Author Review: Ward Larsen

If you enjoy reading Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, Craig Thomas and other thriller/action adventure novelists, try the works of author Ward Larsen’s – in particular, Fly By Wire and Fly By Night. Larsen is a former US military pilot, NTSB air crash investigator and currently a commercial airline pilot, thus able to imbue his plots with an aviation accuracy to rival Tom Clancy.

The main character in these novels is Frank “Jammer” Davis (his Air Force call sign bestowed upon him for reasons explained in the first novel), whose beloved wife died two years ago, leaving him solo parenting a teenage daughter.  The amusing parts of the novels centre around his internal struggle to be a good parent to Jenny whilst driven to find the truth of air crashes as an NTSB investigator, the latter of which involves travel away from his country.  The first novel sees him in Africa, the second in the Sudan, as Jammer is sent in by the NTSB to assist the local investigators.

Mix in a couple of murders and threats to the local government (in which the CIA are very interested) and one has a riveting, absorbing thriller. Recommended for entertaining reading.

Find books by Ward Larsen in the SMSA Library Catalogue.

Reviewed by Belinda Coombs
Member of the SMSA Mystery & Crime Reading Group