White Lie

John Winter #1

by John Templeton Smith

‘THE GUY SUSPENSE WRITERS READ. I’M A BIG FAN’ Stephen Coonts John Winter thought his flying days were over. But when his new life falls victim to dirty, distant war, Winter’s unique skills, honed over years in the military, mean someone’s going to pay. The CIA black ops wing is only too happy to let a former British combat pilot, SAS man and mercenary with nothing left to lose make sure they do. Sent on a covert, deniable mission to South America, Winter faces a ruthless and powerful enemy. Success or failure will come down to his ability to lead a rag-tag air force from the cockpit of a lethal but battleworn British jet fighter: the English Electric Lightning F6. Bristling with authenticity and authority, WHITE LIE is military thriller writing of the highest calibre. NOTE TO An earlier version of this book was published with a number of typographical errors. These have now been corrected. What everyone is saying about John Templeton Smith’s ‘A fighter pilot turned novelist who understands that a great story has to be about more than just awe-inspiring machines. Strap in for jet-fuelled thriller writing’ Rowland White ‘Taut, literate suspense with plenty of action’ Stephen Coonts ‘A great read if you like a good combination of warrior, pilot, and CIA operations’ ‘It is hard to put down once you start reading the adventures of John Winter’ ‘Another great read from John Templeton Smith’ WHITE LIE is perfect for fans of Frederick Forsyth, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, Stephen Coonts, Dale Brown and Andy McNab.

Genres: Thriller

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

John Templeton Smith served in the RAF and for a few short years was an airline pilot.

He moved into aerospace journalism in his 30's, before having the good fortune in finding that the bestselling thriller writer, Desmond Bagley, lived nearby.

With Bagley's guidance on writing the novel, Smith went on to produce ten novels beginning with Skytrap (written under the name John Smith, and published by WW Norton, NY in 1984).

Smith went on to teach Creative Writing at Oklahoma City University (OCU) during the late 1980's, and it was during this period that he penned the "John Winter Trilogy": 'White Lie', 'Saigon Express', and 'Then a Soldier'.

Reviews

[Jim A · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eighty pages into what should be a thriller and none of the characters are compelling enough to continue. What should be a very good story line, even if it's a well told tale, ex SAS, ex mercenary for hire, out seeking revenge against the drug cartels for the murder of his wife. In fact as far as I read, it was quite boring.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 1 out of 5]

I previously read another John Templeton Smith book which I enjoyed so when I saw this in the bookstore I grabbed it. The blurb sounds like a good no frills action adventure novel - bit of suspense, bit of vengeance; the makings of a good recipe of violence.

Sadly, it fails and it fails badly. I really tried getting into this book, when I got deathly bored I put it aside then after finishing a non fiction book picked it back up and had another stab at it. Still couldn't finish it. It's so B-grade and cheesy, The book is so un-riveting I found my mind wandering to things like when I should do the washing up.

[John F. Hales · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read. As an old aviator who has flown even older airplanes with big round engines and propellers in the third world, I appreciated the well written and technically accurate flying sequences. Toward the end, the DC-6 takeoff where the pilot stood on the tops of the brake pedals and the ADI (water-alcohol injection) switches were turned on and the throttles advanced to 59-inches of manifold pressure brought back memories.

The book has interesting well-developed characters and a story line with enough turns and twists to keep the reader engaged. Captured my interest enough to move on to John Winters Book 2 next.

[Andrew Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read. As a former military pilot it was nice to read an aviation book written by someone who actually knew what he was writing about!

[fred jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a brilliant story. Intense, gritty with superb detailed morally grey characters. John Winter ex soldier, ex mercenary has his retirement destroyed by a brutal act, and seeks a brutal revenge. I loved it, a work full of military detail, slow and intense build up, plots within plots, where nothing and no one is quite what they seem. what really enhanced the story is the flawless narration by Malk Williams who nails every accent and there are many and keep you listening with a great voice. i have already bought the rest of the trilogy.

