Lords of the Air

by Graham Masterton

In 1931, Herbert Lord, the ebullient aircraft tycoon, commits spectacular suicide in a racing seaplane. His unexpected death leaves his three sons furiously divided, and they scatter, each sharing his father's ambitions and passions. But what further shattering legacy has Herbert Lord left them?

640 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 1989

About the author

Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British men's magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles which eventually became Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys.

At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.

Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.

Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.

He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.

Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.

He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.

Reviews

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bevy of tumultuous happenings, put together neatly, with purpose and a meaningful sting in the tail.

There's a big event in each chapter. This is definitely a thriller of sorts. I bought it because of the front cover - it looks like 'Dallas' with planes. It's almost that. But it's a lot better thought out and skilfully put together.

There's a good bit of airline logistics. It's an extremely well-researched history in part - air travel 1920s-40s.

But it's definitely populated by convincing characters, and with that at its core, even at each extraordinary turn, it is...erm...grounded.

Oh, characters fall in and out of bed. But by the end of the book, the women have the upper hand, and are in somewhat better shape. And the end...glorious.