Book review for Entertaining War: Let the Games Begin by Col

[elleng]

Book Review for Entertaining War: Let the Games Begin by Col. Lynn Carroll review by ellen george

I started to mark passages of this book to share with you, but I ran out of notes; then I started dog-earing the pages and my book now looks like it's stuffed with paper!
What I mean to say is Entertaining War: Let the Games Begin is an amazing read of such scope, I cannot begin to explain to you all the twists and turns that happen in it - It is a thrill ride - and it is very hard to believe that this is Col.(Ret.) Lynn Carroll's 1st novel. It has the flow of a seasoned writer - maybe it is because it deals with the military, but it reads easily.
Carroll's main protagonist is a strong woman - Lt. Colonel Laura "Fox" Den - a fighter pilot and the first woman to command an F-22 Raptor Squadron. The work is tough, the personnel is rough, and you never show them any weakness - because you are the head and if they have doubts about your authority, there goes the whole ballgame.
A lot of fight simulations happen - computing different scenarios, and how to react when a split second is all you have to react -
An American hacker with a grudge finds a way to hack into these computer programs - even going into Laura's childrens' Playstation which can be hooked up to the Internet and you can play with people all over the world. The hacker downs a Raptor, and tries to instigate war between North and South Korea - even bringing in that wacky guy, Kim Jong-il -
This reminded me of a movie I saw a very long time ago, that was kind of like this war simulation that a civilian, a child, got into confidential defense programs - War Games? - can't remember, but it doesn't hold a candle to Entertaining War -
You will feel like you are in a pinball machine and are bounced from exciting situation to the next - the characters are believable and you root for the 'good guys' and are sad when the book comes to an end.
Col. Carroll should be writing more - he has the chops for telling it like it is and has us understanding things military.
An excellent read.
ellen george