The Lucifer Crusade

Wingman #3

by Mack Maloney

With the Circle War finally over and the Russian invaders defeated, Hawk Hunter, a jet fighter ace known as the Wingman, sets out to bring the depraved Viktor Robotov, an international terrorist, to justice, following a deadly trail that takes him to the embattled Middle East. Original.

Genres: Military Fiction, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic

Paperback

First published December 1, 1987

About the author

Mack Maloney is the author of numerous fiction series, including Wingman, ChopperOps, Starhawk, and Pirate Hunters, as well as UFOs in Wartime – What They Didn’t Want You to Know. A native Bostonian, Maloney received a bachelor of science degree in journalism at Suffolk University and a master of arts degree in film at Emerson College. He is the host of a national radio show, Mack Maloney’s Military X-Files. Visit him on Facebook and at www.mackmaloney.com.

Mack Maloney is the Pen name for BRIAN KELLEHER

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wingman was definitely one of the best series of books marketed as Men's Adventure fiction during the Reagan administration. In this third volume, after the (temporary) taming of the American West in the second book (the Circle War), Hawk Hunter and friends have to head off for far corners of the globe in pursuit of the evil mastermind Robotov, where they encounter Nazis and have all manner of amazing adventures. The stories are all pure pulp with a healthy dose of science fictional gimcrackery and amazing (if impossible) aviation thrills. Keep 'em flying.

[Michael Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read if you like military aircraft

It’s a really good read if you like military aircraft and post apocalyptic type stuff. My only complaint (and why it’s 4 stars and not 5) is that even though it’s fiction, some of the modifications made to the aircraft are just not possible and overly fictional. I say this as someone who has worked on A-10s and F-16s. If you can put that aspect aside then it’s a lot of fun to immerse your self into this world.

[Les Mangis · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter how many times I read this book, I always wonder......will the make it to the canal this time? Intense and exciting book to read.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review comes after the third time I've read this book. For those new to the series, the United States and its NATO allies won against surprise attack by the Soviet Union in the early days of World War 3 in 1987 but lost the war because of a traitorous US Vice President. In the aftermath, the US was dissolved and Russian agents kept the successor states destabilized and unable to reunite. That was the general gist of the first book. In the second book, Maloney introduces the new arch-villain - Viktor Robotov, a former KGB agent with messianic aspirations. In reality, as the third book reveals, he is more like the anti-Christ and the devil.

Meanwhile, our intrepid hero is in the Med and has been recruited by an organization to fight Robotov. The key to their plot: taking the USS Saratoga and a whole bunch of strike craft as the vanguard of a larger attack to keep Robotov's armies on the east side of the Suez Canal. While Maloney is certainly an aviation enthusiast, he plays very fast and loose with the aircraft involved. Later, he will go to crazier heights in Wingman book 14 where Hunter is trapped in an alternate Earth.

For one, all the aircraft used by the allies are not carrier borne except for two Harriers. Second, the USS Saratoga was never nuclear powered but in his universe, it was. Minor spoiler alert: the allies find nuclear fuel to power carrier as a plot point. Third, the enemy air force seem to have an infinite number of Hind helicopters - almost sixty. There are 2648 ever created by 2024. In 1990s numbers and minus those lost during World War 3, that's still a lot.

All in all, remember this is alternate history with a good dose of the paranormal which Maloney loves to introduce and a love affair with the F-16.

[Dan Yingst · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book about 8000 times as a kid, and seeing it on the shelf back home had to read it again. Almost the platonic ideal of pulp, I doubt more than ten pages goes by without an action scene, and stunningly not terrible. There's always a strange likability (which isn't really strange at all when you get down to it) in books (or anything really) that knows exactly what it is and simply is exactly that. I may or may not try to pick up more books in the series over the next few months.

[Thomas Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, like the other two, is far more serious and is also responsible for getting me into the series in the first place (I've read it 4 times!) and definitely emphasizes just what I like in this series (fighting true 'evil' in a crusade for 'good'). As in the first one, the Lucifer Crusade also have skip-able parts in the story line.

[Thomas Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio book experience. Very quick run through. The story line of this series is staying true to form. Lots of action, good beating evil in many forms.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rated this book 4 1/2 stars. Another good read in this series. The books are addictive!