy novel instead.

[Hayden Remer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book would be a top gun style story with awesome jet fighting scenes and a Tom Cruise/Val Kilmer romance. But all we got was a boring story not that exiting fighting scenes a plot that has been done a lot and a forced romance.

[Shams Reefat · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I have ever read. What should I complain about? Shallow story, shallow plot or an even worst finishing? What a severe waste of time reading this book!

[Heather Britton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible terrible terrible writing.

[Jason Gil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hi. This is my first real review of a book, so I apologize for any formatting errors.

I have been recently playing the game that this book is based on. There isn't any real continuity between the two, they can be enjoyed independently as the game mostly has a story that is minor and not connected to this one.

Spoilers below.
Throughout this book, the author describes Troy as a "self-centered" a--hole. However, I believe that Troy is more of a person with good intentions that reacts to the a--holes around him. Apart from the beginning in which he abandoned Hal, there really isn't an instance in which Troy does anything that only benefits him. He does what is asked of him on missions, he displays no objection to Firehawk's acquisition of another PMC that tried to kill him, he doesn't take advantage of the tribe that helps him heal in South America (even to go so far as to pay them cash), and he tries his best to stop Harris from taking over the U.S. Aron Arnold, Jenna Munrough, and Raymond Harris can be considered more of an asshole than Troy, yet the author doesn't really explore that.

There is no real way that Troy should still be alive by the time the book reaches 75% of it's length, let alone 100%. How could he survive after falling from essentially space? How could he have enough time to jump out of a jet that he purposefully rams into another, one that is far faster than his, and be far enough away from the scene that he isn't torn to shreds?

Finally, the ending of the book is non-rewarding. There's no Jenna and Troy happy ending, no part where Troy is revealed to still be alive in the news, and no real conclusion to PMC reign over the U.S
In fact, the book ends on a cliffhanger which is just the cherry on top of a bunch of scoops of unrewarding phases of the ending.
End spoilers.

Despite it's shortcomings, I enjoyed this book for what it was and it kept me engaged for the amount of time that I read it. It's a relatively quick read, as I read the bulk of it in one waiting period at the dentist and one evening before bed. If you enjoyed the game and it's setting, this book should be relatable to it enough that it would be a worthy read, but it isn't anything special in the grand scheme of Tom Clancy spinoffs.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author needs a course in the operational characteristics differences radar guided and IR guided missiles; needs to learn that “y’all” is plural, not singular; needs to make sure not to change missile types loaded on an aircraft from one sentence to the next.

Must be what can happen when a book is written by committee.

I would add another star if the book had a better editor and/or proof reader.

[Tom Styczynski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story was decent in itself, but the writing was downright bad. It's like the author has never heard people talk to each other before. He certainly doesn't understand the use of the word "y'all", and it serves as nothing but a distraction in what could've been a great novel. Tom Clancy would be disappointed that his name was placed on this.

[Teto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if "poorly-written" is really the best description, but there were a few too many cliffhangers that resolved off screen, as it were, and some of the dialogue gets a little sloppy. Toss in a couple of obvious Ctrl+C, Ctrl-V's, and it's a fun enough book for what it is.

[ilkay uzun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasted my time so that you will not have to. Poorest writing I've encountered in a long time. I'd recommend you avoid this book.

[Ernest · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read, it keeps you reading

[Telma Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It ended on a cliff hanger, the characters were boring.

[Harold Pridemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book about mercenary companies taking over the Armed Forces and government. Plenty of action that keeps you turning Pages.

[Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book in an enigma to me. Firstly, it was beyond poorly written. The dialogue and descriptions were so bad I was almost embarrassed to call it an adult book. With that said, I loved the plot. It was quite interesting, the character dynamic and the PRC's way of doing business could really have kept you up at night thinking of the implications if they were fleshed out correctly and written well.

I think they should make this into a movie, it's been a while since we had a good Jet movie...if they do watch that instead. You won't get any extra insight from the book.

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a real soft spot for these light, action/adventure stories. Hawx covered a lot of ground in a hurry and didn't really develop the characters enough, but that wasn't really the point. It was an interesting, fast paced action story that was just the thing to help you relax during a stressful summer. I felt like they were setting up a sequel, and I hope it shows up at Wal-Mart someday because this was a lot of fun to read.

Listen in to hear about some of my favorite novelizations: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light Action/Adventure/military tale following a trio of Air Force fighter pilots while on a mission in Somalia and afterwards when they are Rift in a downsizing as they go their separate ways but re-connect as hires by a large private security company ( think Blackwater and its ilk.) headed by their old Commanding Officer. Troy Loensch is the main character of the trio and starts to have suspicion about his CO and his eventual intentions as the Government relinquishes more and more of its control to private sector contractors. Having a weak ineffectual president does not help either.

[Marcus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find the idea of PMC's (Private Military Corporations) to be very interesting topic and did enjoy that aspect of the story. I was left wanting action thought despite several dogfights but they seemed very short and uninspired. Plus the story feels very disjointed due to the fact at several intense moments it stops abruptly and continues on past the incident, then informs what happened with flashbacks. Made me feel like the story was very choppy. Just my 0.02$

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, with plenty of action, I hope they write a sequel to this book. The book follows ex-football player Troy Loensch who is kicked of the team after injuring another teammate, now with nowhere else to turn he joins the United States Air Force. While Troy trains to become a pilot, a military company known as Firehawk starts to take over the Air Force operations.

The CIA asks for Troy's help to investigate Firehawk.

[Ed Kltas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book it seems is written by an author who isn't experienced in writing books, rather, he is experienced in telling stories. The information regarding planes, missions, and the air force in general are excellent. The book is very enjoyable but you feel as if you are reading a story written by somebody with a high school education.

[Mark Kloha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well written. Lots of action. Fast paced. However, the second half of the book, I couldn't buy into the premise of what was actually happening. To be fair - I have not played any of the video games that this is related to. Perhaps the video games would shed more light on what was happening in this book.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be mandatory reading for all military and elected officials before they take the oath! It's too close to something that could happen! I couldn't put it down and want the sequel right away. Will there be one? It left off with a real cliff hanger.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is exciting and full of action and will be a great book for aviation buffs. It is about how a man struggles to prevent America's millitary to be takeover by private millitary corporation. There are dogfights in F-16s and fictional stealth aircrafts.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Francisco J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenna Munrough is a #$$%%^!

[Brannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was interesting read.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book full of action.