Book Review
Robert Fischer's debut novel is a fresh addition to the relatively small world of aviation-themed literature. Plane Jane has a suave, jaunty tone reminiscent of some of my favorite Ian Fleming novels, moving quickly through a chain of twists and turns but remaining intelligent and surprisingly relevant.
Fischer himself served as a pilot for the marines during the Korean War, was invited to fly for the Rhodesian Army, and worked as a Senator's personal pilot in the Phillipines. Mixing in some work as a importer/exporter, a restaurateur, a real estate developer, and a furniture manufacturer, he also sold desalination equipment to Australia, Arabia, and the Polynesian Islands. After this eclectic and atypical medley of careers, he began writing his first novel, Plane Jane, based on a handful of his experiences in Bulgaria where he witnessed a horde of vehicle and aircraft thefts.
Blending his technical aircraft knowledge with insights from his global travel, the 271-page paperback is refreshingly accurate and lends insight into the current issues affecting international relations of the Muslim and Western worlds. Proper lingo and mechanical knowledge is a delicacy for us aviators and flight enthusiasts, and the sometimes sexy, sometimes slighty corny banter is again suggestive of a James Bond flick.
Discharged from the Air Force for her refusal to wear the traditional woman's burqua in Saudi Arabia while off-base, the former major Mary Jane begins a new career: reposessing aircraft under CALL, or Charter Aircraft Leasing, Ltd. The danger of her new trade reaches a new scale when she attempts to recover a Boeing 747 from the hands of a prominent Saudi Prince. Backed up by her fellow former Air Force pilot, Jesus Martinez, the two are further immersed in a Muslim culture of rigid social classes, prestige, and opulence, risking encapturement and swift execution. Attracting good and bad attention wherever she travels, the sexy, assertive redhead works to trace the location of the luxury jet and inadvertently becomes intwined with the lives of several Saudis, including Safi, the oppressed and formerly obedient wife of the redhanded Prince. Through her string of neverending adventures, it becomes clear that her new and appealingly dangerous career is nowhere near its retirement.
Plane Jane is published by Martin Pearl Publishing and is available through most major vendors after its release date of June 11, 2010.
Plane Jane by Robert Fischer. Book Review by Brigit Hartop