ICARUS

by Michael & Max Crawford Koepf ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1988

A straight-arrow airline pilot falls from grace when his friends lure him into a sordid world of smuggling, assassinations, fraud, skyjacking, and other unpleasantness. Koepf wrote Save the Whale (1987); Crawford the Six Key Cut (1986) and Lords of the Plain (1984). Dan Cox's slide into the depths begins when he lets his co-pilot and old Vietnam War buddy Max talk him into investing in a spread in Montana. Dan and his stewardess wife Kat have to sell or mortgage everything they own to get in on the deal, but it seems to be worth it since it's real putty territory, and there's money to be made from development. But pesky environmentalists raise a stink, icing any development and leaving the pilots with whopping mortgage payments and no way to pay. So Dan can't say no to a job flying into Mexico for some shady former association--ex-CIA types who spent far too much time around the Golden Triangle. By the time Dan makes it back to the US, old buddy Max is murdered, and Dan is firmly in the grip of the gang of bad guys headed by ever-so-sinister Lane Blackmuir. As if that weren't enough, Dan finds out that his wife had been two-timing him with the late Max. But there's no time to lick his wounds as Lane Blackmuir's machinations send Dan all around the Wild West in a seemingly endless series of extra, legal adventures, including his own fake disappearance. It all comes to a head in an aerial dogfight, followed by a frostbitten shootout in snowy Idaho. Flying enthusiasts may get a kick out of the aerobatics, but even the most dedicated pilot is likely to find the trip entirely too long and eventful.

Pub Date: April 1, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION