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The FIghting Tomcats #1
Fighting Her Father's War: The Fighting Tomcats
Lieutenant Samantha "Spike" Hunt thought she knew what she was getting into when she transferred from flying radar planes into F-14 Tomcat fighters. But when her aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, travels back in time to 1941, she must not only fight for her right to fly the world's best fighter plane, she must also fight in the opening air battles of World War II. She must fight her father's war.
478 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 4, 2017
363 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
November 11, 2022
WW2 time travel
A US nuclear Aircraft Carrier in 1992 is inexplicably time traveled back to December 1941. Fighting with advanced jet aircraft like F14’s, F18’s & A6’s to reverse the history of the Japanese sweep of the Pacific, can they convince Admiral Nimitz, President Roosevelt & others of the skills of their mixed gender pilots & technologically advanced jets & weapons?
How can they reinvent, manufacture and logistically support their modern day weapons in an a by gone era?
A US nuclear Aircraft Carrier in 1992 is inexplicably time traveled back to December 1941. Fighting with advanced jet aircraft like F14’s, F18’s & A6’s to reverse the history of the Japanese sweep of the Pacific, can they convince Admiral Nimitz, President Roosevelt & others of the skills of their mixed gender pilots & technologically advanced jets & weapons?
How can they reinvent, manufacture and logistically support their modern day weapons in an a by gone era?
September 10, 2019
It could have been a dream, I really wanted to read this one... but...
The plot is really easy to follow: it's The 'Final Countdown': a supercarrier comes back to 1941 to kick asses.... but it does not turn that into a good book. It's not a new plot as
Let's list the pro and cons
1) The author has a real good knowledge of some parts of the life aboard a carrier. But he really has a limited knowledge of history "the big picture". Strategically speaking they are just a bunch of morons.
2) The book focusses completely on the problem of "women in the navy" while it's a secondary point compared to the big problem: segregation at that time!
3) Tactics and use of weapon are completely stupid. The author probably knows about F-14 but for everything else, it's really not good. Why use F14 to straffe DD when a single laser guided bomb launched at night is far more secure and efficient! Basically the book has been designed to say "F-14 are the best and we need to produce them".
4) The whole idea of "we can get electronic in more or less one year" is just a complete nonsense. You need far more time just to create the tools to create the tools.
5) And what about nuclear weapons? Of "it's bad so we don't use them". WTF! And what about an experiment to show them the power!
6) So other modern forces appear JUST BY ACCIDENT in Germany, Japan and Soviet Union. How convenient to show that they will not be able to roll over enemies. That's so lame!
The plot is really easy to follow: it's The 'Final Countdown': a supercarrier comes back to 1941 to kick asses.... but it does not turn that into a good book. It's not a new plot as
Let's list the pro and cons
1) The author has a real good knowledge of some parts of the life aboard a carrier. But he really has a limited knowledge of history "the big picture". Strategically speaking they are just a bunch of morons.
2) The book focusses completely on the problem of "women in the navy" while it's a secondary point compared to the big problem: segregation at that time!
3) Tactics and use of weapon are completely stupid. The author probably knows about F-14 but for everything else, it's really not good. Why use F14 to straffe DD when a single laser guided bomb launched at night is far more secure and efficient! Basically the book has been designed to say "F-14 are the best and we need to produce them".
4) The whole idea of "we can get electronic in more or less one year" is just a complete nonsense. You need far more time just to create the tools to create the tools.
5) And what about nuclear weapons? Of "it's bad so we don't use them". WTF! And what about an experiment to show them the power!
6) So other modern forces appear JUST BY ACCIDENT in Germany, Japan and Soviet Union. How convenient to show that they will not be able to roll over enemies. That's so lame!
October 24, 2020
Began okay ended poorly
This review is for the series so far. Your, belonging to you, you're, contraction of you are. Doesn't anyone take English in grammar school anymore? Except for the grammar the first book is decent. Then, like many authors who have a successful first book the remainder drop off. The plots worsen and are drawn out, writing is poorly done. I couldn't finish the latest book. I won't be reading any further of this author's work.
