Skytrap

by John Templeton Smith

Steve Richie was one of the best pilots in the business. Until, on a stormy night in Manila, the former military aviator ran out of luck and runway.

He fought his way back into the cockpit from injury only for a gut-wrenching fear to threaten to ground him for good.

But not before he completes one last job: to fly a rattletrap twin-engined freighter across Africa to its new owner - no questions asked.

Richie is quickly drawn into a high-stakes game of international arms dealing and diamond smuggling in which his own life is of no consequence.

But while the ex-fighter pilot may be down, he's not out. And those who have bet against him will find out just how much of the Top Gun he once was still survives...

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1984

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

[Tomasz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cardboard characters shuffling through an indifferent plot, with tension mostly expressed by exclamation points. The protagonist generally sloshes about, considering his alcohol intake. Contains also casual racism and misogyny, because why not, eh eh old boy.
I mean, this reads like a work of someone brain-damaged by years of ethanol and reading The Sun. No redeemable features detected.

[Jonas Buijs · Rating 3 out of 5]

its a thriller. but i found the characters quite shallow and there are some weird things about the main character. like why does he never go back to visit Sally's grave? and why does he become a plan-making mastermind near the end of the book, while before he was grasping at straws, trying to make sense of them. And there are more then enough moments where he just runs around like he doesn't have a terribly painful knee problem. could have used some more thought in it all. but an enjoyable ride nonetheless.

[Mr. J. W. Buckingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced, gripping with lots of twists and turns in the plot.

I enjoyed this book and identified with the characters John introduces us to. A novel twist is a pilot who fears flying!

[Alan Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

A good unputdownable read , story line keeps you wanting to find out the next twist in the story and how it was going to end, I enjoyed and would highly recommend it

[MR CHRISTOPHER · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

What a superb read. If you like aviation novels you will not be disappointed with this book. Lots of action to keep you page turning.