Condors (The Wings of War, Bk. 3)

Retired Air Force pilot Ross Colyer becomes involved in an organization that is smuggling war materials to Jewish freedom fighters in Palestine

Rosenbaum's third novel about fighter pilot Ross Colyer (after Eagles and Falcons) offers a panoramic, yet sharply focused, look at events preceding the founding of the state of Israel. In 1946, Colyer's small company, Allied Air, is hired to help the Jewish Relief Foundation in its support of Jewish immigrants in Palestine by shipping cargo, and sometimes people, within the U.S. Colyer's increasing support for the Foundation places him in the awkward position of working for people who are being investigated by the FBI and the new Central Intelligence Group, which wants Colyer to report on the Foundation's activities. Through myriad short scenes that focus on a small group of players and that draw added realism from the appearance of historical figures and events (e.g., David Ben-Gurion, the voyage of the Exodus), Rosenbaum creates a dense, often complex story that chronicles Colyer's growth from hired hand to activist. Readers new to the series may be puzzled by certain references to Colyer's past, but this solid adventure novel earns high marks for achieving historical accuracy not only through period detail but also through the attitudes and feelings of its characters.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rosenbaum continues the career of air force man Ross Colyer, whose World War II exploits were the subject of two previous novels. At book's opening, Colyer, running a struggling air-cargo operation, hires on to fly supplies for the Israelis and ends up in the Middle East himself. There he becomes simultaneously a covert U.S. agent, a trainer, and an Israeli air force combat pilot. In his off time, he resumes his relationship with Janet Templeton. He eventually ends up coming home to rehabilitation, Janet, and a renewed career in the jet age U.S. Air Force. In the manner of W. E. B. Griffith and Walter Boyne, Rosenbaum clearly plans to follow his hero through much of the history of American military aviation up to the Vietnam War. Since he is an effective writer as well as a seasoned aviator, his apparent intention bodes well for lovers of military sagas. Roland Green