Final Flight

Jake Grafton, Book 3

By: Stephen Coonts

Narrated by: Benjamin L. Darcie

Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

After a particularly long cruise, the USS United States is in port in Naples, and her crew is enjoying its first liberty in months. But something's not right. Several crew members have not reported back from their leave, and a beautiful American reporter who boarded the United States in Tangiers may not be a reporter, or even an American. When one of Jake's men, in a hotel in Naples, witnesses an assassination attempt led by this woman, Grafton realizes the situation is much more serious than he suspected.

What he doesn't know is that Colonel Qazi, an international terrorist, plans to board the United States and steal six nuclear weapons from her heavily guarded arsenal. Nor does he know that the plot is being financed by El Hakim, the power-hungry leader of an oil-rich Arab state. And most important, he doesn't know that he, Jake, past 40 and recently grounded by night blindness, is the only one who can stop Qazi, in one man-to-man aerial dogfight - one "final flight".

©1988 Stephen Coonts (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

mixed emotions

Any additional comments?

Very upset with Coonts as to the prolific foul language, which is new for him, and the way the story ends. There are several "Jake Grafton" books that come after this one and they are all very good reads. Wonderful story and edge of your seat action ruined by language and porn.

Don't worry because Jake Grafton...

...is still alive! The ending makes it appear Jake had been killed, but he's still alive and will appear in at least 15 more novels. It was, however, his last flight as a Navy pilot.

I first read Final Flight almost 30 years ago and now I'm going back and listening to the older novels in this and the Tommy Carmellini series (think of the Grafton and Carmellini series as one 18 novel series). This is Book 3 in the series. It is also the last where Grafton is a Navy pilot. It is the first where Grafton participates in espionage, but the rest of his career is in that area. Book 3 takes place 15 years after the end of Book 2.

Final Flight is an outstanding novel with a great plot to go along with action and intense suspense. Stephen Coonts, an ex-Navy pilot, is a very talented story teller. The first three novels in the series mirror his own experiences in the same planes he flew. I'm a huge fan of this series and recommend all 18 novels in the Grafton and Carmellini series, but I am not a fan of much of his other work. The books in this series are standalone. (By the way, Tommy Carmellini enters the series in Book 7 which is titled Cuba.)

CAG Tour

Spine tingling? Maybe? It was one hellova good Navy book. From the boring administrative details of Navy life, to the smashing conclusion; the book was a fun read. And, as always with a Coonts novel, our hero saves the world for democracy and the American way.

Newly released originalbook.

I find it interesting that a number of authors are bringing some of their earliest publication into the digital age. This is one of them. Grafton is still a leutenant fighter pilot in this 1996 book.It is a fun read and fills in some of his early history. The narration was Excellent. The ending was AWFUL. Coonts doesn't even hint at their being more to come in the Grafton series. Unless I missed something, This read like a stand alone book

Stephen's stories never get old!

Well written, well performed, well worth the wait. I first read this book in the 1980's and this tale is as gripping now as it was then.

All talk and little flying

Imagine a story about...
A half blind pilot who likes to chew his finger nails
Cartoon bad guys who are really, really bad.
An unsolved plane crash that no one cares to investigate
A woman who can't remember her name, but likes to get on peoples last nerves
There's even a guy named "Toad" who has a skin condition.
If that sounds like the novel of the century, then by all means read this book!

GET A MILITARY ADVISOR

This isn’t the first book (and I suspect not the last) where the narrator butchers military jargon.

In this book, several times, Benjamin says the radar intercept officer is the R. I. O. in three separate and distinct letters.

It’s pronounced RIO (like you would for Rio de Janeiro).

Please, PLEASE, hire a consultant with a military if you’re going to do military books.

This Review Needs a Title...So, I

Spine tingling? Maybe? It was one hellova good Navy book. From the boring administrative details of Navy life, to the smashing conclusion; the book was a fun read. And, as always with a Coonts novel, our hero saves the world for democracy and the American way.

Noy quite as good as Flight of the Intuder

While the story is intriguing, the military and flight ops part of the story are more than a little trite. I guess Jake's career had to progress, but it seems like it was forced in this book and not really all that believable.

Still worth the read because the back story keeps your attention.

Liked this book

I liked this book but the way it ended left so many questions in unanswered. I would have liked to know if the men on the USS America recovered and what happened to the men on the beach? Did they get in trouble not being on the ship?? Overall I liked the book, just the ending stank.