Rating: 
Summary: Too Long? I Don't Think So...
Review: It's pretty rare that I can say "After 600 or so pages, it really heats up" about a novel without sarcastically panning it, but in this case I can. I picked up this book on name recognition alone. To be honest, the description on the back of the book didn't do anything for me, and I shuddered at the size of the book, but I dove in anyway because Hagberg is, to, me, a proven product. I wasn't disappointed at all. The first few pages were enough to get me hooked, and I don't agree with criticisms about the length of the book because the vast majority of it is necessary to set up the action. I could see cutting 50 or 60 pages, but I don't agree with people saying that it should be 300 pages shorter. That sort of criticism is valid for a lot of Tom Clancy's work, but Hagberg makes better use of his pages than Clancy does. This is not the best novel I've ever read, but it's in the top five. It requires a lot of time invested, but you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: A complex, multi-layered thriller
Review: Okay, let's get the bad stuff out of the way. I fully agree with everyone who complains about the lack of character development. That said, we have a very intriguing concept here. It has been called Japan Inc. and the concept that business is war is taken to its logical extreme in High Flight. How separate is the Japanese government from entrenched business interests? And could there be a government behind the government that could engineer an economic attack on the United States in order to expand Japan's control over the Pacific Rim. This is a very complex plot that involves baiting the Russians to strike back and the Seventh Fleet to intervene on behalf of the Japanese. Into this mix, a covert group attempts to gain control of America's domestic airline production industry and the plot involves sabotage of civilian airliners. There is a lot going on in this book, but it is well written and it continues to draw you on to the next page. Considering it is almost 900 pages long, this is a page turner that deserves to be read. Whether you agree or disagree witht eh book's premise, it is worth considering.
Rating:
Summary: Not Clancy, but pretty good!
Review: This is my first Hagberg book, and I'll probably pick up a few more now. The length is considerable, but most of it flows along nicely. Any book of this length will have a few pages where the pace slows. The political angle is the most prevalent ... this isn't really a techno-thriller or an action thriller. For example, Crichton's "Airframe" is an airplane techno-thriller, and you'll learn a lot about airplanes. Clancy likewise teaches you a lot about submarines (Hunt for Red October), or nuclear bombs (Sum of All Fears), even if sometimes you feel the story has paused so you can read a scientific journal article. However, I didn't really learn anything in this novel ... "Rising Sun" (Crichton) was more 'educational'. I think I bought this book because I heard it contained P-3 Orion aircraft, of which I'm a fan. Indeed, they are mentioned in mostly realistic ways, but they are not a main player. The only P-3 Orion technical 'problem' was on page 821 where Hagberg says that the Orion throttled back to deploy dipping sonobuoys. A "dipping sonobuoy" is the terminology typically used for the equipment on a anti-submarine helicopter, not an airplane. While you could stretch the term to apply to the sonobuoys planes drop, it's not what one would usually use. Overall, it's nice entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Not Clancy, but pretty good!
