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Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing...Not the Best By Coonts
Review: As an avid reader of military techno=thrillers, I consider Stephen Coonts one of the best writers in the genre. I picked up Fortunes of War expecting the same gripping plot and realism that Coonts had in his earlier thrillers involving Jake Grafton. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed by Fortunes of War.The story takes place in 2008. The Emperor of Japan is assassinated by nationalists who want to spread the Japanese power around the globe like they did in World War II. The nationalists are also angry that they have to pay to import oil. What better way to do this than to invade Russia and conquer oil-rich Siberia? Russia, of course, is bankrupt. And it is also under the control of a madman. At this point I already had trouble with the realism of this book. It seems that every thriller involving Russia has some insane President in control of that country. I expected that Coonts would not start putting stock characters in his books, especially as world leaders, and I was wrong. So Japan invades. They have a new fighter called the "Zero", which has a stealth system that prevents it from being captured on RADAR. This system is totally illegal for Japan to have under the terms of their treaty signed in 1945, and I found it surprising that the United States doesn't know about it in the book. Japan also has nuclear weapons, but that information is also unknown to the United States intelligence. So the new Japanese fighters destroy the Russian air force, and the United States intervenes with a squadron of F-22 "Raptors". However, the madman in the Kremlin has his own plans, and the climax has Russian and Japanese bombers on their way to nuke the other country, and only the United States can stop them. I found this book disappointing not just because of the implausible story line. The characters are undeveloped and the reader cannot have feelings for any of them. Coonts at least doesn't have his air force pilots being tall blond jocks. I give him credit for his mix of pilots in the squadron. But that's about all I give him credit for. Another question: What about China? Coonts doesn't even include China in this book. You would assume that they would want to do something, right? An implausible story line, stock characters, bad dogfight scenes. I think Coonts needs to stay with the Jake Grafton series, and I hope you agree.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent book......
Review: In the beggining of this book, it starts out with a little action, like all novels of course. But when it starts getting toward the good parts, suddenly it detours toward another boring situation and it goes in circles until the end of the novel. There are chapters that are captivating and you don't want to put the book down. But overall Coonts is a very good author, placing you on the edge of your seat when the action comes. Recommended for those who like to go from one front to the other.
Rating: 
Summary: Fortunes of War- fascinating
Review: Personally, I really enjoyed reading this book. An epic thriller set in the 21st century, Stephen Coonts clearly depicts how worldwide political tensions can cause and will cause such catastrophic events in history. Chapter one turns on the readers imagination by descibing the assination of the emperor of Japan. Japan is running out of oil and is coping through yet another energy crisis: they must invade Siberia and take it for the oil. They use their new stealth jet fighters to challenge America, but Pavel Saratov, a captain in a desolate wreck of a diesel-elec submarine never gives up: he uses all the force and manpower he can muster to tell Japan where they stand. An epic novel with a fantastic yet emotional and nevertheless gripping ending: a must read for all Coonts enthusiasts.
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