THE INTRUDERS

Jake Grafton storms back in THE INTRUDERS, the sequel to Stephen Coonts' Flight of the Intruder--the finest combat aviation novel to emerge from Vietnam. Flight of the Intruder became one of the top twenty bestselling first novels of all time, spending and astonishing twenty-eight weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. Jeremiah O'Leary of the Washington Times hailed it as "a superbly written story." Now, Flight of the Intruder's crack fighter-pilot hero Jake Grafton returns in a gripping, all-new novel that takes the gritty realism and heart pounding excitement of military flying to a thrilling new height.

1973. The skies over Vietnam have finally gone silent. America has pulled out, the war is over. But for Lt. Jake Grafton, USN, fresh from two combat cruises and a harrowing shoot-down over Laos, the personal battle is just beginning....

His country has not welcomed him home with open arms, but with closed minds and closed fists. When his girlfriend's father called him a murderer, Jake walked away. But when a stranger in a bar challenged his honor, the man was not so lucky--the guy landed in the hospital. Jake landed in jail. And Grafton's shore-duty commander, who bailed him out, has devised the perfect punishment for his ace flight instructor: an eight month cruise on the aircraft carrier Columbia teaching jarheads--Marines--the nuances of carrier aviation. Flying missions over Vietnam was a living hell; now, as a Navy man working side-by-side with Marines who have no carrier aviation experience, Grafton's about to discover another world of fresh hell.

The Marines may be made of tempered steel and brass balls, but taking off and landing from a slippery flight deck, on a choppy sea, in a pitch-black night, there is no margin for error--or for animosity. And men like Marine Captain Flap Le Beau, Grafton's bombardier/navigator, have a real gift for pushing Jake's buttons. But he's going to have to learn to live with him...or die trying. They belong to the same society of warriors, they fought in the same war, they drink the same whiskey to toast fallen comrades. Now they must fly together in the same cockpit, must lock into each other and into their multi-million-dollar machine, and make the split-second decisions which will insure that, tonight, their fellow pilots don't raise a glass to them.

THE INTRUDERS captures as never before the raw fear and exhilaration of military aviation. It is the extraordinary story of peacetime warriors who are never truly at peace: men who run on instinct and adrenaline, whose only target is the horizon and whose goals are excellence--and survival.

When Pocket Books asked for another Jake Grafton tale, I noodled long and hard. For years I had been thinking of a sequel to Flight of the Intruder, and the time seemed right. I wanted to go back to the ship one more time, back to the ready room, back to the flight deck on stormy nights and sunlit days, back to the world of catapult shots and arrested landings that I left in 1977. I wanted to smell it, taste the salt on my lips, feel the warm blast of jet exhaust one more time. I picked up the tale of Jake Grafton where Flight of the Intruder left it. Jake was home, the Vietnam war was over, and Callie was waiting in Chicago. From there the story wrote itself.

After Jake's encounter with Callie's anti-war father, he witnesses an ugly scene in the Sea-Tac airport. That scene was based on a real incident that happened to a friend, Fred Downs, in the waning days of the war. Fred stepped on a land mine in Vietnam and lost most of his left arm, among other injuries. He was attending classes at Denver University while he recuperated from his wounds when a young man passing him on a campus sidewalk paused and asked, "Did you lose your arm in Vietnam?" "Yes," Fred replied. "Serves you right," the bastard said, and marched off, full of piss and vinegar.

That incident seemed to illustrate, for me at least, the dilemma of the returning Vietnam veteran. The Vietnam war was not like other American wars, and the veterans were not met with open arms when they took off their uniforms. I thought to tell Jake's story properly, he should face that.

The book was fun to write. The incidents in THE INTRUDERS were all true, just as they were in Flight of the Intruder. This is the lore of naval aviation. For example, the three stories related to Jake at the Whidbey 0-Club in Chapter Two really happened to Marine pilots. A former Marine related the sea stories to me, refreshing my memory, and I did some research so that I could get the essence of them correct. After the book was published the wife of the F-8 pilot who punched out over the Pacific wrote to me--her husband was almost killed when he smashed into the water with a streaming parachute that refused to blossom. Today he is a captain for a major airline.

The A-6 that caught an arresting gear wire while still airborne--an in-flight engagement? I witnessed that incident from the fantail of USS Nimitz. The RA-5 that couldn't get aboard? Nimitz again. The A-7 pilot who punched out with a total hydraulic failure after his hook hit the round-down? Enterprise, about 1972.

