Orbit

The Star Streak Hypersonic airliner is the successor to the supersonic Concorde. During a routine flight, an unexplainable engine malfunction hurls Consolidated Flight 14 far too high and into a low-earth orbit. With only limited oxygen onboard, Captain Donald Collins is about to try a desperate and unproven maneuver to save the ship and its 100 passengers. On the ground, one of the designers of the aircraft has discovered evidence that the airliner might have been sabotaged. It becomes a race against time and the inescapable laws of physics to save the airliner and those onboard who are still alive.An International Bestseller in many Worldwide markets, here is a sampling of those Media Reviews:•From the United States: The St. Louis Post said: “A spell-binding story.”•The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said: “Excitement and tension throughout…great fun and a good read.”•The San Diego newspaper said: “Orbit creates a sense of urgency and reality.”•United Press International said: “…a nightmare of terror and human drama.”•From England: The Liverpool Daily Post said: “full of technical accuracy, with a whodunnit element as well.”•The Manchester Evening News said: “A thrill a minute – there is excitement on every page.”•From Australia: The Melbourne Victoria Advertiser said: “A superthriller!”•From Germany, the newspapers said: “The book reads well – very well.”•“Orbit has all sorts of intrigue.”•“The wave of emotions move quickly, and Block weaves in the action elegantly.”

Thomas Block has written a number of aviation-oriented novels, many which have gone on to acquire best-seller status in numerous countries. His novel writing began with the publication of "Mayday" in 1979. That novel was rewritten with his boyhood friend, novelist Nelson DeMille in 1998 and remains on DeMille's extensive backlist. "Mayday" became a CBS Movie of the Week in October, 2005.

Several of the other novels by Block include "Orbit" (a top bestseller in Germany, among other nations), "Airship Nine", "Forced Landing" (also done as a radio serialization drama in Japan), "Skyfall", "Open Skies" and "Captain". Thomas Block is still writing both fiction and non-fiction, and all his novels are available in print and in all ebook formats.
Block's magazine writing began in 1968 and over the next five decades his work has appeared in numerous publications. He worked 20 years at FLYING Magazine as Contributing Editor, and as Contributing Editor to Plane & Pilot Magazine for 11 years. Block became Editor-at-Large for Piper Flyer Magazine and Cessna Flyer Magazine in 2001.

During his long career as an aviation writer he has written on a wide array of subjects that range from involvement with government officials to evaluation reports on most everything that flies. An airline pilot for US Airways for over 36 years before his retirement in April, 2000, Captain Thomas Block has been a pilot since 1959.

Since 2002, he has lived on a ranch in Florida with his wife Sharon where they board, compete and train horses. Visit the author's website at ThomasBlockNovels.com to see complete details on all of the Thomas Block novels.