CONE OF SILENCE

by David Beaty ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 1954

Civil aviation's conquest of the air is again the background to danger for a sleek, romantic novel, and along with the conflict between company politics- and the pilots who may be the readiest casualties, there is an attractive romance and some exciting navigational sequences. The success- or is it the safety- of the new jet Phoenix is at stake when George Gort, an older man, cracks up and there is an inquiry which is loaded against him, concluded with the easy evasion- ""pilot error"". But Gort, a reliable man, schooled to method and efficiency and infallibility, remains guiltless in his daughter Charlotte's eyes- and her belief in him is shared by Hugh Dallas, the training officer, who falls in love with Charlotte. Gort is not grounded- although there are others anxious to have him taken off the route; Judd, an ambitious flight captain, suggests that he be re-tested- but not by the possibly partial Dallas; and there is a second crackup, this time fatal, due to the loss of lift on the take-off. Again an inquiry silences any uneasy misgivings about the plane, and it is only Dallas who pursues the cause of the crash and tries for many reasons- professional as well as personal- to clear the name of the man who had died just because he had flown by the book.... A knowledgeable handling of a story which has its inherent and insistent drama, this is probably Beaty's best book; it may as well and justifiably be his most popular.

Pub Date: March 12, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1958

Categories: FICTION