This review is for the series so far. Your, belonging to you, you're, contraction of you are. Doesn't anyone take English in grammar school anymore? Except for the grammar the first book is decent. Then, like many authors who have a successful first book the remainder drop off. The plots worsen and are drawn out, writing is poorly done. I couldn't finish the latest book. I won't be reading any further of this author's work.
November 3, 2022
Excellent book
This is a well written excellent book with well written characters. Concerning having a confrontation with the main villain had to go the weak way of having characters do dumb actions to develop that scene. Maybe next time don’t get off flow of great writing and set up a big action scene in a smart way and earn five stars. I look forward to a flawless sequel.
This is a well written excellent book with well written characters. Concerning having a confrontation with the main villain had to go the weak way of having characters do dumb actions to develop that scene. Maybe next time don’t get off flow of great writing and set up a big action scene in a smart way and earn five stars. I look forward to a flawless sequel.
June 17, 2021
Worth reading!
Good story about the topic. I've read others, but this one is pretty good. The anti woman sentiment may be strong, but you should go by how the job is done, not by the plumbing.
Good story about the topic. I've read others, but this one is pretty good. The anti woman sentiment may be strong, but you should go by how the job is done, not by the plumbing.
May 15, 2022
Tomcats
Very interesting and great all the characters are very true to life very well written plus a lot of action
Very interesting and great all the characters are very true to life very well written plus a lot of action
September 17, 2022
New timeline
I absolutely love this series.I would recommend it to anyone who is a Navy nerd and a time travel nerd.the story line flows consistently and gels nicely
I absolutely love this series.I would recommend it to anyone who is a Navy nerd and a time travel nerd.the story line flows consistently and gels nicely
November 17, 2022
A great read for anyone
Very fast reading. For anyone who likes history, alternative history, anything Navy, or just plain lots of action.
Don't pass on this series.
Very fast reading. For anyone who likes history, alternative history, anything Navy, or just plain lots of action.
Don't pass on this series.
April 4, 2023
Fantastic start to this series!
The writers of this book the Maki family? Not sure but they have written what has me wanting to find out more. A new fan!
The writers of this book the Maki family? Not sure but they have written what has me wanting to find out more. A new fan!
January 23, 2018
Let me say this upfront: I liked this book. A lot.
I’ve lately been reading a lot of the time travel/alternate history sub-genre, everything from Eric Flint’s various Ring of Fire novels, The Shield books by Nachman Kataczinsky, The Emperor’s Men series by Dirk van den Boom, and even Christopher G. Nuttall’s unpublished Second Chance series, through a bunch of standalone novels by new authors.
My E-reader has given me the opportunity to explore new authors at dirt cheap prices (Thank you, Bookbub), thus I’ve read books I probably would not otherwise have considered. This was one of them.
Like many others, I enjoyed the 1980 movie The Final Countdown starring some of my favorite actors: Kirk Douglas, James Farentino, Charles Durning, and Katherine Ross. However, I was sorely disappointed in the ending, viewing it as a cop-out when so much more was possible. Thus, when John Birmingham’s Axis of Time series appeared, I read it avidly. I enjoyed that series, and still read whatever of his I can find, but, unfortunately, Birmingham is an Aussie who appears to have bought into all of the Leftist misrepresentations of those who live in the American fly-over states.
This book is sort of a cross between the movie and Birmingham’s books. I served for a period on a carrier in the Navy, although I was on an Essex class carrier during Viet Nam, but much of the depiction of carrier life in the book matched my experiences. That assignment was part of my Naval Nuclear Power training, although I was not a surface nuke and my experience was well in advance of the commissioning of the Carl Vinson. Nevertheless, I found nothing in the author’s depiction of nukes and their operations that was unrealistic. I cannot speak to the accuracy of the depictions of air combat, but they read as realistic to me.
My quibbles with this book are relatively minor, with “relatively” being the operative word. I believe most of them are easily addressed with decent proofreading and editing.