Review: This is my first Hagberg book, and I'll probably pick up a few more now. The length is considerable, but most of it flows along nicely. Any book of this length will have a few pages where the pace slows. The political angle is the most prevalent ... this isn't really a techno-thriller or an action thriller. For example, Crichton's "Airframe" is an airplane techno-thriller, and you'll learn a lot about airplanes. Clancy likewise teaches you a lot about submarines (Hunt for Red October), or nuclear bombs (Sum of All Fears), even if sometimes you feel the story has paused so you can read a scientific journal article. However, I didn't really learn anything in this novel ... "Rising Sun" (Crichton) was more 'educational'. I think I bought this book because I heard it contained P-3 Orion aircraft, of which I'm a fan. Indeed, they are mentioned in mostly realistic ways, but they are not a main player. The only P-3 Orion technical 'problem' was on page 821 where Hagberg says that the Orion throttled back to deploy dipping sonobuoys. A "dipping sonobuoy" is the terminology typically used for the equipment on a anti-submarine helicopter, not an airplane. While you could stretch the term to apply to the sonobuoys planes drop, it's not what one would usually use. Overall, it's nice entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: An Okay Novel
Review: This is the second book that I have read by this author. At heart it is basically a political-conspiracy type thriller. It pits the Japanese against the Americans in control of an airplane manufacturing company. A group of very powerful Japanese businessmen plot to restore the glory of the former Japanese empire by trying to gain control of an American aircraft manufacturing company that is developing a hypersonic commercial airplane. But that goal is only part of a larger plan that aims to control the western Pacific so that Japan can have access to natural resources in south east Asia. This group of Japanese, with the help of a few "loyal" military men, plans to execute a mini war against the Russian and they manipulate the American government in order to achieve their ultimate goal. The American aircraft manufacturing company counters the potential Japanese hostile takeover by hiring a former CIA assassin to help them stop the Japanese plot. At the same time a former Undersecretary of State has his own agenda. He wants to warn the administration and the American public that Japan is getting too powerful. He wants to avoid another Pearl Harbor. He teams up with a former East German spy/assassin and a couple of American weirdos to blow up eight airplanes and blame these terrorist acts on the Japanese. If I had to write this review with one word, it would be: Unbelievable! This is definitely not one of my favorite novels. * Character Development: Hagberg hardly spends any effort in developing the characters. I don't have any feeling for the main character, the CIA assassin, nor the villains, the East German assassin and the former Undersecretary of the State. This novel is definitely not character driven. On top of that, the author has created a hero who happens to be an assassin. It makes it more difficult for me to accept the hero. Score: 1. * Pacing: The author did an okay job in pacing the novel. The pace is relatively fast and that may be the only reason that I was willing to finish reading this book. However, this novel is not exactly a page-turner. Score: 3.5. * Plot: The plot follows three main parties. The Japanese manipulators, the American conspirator (the former Undersecretary of State), and our hero, the former CIA assassin. The author wants us to believe that this Japanese group is powerful enough to control their own government and military and, at the same time, that the Japanese military is strong enough to start a mini-war against Russia and the United States. Additionally, I had a hard time accepting the idea that the Japan wants to control the western Pacific just to make sure that they have access to natural resources. When the story opens, there is no threat to Japan. Furthermore, the author never explains why controlling the American aircraft manufacturing company would help the Japanese achieve their goal. On top of that, the author hopes that the readers will forget that the State Department would have to authorize any foreign company that took control of a strategic industry. The American conspirator (the former Undersecretary of State) is a character that is hard for me to accept. I sure hope that our political system is doing a much better job of selecting personnel in public office. A former Undersecretary of the State intends and actually sacrifices two thousand American lives by blowing up eight commercial airplanes just to warn the administration and the American public of the threat of Japan. Unbelievable! The list of unconvincing events and unbelievable characters just goes on and on. The author believes that the combined efforts of the FBI and the CIA organizations are no match for a former CIA assassin, our hero. It is very clear that the author ignores a lot of well known facts. The CIA is not allowed to operate inside our country and the top brass, like the deputy director of operations and intelligence, do not run around like a field agent. Well, I think I have beaten this dead horse enough. Score: 1. * Storytelling: I liked the author's writing style, though he may not be top of my favorites list. The chapters are broken down into manageable subsections. This was very helpful to me because I only spent half-an-hour to read for each sitting. However, this book is 200 to 300 pages too long. Score: 3.5.
* Reviewer's Lean: I'm very critical of this book. I have read other novels where the plot was also very unquestionable but I was willing to look over it. Novel like Matthew Reilly's Ice Station is so fact-faced that I don't have time to slow down and think about the plot holes while I am reading. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed reading portions of this book. Therefore, I'm willing to add half a point to make the overall score 2.7.