One reviewer commented that the cruise of Columbia in THE INTRUDERS seemed overly hazardous. I don't think so. Every cruise has mishaps and incidents: carrier aviation is not flying for the airlines. That is the challenge of it. This game demands the absolute best of everyone involved or people will die.

I intended the tale as a tribute to all the guys I knew who made the service a career, a choice I did not make. Sometimes I wonder how my life would have gone if I had chosen to remain on active duty. One thing is certain, I would never have had the time to write books.

We play the cards as they are dealt. For years I missed flying the hot jets, but not anymore. Today I am very happy writing books, mowing hay, and flying around the United States with my wife, Deborah, in a little civilian plane. The past was fun and I carry it with me always, but the present is even more wonderful. I hope your life is like that too.

Gday Steve,
Ive almost finished The Intruders and Im really enjoying it though I was disapointed Jake didnt go back to Nell Douglas's room for a bit of sport. Poor bugger must had been gagging for it.
Jay Gaskin, Australia, September 17, 2008
 

Dear Mr. Coonts,
Re' 'The Intruders' and other readers' comments. Well, having been only an 'armchair pilot' all my life (in my sixties now), I would just like to tell you that, without question, 'The Intruders' is the absolute best flying book that I have ever read. A really terrific read - I was in the seat next to you on every page, most of the time pinching the buttons off the seat with my sphincter muscle! A classic pilot's story. Thanks so much. Regards,
Ken Jenner April 27, 2007
 

Steve,
I just finished "The Intruders", and just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed it. Great job, and I really mean that. I am an airline pilot, and was on a flight commuting to work one day, while reading your book, and came to the part when the ship crossed over the line, and Neptune held court for wogs to become shellbacks. When I read that part as one of the minions said to Neptune "What say you, Oh Windy One?" I burst out laughing so loud, all the passengers around me thought I was nuts. I knew what the wogs were going through! Anyway, best of luck with the new book. I guess I'll read "Cuba" next. I also have "Hong Kong". Oh, and I very much enjoyed the anthologies entitled "Combat". I'd love to see more of those, and anything you do with Jim DeFelice.
Ed Price March 5, 2007

Dear Mr Coonts
I have just re-read The Intruders for the third time. You had me right back in the cockpit of an A6 Intruder which might surprise you when I say I served in the Royal Air Force (usually referred to as 'the British Air Force' by my American friends!).
I was lucky to have a tour in HQ 2ATAF, a NATO job in Rheindahlen Germany, in the early 1970's. A part of my job each year was to spend 10 or 12 days on a CVA (once the JFK and once the Independence) flying the 'Magic' series of exercises in support of the Central Region. I was enormously impressed by the professional aviators that I met on these mammoth ships.
I have to say that you have carried that expertise even further by your writing. As a dedicated staff officer I just had to get airborne (the COD certainly did not count) and managed it in an A6 each time. These were high spots in my career in the RAF and you re-kindle them so clearly I can even smell the aircraft - and you will know the special scent of the Intruder.
Bill Nicholson January 29, 2007

Dear Mr. Coonts,
I have just finished reading your novel The Intruders for the second time. I read your first novel, Flight of the Intruder, while a Marine Second Lieutenant in 1987 - 6 months prior to beginning flight training.  As a former Naval Aviator, I just wanted to write and tell you how much I appreciate your work, especially these two novels, as they remind me of many of my own days in the cockpit. (No, I wasn't an Intruder pilot - I flew the AV-8B Harrier.)  Your descriptions of carrier ops, foul weather flying, night hops & all the rest certainly take me back into the cockpit. It's a wonderful trip to the past.  Thank you for allowing me to go there via your excellent work.
John Stapleton December 2, 2006
 

Mr COONTS,
I have just finished reading 'The Intruders'. It was that good it dragged me away from my doctoral thesis (on the British Army in WW1). I now have had to make a vow that I won't read any more until I've finished the thing.  From the other side of the pond, thank you for the nod to the UK for the steam catapult & the mirror landing system. Perhaps, someday, the UK politicians will appreciate how necessary naval aviation is, especially in this uncertain age.  Keep up the good work.
Alun Thomas September 12, 2006

I was looking for a book or two to read and came across "The Intruders". A terrific book that led to several months of enjoyable reading, as I read each of your books. The Graftons, Carmellini, Tarkington, Yocke and the rest are great characters. Thanks for sharing your talent and several months of fun reading. I look forward to your future works.
David Wright August 25, 2006
 

Mr. Coonts, it is with much gratitude that I write to you today. I recently rediscovered Jake Grafton and just started The Intruders. I read Flight of the Intruder some years ago when I was a submariner aboard the USS William H. Bates (SSN 680). Thank you for giving me a taste of what it must have been like to serve aboard a surface ship. I'm looking forward to reading all of your published works over the next few weeks and months. Best wishes for continued success and thanks from a fellow sailor.