First, it was written in the present tense. This is difficult to accomplish successfully, and difficult to read. For the most part, I managed to have no problem with the tense, but, every once in a while, it would jerk me out of the enjoyable story like a discordant note in an otherwise fine piece of music.
Secondly, the edition I read BADLY needed proofreading and editing. A couple of chapters were obviously missing entire paragraphs at their ends, both of them during action sequences. For some reason, most, if not every, of the times the word “might” appeared, it was capitalized. Occasionally, some words, mostly prepositions, were dropped out of sentences entirely. Additionally, it was also not uncommon to encounter the common errors similar to “their” as opposed to “they’re,” “were” instead of “where,” and so forth.
There was an occasional plot hole (What was that SEAL doing swimming underwater in the middle of a rescue operation, and how did he get there?), and topics I’d like to see addressed but weren’t. It’s my understanding that carrier groups are normally accompanied by at least one nuke sub, but there’s no mention of one in the book; also, at the time of the book, there was usually a Marine detachment aboard carriers, but, again, no mention of one.
Finally, the book was loaded with jargon. Acronyms are a fact of life in the military, thus, they are unavoidable in a book about the modern military, and officers and sailors tend to use Milspeak with its acronyms and shortcuts. The author did include a glossary at the end of the book, but, again, the need to look up a term takes the reader out of the story. The jargon could have been reduced or handled better.
In spite of those criticisms, I enjoyed the book. It addressed a premise I have long found interesting and it moved fairly smoothly. The combat sequences moved quickly and were appropriately tense. The central characters were well developed and likable. Even some of the peripheral characters were interesting, and I would like to see them explored further, especially the nukes (Yep, I’m biased in that direction).
I highly recommend this book for those interested in the time travel/alternate history sub-genres I mentioned at the beginning of this review. If you can overlook the flaws I’ve mentioned, this is a satisfying start to what promises to be an interesting series. M. L. Maki appears to be a new author, and I expect that the writing will improve with the following book(s) and, hopefully, so will the proofreading.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
I’ve lately been reading a lot of the time travel/alternate history sub-genre, everything from Eric Flint’s various Ring of Fire novels, The Shield books by Nachman Kataczinsky, The Emperor’s Men series by Dirk van den Boom, and even Christopher G. Nuttall’s unpublished Second Chance series, through a bunch of standalone novels by new authors.
My E-reader has given me the opportunity to explore new authors at dirt cheap prices (Thank you, Bookbub), thus I’ve read books I probably would not otherwise have considered. This was one of them.
Like many others, I enjoyed the 1980 movie The Final Countdown starring some of my favorite actors: Kirk Douglas, James Farentino, Charles Durning, and Katherine Ross. However, I was sorely disappointed in the ending, viewing it as a cop-out when so much more was possible. Thus, when John Birmingham’s Axis of Time series appeared, I read it avidly. I enjoyed that series, and still read whatever of his I can find, but, unfortunately, Birmingham is an Aussie who appears to have bought into all of the Leftist misrepresentations of those who live in the American fly-over states.
This book is sort of a cross between the movie and Birmingham’s books. I served for a period on a carrier in the Navy, although I was on an Essex class carrier during Viet Nam, but much of the depiction of carrier life in the book matched my experiences. That assignment was part of my Naval Nuclear Power training, although I was not a surface nuke and my experience was well in advance of the commissioning of the Carl Vinson. Nevertheless, I found nothing in the author’s depiction of nukes and their operations that was unrealistic. I cannot speak to the accuracy of the depictions of air combat, but they read as realistic to me.
My quibbles with this book are relatively minor, with “relatively” being the operative word. I believe most of them are easily addressed with decent proofreading and editing.
First, it was written in the present tense. This is difficult to accomplish successfully, and difficult to read. For the most part, I managed to have no problem with the tense, but, every once in a while, it would jerk me out of the enjoyable story like a discordant note in an otherwise fine piece of music.
Secondly, the edition I read BADLY needed proofreading and editing. A couple of chapters were obviously missing entire paragraphs at their ends, both of them during action sequences. For some reason, most, if not every, of the times the word “might” appeared, it was capitalized. Occasionally, some words, mostly prepositions, were dropped out of sentences entirely. Additionally, it was also not uncommon to encounter the common errors similar to “their” as opposed to “they’re,” “were” instead of “where,” and so forth.
