The Minotaur was a departure from the typical Jake Grafton adventure stories. Jake takes a job in the procurement sector of the Navy/US Military, and his job is to shepherd a new plane through the Request for Proposal, design, testing, and final acceptance stages of the procurement process. The bumps in the road along the way include pompous politicians, Soviet spies, crooked FBI agents, other ne'er do wells in the government, and the military-congressional-industrial complex itself. This episode introduces Toad Tarkington to Rita Moravia, his wife before the book ends. While Jake is pretty much anchored to a desk or hangar, there is quite a bit of flying by Toad and Rita. I enjoyed the book very much. Along with the adventures of flying, it offers a look into the procurement process of the US military.
Navy Captain Jake Grafton develops an aircraft known as the Minotaur using Stealth technology and deals with a Defense Department information leak in this techno-thriller. PW commented, "Coonts is most compelling when he focuses on the politics of design and procurement; his comparisons of Navy and Air Force procedures are admirably sharp-edged."
Fighter-jock, Jake Grafton has survived his share of airborne death duels. Now he's grounded. As head of the top-secret Athena Project, he's now in charge of developing the navy's next-generation attack aircraft-a carrier-launched stealth version of the A-6 Intruder. But deep within the labyrinth of the Pentagon, a cunning Soviet network is trashing U.S. security. Behind it is the ultimate spymaster called The Minotaur: his sights are on Jake's aircraft and his plans are for one last kill.
Fighter-jock Jake Grafton has survived his share of airborne death duels. Now he's grounded. As head of teh top-secret Athena Project he's now in charge of developing the Navy's next-generation attach aircraft-a carrier-launched stealth version of the A-6 Intruder.