[Albert A Kleyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Well written, especially if you have flown yourself. Being old enough to have flown in Super Constellations and DC2/3 I really loved this book.
A thank you to the author for taking me away from today's harsh reality, pandemic & all.. and transplanting me back into an other world.

Albert

[Tom Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really came together toward the end, great read. Interesting characters

Really enjoyed the book. Good pace of the story with interesting characters. Last few chapters is where it all came together and became hard to put down. Graphic in some details with technical flight info. Recommended read with a satisfying ending

[Peter Dundee]

I enjoyed the story and the characters. A good all round entertaining story and I will for sure get and read the next in the series. I enjoyed it so much my wife has started reading it. Good job John look forward the next one.

[Anthony King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lightning

Gave 5 stars for a novel well told, specially the English Electric Lightning sequences, obvious that the author had actually flown the aircraft! After having watched these aircraft taking off on sorties from RAF Akrotiri even a pongo like me fell in love with them!

[Baron Asher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great flight writing

Interesting premise touching on any tactical aviator 's fantasy about personal employment of high performance weapons systems. Captures the essence of high performance flight in a very effective way.

[john bowerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought there was too much technical detail which did not really help the plot. I was irritated by the inference that one man could do an engine swap in two avon engines.
It could have been better but not for me thanks.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting But Tedious

A good story but it dragged on unnecessarily long making it a hard read. The character Charlie became annoying in his drunkedess and was one reason I had to force myself to finish the book. I'll have to give some thought to reading Book 2.

[Denny Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely terrific! Enough twists, turns, and white lies to last anyone a year or more! What a fabulous ride. At times, I thought the RAF was nuts for seeing this guy gone, but then, all the flying down upside down in the story might explain it. Read it!

[Vern L Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much suspense or action

Almost quit reading this a couple times, but plodded through it.
Could have been good, but wasnt, in my opinion

[david ivison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very poor and illogical plot and story line. The author paddded out the story by trying to baffle the reader with his technical expertise as a pilot !

[Graham Bloodworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this when it was first published in paperback, so it was nice to revisit. Second time around it still has punch, mind you the English Electric (Frightening) Lightning is the real star.

[richard chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book one

Great reading. Keep them coming. Very refreshing. I will read all you write. This was a great reading book and always moving forward

[christopher j jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice read

Really enjoyed this book nice tight story well written nice twists and turns if you like aircraft story's you will enjoy this

[Nick Tupper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decent read, enough to keep the reader engaged throughout

[John J. Herring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worthwhile read.

Good yarn. Tough plot to follow. Sometimes a bit too technical but still interesting. You will enjoy it you are an aviation enthusiast.

[Harald Gill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not good.

Writing is at best, lackluster, at worst, boring. Normally I can finish a 300 pg book in a couple of days sporadic reading. This one, got to page 145 and couldn't go any further...after 5 days.

I do not recommend this author.

[Jeff Brennan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Errors

Still has typos - mere for merc
No Silver Cross award in US Military - Silver Star
Hire a decent copy editor.

[peter dudson · Rating 1 out of 5]

ludicrous plot. incomprehensible jargon. self congratulatory author.

[Kayleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters led to confusion as to who was doing what.

So much aviation talk that just made me drift off.

Predictable story lines

Way too long.

[Kyla Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Passionate

I lived it. A superb story, superbly told. So vivid in description that I could smell, feel & touch the aircraft in the story. So many soul memories evoked. I remember, many years ago, climbing up into a cherry picker to gently stroke the nose of an old 737 I was saying thank you and goodbye to, to move on to a 320. They become living, breathing parts of our soul.

[Gordon Orr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Great value read. Keep it up.

True as a bell writing. No dodgy notes. Technical detail impeccable. A roller coaster read and complete pleasure. Looking forward to Winter book 2.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing entertaining.

Absolutely loved this story. The main character is one devious and dangerous man. This one will keep you reading and won't let you put it down.