There was an occasional plot hole (What was that SEAL doing swimming underwater in the middle of a rescue operation, and how did he get there?), and topics I’d like to see addressed but weren’t. It’s my understanding that carrier groups are normally accompanied by at least one nuke sub, but there’s no mention of one in the book; also, at the time of the book, there was usually a Marine detachment aboard carriers, but, again, no mention of one.
Finally, the book was loaded with jargon. Acronyms are a fact of life in the military, thus, they are unavoidable in a book about the modern military, and officers and sailors tend to use Milspeak with its acronyms and shortcuts. The author did include a glossary at the end of the book, but, again, the need to look up a term takes the reader out of the story. The jargon could have been reduced or handled better.
In spite of those criticisms, I enjoyed the book. It addressed a premise I have long found interesting and it moved fairly smoothly. The combat sequences moved quickly and were appropriately tense. The central characters were well developed and likable. Even some of the peripheral characters were interesting, and I would like to see them explored further, especially the nukes (Yep, I’m biased in that direction).
I highly recommend this book for those interested in the time travel/alternate history sub-genres I mentioned at the beginning of this review. If you can overlook the flaws I’ve mentioned, this is a satisfying start to what promises to be an interesting series. M. L. Maki appears to be a new author, and I expect that the writing will improve with the following book(s) and, hopefully, so will the proofreading.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
January 25, 2018
Fighting her father's War
The 'Final Countdown' withOUT the TimeStorm returning. USS Carl Vinson, a 1990s era Nuclear Carrier, with a chunk of her Carrier Task Force are suddenly transported back in time to a couple of weeks After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbour on 7 DEC 1941. No Comms, No GPS, No National Chain of Command except what they have embarked. Where to go, what to do, who to report to are all up in the air until they confirm the date and check the 'Histories' then decide to attack the Imperial Japanese Fleet's Next target. They are now assisting in fighting WW2. Then, when trying to get a jump on the Doolittle Raid, they discover than the Japanese have a few bases that jumped in Time also. And Now the Emperor of Japan has aviators training to fly and FIGHT Rhinos (F-4 Phantoms) and F-15 Fighters. Fight's On! Those Readers that have NOT read Clancy, Jim Cobb, Dale Brown or Stephen Coonts may have a hard time reading and understanding the 'furball' of aerial combat depicted...Highly Recommended. [Question: where are/were the attack submarines? Doesn't a Carrier task force 'own' a couple of them when deployed]?
RJ USSF '79 - '98.
The 'Final Countdown' withOUT the TimeStorm returning. USS Carl Vinson, a 1990s era Nuclear Carrier, with a chunk of her Carrier Task Force are suddenly transported back in time to a couple of weeks After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbour on 7 DEC 1941. No Comms, No GPS, No National Chain of Command except what they have embarked. Where to go, what to do, who to report to are all up in the air until they confirm the date and check the 'Histories' then decide to attack the Imperial Japanese Fleet's Next target. They are now assisting in fighting WW2. Then, when trying to get a jump on the Doolittle Raid, they discover than the Japanese have a few bases that jumped in Time also. And Now the Emperor of Japan has aviators training to fly and FIGHT Rhinos (F-4 Phantoms) and F-15 Fighters. Fight's On! Those Readers that have NOT read Clancy, Jim Cobb, Dale Brown or Stephen Coonts may have a hard time reading and understanding the 'furball' of aerial combat depicted...Highly Recommended. [Question: where are/were the attack submarines? Doesn't a Carrier task force 'own' a couple of them when deployed]?
RJ USSF '79 - '98.
March 12, 2019
Not a bad premise but my first thoughts were that it was a rip off of The Final Countdown (that movie is actually mentioned) but this goes much further, which was extremely pleasing. It was good to see that the other protagonist nations also benefited from the time travel event as all too often only one nation benefits, making the outcome altogether too inevitable. It makes the battles all the more interesting.