Rating:
Summary: An Okay Novel
Review: This is the second book that I have read by this author. At heart it is basically a political-conspiracy type thriller. It pits the Japanese against the Americans in control of an airplane manufacturing company. A group of very powerful Japanese businessmen plot to restore the glory of the former Japanese empire by trying to gain control of an American aircraft manufacturing company that is developing a hypersonic commercial airplane. But that goal is only part of a larger plan that aims to control the western Pacific so that Japan can have access to natural resources in south east Asia. This group of Japanese, with the help of a few "loyal" military men, plans to execute a mini war against the Russian and they manipulate the American government in order to achieve their ultimate goal. The American aircraft manufacturing company counters the potential Japanese hostile takeover by hiring a former CIA assassin to help them stop the Japanese plot. At the same time a former Undersecretary of State has his own agenda. He wants to warn the administration and the American public that Japan is getting too powerful. He wants to avoid another Pearl Harbor. He teams up with a former East German spy/assassin and a couple of American weirdos to blow up eight airplanes and blame these terrorist acts on the Japanese. If I had to write this review with one word, it would be: Unbelievable! This is definitely not one of my favorite novels. • Character Development: Hagberg hardly spends any effort in developing the characters. I don't have any feeling for the main character, the CIA assassin, nor the villains, the East German assassin and the former Undersecretary of the State. This novel is definitely not character driven. On top of that, the author has created a hero who happens to be an assassin. It makes it more difficult for me to accept the hero. Score: 1. • Pacing: The author did an okay job in pacing the novel. The pace is relatively fast and that may be the only reason that I was willing to finish reading this book. However, this novel is not exactly a page-turner. Score: 3.5. • Plot: The plot follows three main parties. The Japanese manipulators, the American conspirator (the former Undersecretary of State), and our hero, the former CIA assassin. The author wants us to believe that this Japanese group is powerful enough to control their own government and military and, at the same time, that the Japanese military is strong enough to start a mini-war against Russia and the United States. Additionally, I had a hard time accepting the idea that the Japan wants to control the western Pacific just to make sure that they have access to natural resources. When the story opens, there is no threat to Japan. Furthermore, the author never explains why controlling the American aircraft manufacturing company would help the Japanese achieve their goal. On top of that, the author hopes that the readers will forget that the State Department would have to authorize any foreign company that took control of a strategic industry. The American conspirator (the former Undersecretary of State) is a character that is hard for me to accept. I sure hope that our political system is doing a much better job of selecting personnel in public office. A former Undersecretary of the State intends and actually sacrifices two thousand American lives by blowing up eight commercial airplanes just to warn the administration and the American public of the threat of Japan. Unbelievable! The list of unconvincing events and unbelievable characters just goes on and on. The author believes that the combined efforts of the FBI and the CIA organizations are no match for a former CIA assassin, our hero. It is very clear that the author ignores a lot of well known facts. The CIA is not allowed to operate inside our country and the top brass, like the deputy director of operations and intelligence, do not run around like a field agent. Well, I think I have beaten this dead horse enough. Score: 1. • Storytelling: I liked the author's writing style, though he may not be top of my favorites list. The chapters are broken down into manageable subsections. This was very helpful to me because I only spent half-an-hour to read for each sitting. However, this book is 200 to 300 pages too long. Score: 3.5.
• Reviewer's Lean: I'm very critical of this book. I have read other novels where the plot was also very unquestionable but I was willing to look over it. Novel like Matthew Reilly's Ice Station is so fact-faced that I don't have time to slow down and think about the plot holes while I am reading. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed reading portions of this book. Therefore, I'm willing to add half a point to make the overall score 2.7.
Rating: 
Summary: A shoddy techno-thriller
Review: This novel pales in comparison to other authors of the genre(Tom Clancy, Larry Bond, Stephen Coonts, etc.) It also is a third-rate spy novel when compared to the works of John Le Carre, Len Deighton, or Frederick Forsyth. It is way too long, and basically a rehash of Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor. If you want to read a book about how economics causes conflict, read Larry Bond's Cauldron. Ever wonder why Hagberg's(or Flannery's) books have never made the bestseller lists? Now you know. When you compare his books to authors like Tom Clancy or Larry Bond, the novels of Hagberg are no-brainers.
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