Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Books that are based on current events are terrific and
worrisome. The terrific part is that
they seem extremely believable and may teach people about situations they’ve
ignored in the evening news. The
worrisome aspect is that, because the story is so realistic, everything in the
book takes on a feeling of being factual when in fact it isn’t.
Berkley Levine is a Top Gun instructor for the Navy in
Fallon, Nevada. She’s excels at what she
does and is one of the best instructors available. Berkley doesn’t miss the action of serving in
a combat position because she is nursing a broken heart caused by Aidan
Sullivan. Aidan put her career before
everything when she was offered the opportunity to be the first female captain
of an aircraft carrier, the USS Jefferson.
Tensions rise between the US and North Korea and the Jefferson is given
secret orders to destroy a nuclear facility in North Korea. Aidan uses all of her influence to get the
pilot she knows she needs to lead her air wing and the attack on the
plant. Bringing them together on the
same ship reignites the relationship they once had, but their positions are
more than a complication. What the women
don’t know is that they are part of a bigger plot within the government to
compromise a new president and possibly bring down the system in a military and
political coup d’etat.
The reader will need to completely disregard the improbability
of the relationship between Berkley and Aidan.
The military has strict protocols against affairs between people of
different ranks, not to mention that, when this book was originally written,
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was still very much in effect. Once the reader gets past that barrier,
however, she can enjoy an extremely well-crafted story.
Blue Skies could come off of the front of today’s newspapers
with the concern over North Korea’s nuclear program and the instability that
country threatens to inject into world affairs.
Knowledge of that situation enhances the power of what Vali writes
about. It’s a fast paced action story
that will hold the reader’s attention with a high level of tension, especially
once the mission begins. It’s populated
by interesting and well-rounded characters.
Berkley has the swagger of a military pilot and could easily be seen
taking over Tom Cruise’s role in “Top Gun” or posing as one of the original
astronauts. She has that laid back,
never get ruffled attitude down pat.
Aidan is a classic example of the Naval Academy graduate who is
determined to make a name for herself in what has been a man’s world. She’s as tough and professional as any of
them. It’s almost playing against type
for them to be attracted to each other, but in this case it works. Vali manages to take a North Korean pilot and
make her an appealing and commanding character in the story, not an easy task.
Blue Skies is an exciting book with good characters and an interesting
story line. The fact that it may not be
totally based on reality doesn’t detract from enjoying it at all. This is one that it’s easy to recommend to
people.
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