The way the female pilots are treated is a real eye opener and really quite saddening but makes you want to root for them even more.
The use of all of the naval acronyms is understandable but when reading from an electronic version of the novel it isn't as easy to flick to the back pages to check the glossary.
Would have rated this higher except for the extremely poor editing. I accept the odd spelling mistake but this book is absolutely littered with them, with missing words and the incorrect form of words- how hard is it to get "there" and "they're" right? . There really is no excuse for it. Notwithstanding, I am going to read the second book because I want to see what happens to Sam Hunt. I want her to succeed and hopefully, the editing has improved.
The way the female pilots are treated is a real eye opener and really quite saddening but makes you want to root for them even more.
The use of all of the naval acronyms is understandable but when reading from an electronic version of the novel it isn't as easy to flick to the back pages to check the glossary.
Would have rated this higher except for the extremely poor editing. I accept the odd spelling mistake but this book is absolutely littered with them, with missing words and the incorrect form of words- how hard is it to get "there" and "they're" right? . There really is no excuse for it. Notwithstanding, I am going to read the second book because I want to see what happens to Sam Hunt. I want her to succeed and hopefully, the editing has improved.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2018
Rough
The most disturbing part of the very first chapter was the realism of the misogyny expressed by the carrier aircrew. The talk between pilots and senior officers about female pilots was horrible.
I was excited about the premise but the demeaning of female crew wouldn't let me continue. The female crew seemed in more danger from U.S. personnel than any enemy and with belated investigation into the thousands of sexual assault cases in the services this was a documentary I couldn't watch.
I bailed about twelve pages in. The story might be good but it might get uglier.
The most disturbing part of the very first chapter was the realism of the misogyny expressed by the carrier aircrew. The talk between pilots and senior officers about female pilots was horrible.
I was excited about the premise but the demeaning of female crew wouldn't let me continue. The female crew seemed in more danger from U.S. personnel than any enemy and with belated investigation into the thousands of sexual assault cases in the services this was a documentary I couldn't watch.
I bailed about twelve pages in. The story might be good but it might get uglier.
June 5, 2024
It takes an early '80s movie premise, and runs with it.
Think of the movie "The Final Countdown" except if the USS Nimitz had been able to stay in 1941, and possibly change the events of WWII.
Despite poor-to-nonexistent editing, it was a fun book to read. It's as if the book was dictated, then transcribed by poor-quality speech-to-text software.
After reading this I'm intrigued enough to read the second book, but I'm as yet undecided whether I'll read the whole series. It depends on the quality of book two.
Don't let my gripes dissuade you from reading it. Its a fun story for those who enjoy military aviation and alternate history.
Think of the movie "The Final Countdown" except if the USS Nimitz had been able to stay in 1941, and possibly change the events of WWII.
Despite poor-to-nonexistent editing, it was a fun book to read. It's as if the book was dictated, then transcribed by poor-quality speech-to-text software.
After reading this I'm intrigued enough to read the second book, but I'm as yet undecided whether I'll read the whole series. It depends on the quality of book two.
Don't let my gripes dissuade you from reading it. Its a fun story for those who enjoy military aviation and alternate history.
January 14, 2020
A MLM/MM/SM. Time Travel Novel During WWII Action Adventure (FHFW) (TFT )
An MLM/MM/SM. Time travel novel during World War II. A test run in 1939 indicates a failed test but unknown to the testers the test actual works but not until their actions started the process in 1990.
The USS Carl Vinson and fleet travel back in time to 1941. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
An MLM/MM/SM. Time travel novel during World War II. A test run in 1939 indicates a failed test but unknown to the testers the test actual works but not until their actions started the process in 1990.
The USS Carl Vinson and fleet travel back in time to 1941. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
August 28, 2019
Damn good Navy story
The story was very good, the characters first rate, quality of editing very poor. Not being a grammar Nazi, but far too many bad mistakes. And while a serious problem, I feel the issue of Lt Booker's female issues was way over played. To me it detracted from the very good story.
I'm excited about book 2.