Brian Snider April 21, 2006

Mr. Coonts, Hello sir my name is Michael Dimmitt. I am 20 years old and currently reside in Newport, RI. I wanted to say thank you for changing my life. At the age of 17, I was another lost and confused kid living in southern California. I had all the potential a young man needed but no direction in which to use it. I read THE INTRUDERS and became very interested in the Navy, especially Naval Aviation and the aircraft carriers. At the time my interest in the Navy spurred my father to ask me if I ever considered joining the military. Well here I am 3 years later. I am stationed in Newport on my way to a promising career as a Naval Officer. When I enlisted at 17 I went to boot camp and then went to Pensacola to learn my rate. After a few months I was an Aviation Electronics Tech Airman. I reported to my command, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, and kept the charge going. I made AT3 then got my Air Warfare pin, then I got accepted to the BOOST commissioning program in Newport, but made second before I left. I have been here for 7 months prepping my academic skills before I go to the NROTC this fall. During my time here I have become very interested in English and writing. I read as much as possible, when I'm not doing PT or field day, and write often. I hope to get orders to flight school after college. I am going to Westminster College in Salt Lake City where I will try to major in Aviation Flight Operations and English. If my dreams come true I will find myself in the cockpit of an F-18 calling the ball. I loved working the flight deck and miss the boat. I just wanted to thank you for the motivation and inspiration your novels gave, and continue to give me. I'll drop you a line when I get my first command billet. I'll drop you a line inviting you on a Tiger Cruise.

MichaelDimmitt March 1, 2001

"Dear Mr Coonts, I have just now finished INTRUDERS. It is the most contemplative book that you have written, I think. Of course each of your books raises issues in the reader's mind, but this one does so with greater emphasis. By having Jake ask the important questions about the direction of his life, you have compelled the reader to consider those same questions. It is a most enjoyable book and makes Jake even more sympathetic. He is indeed a very likeable man. I was touched by your reference to the "Susy Wong whorehouse" and the China Fleet Club. I was in Hong Kong during the sixties. I remember that nightclub down in Wanchai. It's a bit of literary license to call it a whorehouse, although I suppose it was also that in a way. I can recall going bowling at the China Fleet Club. It smelled permanently of San Miguel Beer and Tiger Beer and Winston cigarettes. I don't know how those fellows who worked down the other end of the alley, replacing the pins and returning the bowling balls, ever survived without injury. Perhaps they didn't. Anyway, all that's gone now. I have also read your CANNIBAL QUEEN. A terrific experience for you and, vicariously, for me. Many thanks," --Walter Sofronoff, Brisbane, Australia, March 17, 2004

"I spent many years of my life as a non-reader, but while working for the Navy out of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, I had an occasion to make a visit to the USS Ranger in the Persian Gulf to do some engineering work involved in installing a new rotary launch valve on No. 3 catapult. While we rode the boat, of course, we were berthed under the round down on the 03 level. (Lovely place to stay) My bunk was on the outboard side and in one of the frames I found a copy of your "Intruders" left by the previous occupant. Having nothing better to do while launching was in progress, I cracked the cover and discovered a whole new world. Needless to say when I returned, I was hungry for more... I soon found an affinity for "action" books and have become a prolific reader...it would serve my purposes if you were more of a prolific writer." --Shad Ramsey, Bremerton, Wa.

"Just finished reading The Intruders and I just had to write and say how much I enjoyed it. I can tell by your writing that you have a passion for flying like I do. This is so hard to express on paper but you do it so very well. If you know the secret, please let me know. I promise I won't tell a soul." --Jim Moris

"Well, last time I wrote you (about the Cannibal Queen), I told you that the money I spent on that book was the best $20 I'd ever spend north of the Mexican border. I've just finished The Intruders and I can tell you it was a great story. ...Keep writing and flying and I'll keep buying your books. --Paul Scholz