Fly by Night: A Jammer Davis Thriller Kindle Edition

One of the things I liked about the book is really basic: I love the character of Jammer Davis! The writing of Ward Larsen is so vivid, I can see the adventure happening in my mind as I'm reading the book. In this second installment, Jammer sets out on an errand as a favor and ends up involved in a complex plot involving a "fly-by-night" airline that is not all it seems. Great adventure, great characters, great plot - Don't miss this one!

This is light, enjoyable reading that actually does have a well-founded technical basis. Jammer Davis is a retired Air Force pilot who has flown just about any type of aircraft. He is a recent widower with a daughter in college - presently studying in Norway and living with the family of an old pilot friend. Davis gets an assignment to find a CIA drone that crashed somewhere in Sudan. He starts by serving as an NTSB crash investigator looking into the crash of a DC-3 that was on a strange mission. It takes some effort to get into this book because it is very different from what you might expect. But it is well-worth the effort. Davis must investigate a small air cargo company that flies cargo in DC-3's. Yes the same aircraft that flew your grandfather around all the theaters of World War II. What does this have to do with a missing CIA drone? The DC-3 flies slow enough to properly serve as an observation platform for testing a modern drone. It takes off at about 80 knots from a rough runway and cruises at about 150 knots.The cargo company is deep in the desert of Sudan. Fly by Night or FBN Airways only has about 10 DC-3's in various stages of dis-repair. The Chief Pilot is a guy Davis helped get kicked out of the Air Force several years before when both were in the USAF. No love is lost between them. The company has several experienced pilots, mainly from Europe where DC-3's have been actively flying more recently than in the US. They also have very young native co-pilots who are in training. As an NTSB inspector, Davis has to inspect the company's records, crew records, training records and maintenance records. It is all rather shabby and barely legal.Along the way, Davis meets a very pretty Italian doctor, Regina Antonelli (aka "Contessa") who operates an aid station in the desert. She gets some supplies delivered via FBN some of which then get stolen by crooked soldiers.Davis does some snooping and spying, finds an interesting way to locate a sunken DC-3 that has been converted to fly only by remote command, and finally chases the bad guys as they try to use a drone for a coup d'etat. His last flying mission becomes quite spectacular. When it is over and he recovers consciousness, he calls his daughter. She happens to be watching a YouTube video of his spectacular flying and tells him she is watching the video of the "absolute worst pilot in the world" who nearly crashes an old plane into the Great Pyramid! Davis agrees.The Contessa, as Davis calls the Doctor, plans to join him in a short trip to Norway to pick up Jen, the daughter, when her classes are done. Maybe she'll tell Jen about her ride in the copilot's seat over the Pyramid.

Very entertaining book. The author writes in a concise way, like Jack Reacher’s Lee Childs. But “Jammer” (cool name after awhile) is smart,knows his stuff, and can handle “bad hombres” well. The book is full of action and Jammer is smart but plays by his own rules. Already read Book #2 in the series and I’ll finish the third book before moving on. I’ll be back looking for Ward Larson’s next series since I have enjoyed his style of writing. He does a great job spinning a tale.

This is a good read. Although I have not read any others in this Jammer Davis series, this is a pretty good place to start. He's a pilot, ex-military, man's man, etc, etc. It's sort of cliched, but it's not so formulaic that you don't want to read on, mostly because it is well-written. You will get a clear sense that the story is the thing here, the characters just move it along. Not to give anything away, but Jammer is called back to assist the military find some missing hardware. It re-connects him with characters from his past and some not-so-nice terrorists in N. Africa. You can figure out the rest, but it's still a fun ride. This is intelligently written, it's logical, not hard to follow and I like the details. That's what makes you believe in the story, the main character, and even the ending, although somewhat over-the-top is plausible and not out of step with what happened leading up to it.

"Fly by Night" by Ward Larsen is a pretty good, fast-paced 3rd world terrorist story set primarily in the Sudan and stars returning hero Jammer Davis. Character development seems okay, though all the bad guys (even those who switch allegiances) are stereotypical in their extreme behavior, talk and plan. As is so true in so many stories in this genre, the writers never quite get the Arab (or Muslim) bad guys right, especially their between-character dialogue.Jammer Davis is elaborately himself: smart, macho, impulsive, irreverent and lucky. He is the epitome of the good-guy hero, a single dad with a college-bound daughter to add to his sometimes murky credentials and questionable past.The silliest plot feature is the ludicrous Red Sea "search" for a downed old-timer DC-3 (these planes are at the center of this story). In this scene, Jammer is pulled around in the water for 2 days at the end of a long Jerry rigged rope by a Sudanese fishing boat, whose owner uses a Garmin GPS to track a crisscross pattern in the shallow 50-foot deep azure sea (lucky it's so shallow, no?). Does he find the DC-3? Be prepared to suspend belief here, page after page! This episode even surpasses the other not-credible scenario in the Congo, where Jammer survives a hair-raising take-off, people-shooting-at-him escape in yet another venerable 60+ year old DC-3.The female interest is also slightly fantastic (as in unbelievable), an Italian 30-something soon-to-be-divorced doctor, saving lives in the poorest region of the Sudan. She's smart, beautiful and just what Jammer needs, a side-kick he can trust and lust after. Lucky for us we are spared any and all sex scenes. Thank you, Mr. Larsen.The finale is tense, fast-moving and conclusive. All loose ends are tied up, mysteries solved, and Jammer lives to star in another Larsen creation.Well, it is entertaining and fast-moving, earning kudos for creativity and writing. Thus, it's a 3.499, rounded down to a 3, due to just too many, too hard to believe scenarios. Larsen's "Fly by Wire" was much better.

An air crash investigation in Sudan. An elderly Dakota DC3 goes down in the sea and Jammer Davis goes to investigate. Except that he's really there to investigate a missing top secret drone, which may or may not be in that inaccessible hangar. And the DC3 may not have crashed after all.Jammer is the hero's nickname. It's in the previous book, which I liked a lot, but can't remember why he is called that. Former fighter pilot turned air crash investigator.I like this one a lot too! Believable action thriller

Wow such a good read. Interesting characters, full of actions, and adventures. I will buy his next book.

Gung hO Jammer flying by the seat of his pants and meeting the love of his life while he scores a safe touchdown. Easy to digest with a happy ending.

Another plot with Jammer in the lead. Humourosly at the right point the author brings up a consistent plot to read. Thrilling, technically solid and thus a great one for fans of tec crime action.

Lots of action. Well-written thriller with a few twists and some interesting aeronautical background to stop it from becoming too formulaic. A good, undemanding read.