The story was very good, the characters first rate, quality of editing very poor. Not being a grammar Nazi, but far too many bad mistakes. And while a serious problem, I feel the issue of Lt Booker's female issues was way over played. To me it detracted from the very good story.
I'm excited about book 2.
April 30, 2018
A Great Read
I loved this book. It is one of the best alternate military history books I've read. Compared to a lot of books along this line, it can be more technical than some would like but to me at least, that's what makes it so good. Can't wait for book 2.
I loved this book. It is one of the best alternate military history books I've read. Compared to a lot of books along this line, it can be more technical than some would like but to me at least, that's what makes it so good. Can't wait for book 2.
May 10, 2018
Excellent book
An excellent read. It was exciting. It was a combination of war story, history and sci-fi. The author defiantly knew his subject matter. The characters were well formed and interesting.
An excellent read. It was exciting. It was a combination of war story, history and sci-fi. The author defiantly knew his subject matter. The characters were well formed and interesting.
May 29, 2018
A damn good book
My Dad was a Command Master Chief (glowworm) with twenty eight years , dying in service at the age of forty seven. The Makis is have told it like it is. Do yourself a favor and read it!
My Dad was a Command Master Chief (glowworm) with twenty eight years , dying in service at the age of forty seven. The Makis is have told it like it is. Do yourself a favor and read it!
February 26, 2019
Lost for words, but worth sticking with
I am very. I really don't know. I thought I read this years ago. Maybe I didn't. Maybe it was another timeline? It's well written, but I have so many reservations, but...
Try it and see. Its ...different. And the LBH question is brilliant
I am very. I really don't know. I thought I read this years ago. Maybe I didn't. Maybe it was another timeline? It's well written, but I have so many reservations, but...
Try it and see. Its ...different. And the LBH question is brilliant
October 11, 2019
Good but could be so much better
Very interesting story. Terrible editing. With more work, clean up the story line, formatting and do an actual grammar and spell check, it could actually be a really good story
Very interesting story. Terrible editing. With more work, clean up the story line, formatting and do an actual grammar and spell check, it could actually be a really good story
August 20, 2024
A fun read with a million typos.
The story is fun, the typos are annoying. The characters are good enough, there isn’t a ton of development or background stories. I’ll definitely read book 2.
The story is fun, the typos are annoying. The characters are good enough, there isn’t a ton of development or background stories. I’ll definitely read book 2.
January 4, 2025
It's an excellent start for an exciting new series.
The history and viable characters are very well-researched, which makes this initial episode compelling. A US nuclear carrier task force enters WW2 to find that they are not the only force from the future.
The history and viable characters are very well-researched, which makes this initial episode compelling. A US nuclear carrier task force enters WW2 to find that they are not the only force from the future.
February 20, 2018
Brilliant
Fast paced from the start. Interesting plot, characters are well developed. Then it is action all the way. Will definitely read the series.
Fast paced from the start. Interesting plot, characters are well developed. Then it is action all the way. Will definitely read the series.
March 17, 2018
An very different type of story
Interesting, a different take on the normal style and to make it a better story its nice and long with good characters.
Interesting, a different take on the normal style and to make it a better story its nice and long with good characters.
April 3, 2018
Nice
Quite a good read slightly derivative story I sure I remember a Kirk Douglas film that has similarities but worth reading
Quite a good read slightly derivative story I sure I remember a Kirk Douglas film that has similarities but worth reading
April 5, 2018
A very good read
April 28, 2018
3.5 stars. Not sure why I read this. It's very derivative. Having said that, something new might appear in a sequel and I might by it. Go figure.
March 15, 2019
A Fun Read
This was a fun read, but I quit counting typos and misspelled words after 20. Recommend a review to fix.
This was a fun read, but I quit counting typos and misspelled words after 20. Recommend a review to fix.
March 29, 2019
Tight read with no rest for eyeballs.
Snug fit of a believable time travel story with a critical period of World War Two. Author really knows the history and present Navy.
Snug fit of a believable time travel story with a critical period of World War Two. Author really knows the history and present Navy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews