The Last Pilot, a debut novel by British author Benjamin Johncock, is a masterpiece about the early years of the space program and the Cold War in the late fifties/early sixties.
The story centers on Jim Harrison, a fictional test pilot based in the high Mojave Desert in Muroc, California. The strong, silent type, Jim embodies the American hero. One of the special things about this book is that our fictional hero rubs elbows with the legends of the early astronauts—Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Deke Slayton, Jim Lovell.
Back to earth, Jim and his wife Grace are blessed with their first child, a surprise after years of infertility. When tragedy strikes, it deeply affects not only the immediate family, but the community of those involved in the unknown frontier.
Johncock captures the perfect pitch of dialogue, the toughness, the nostalgia, as well as the grueling roles played by the astronauts’ wives. It was a time of hero worship and the author manages it all without a hitch. The Last Pilot is an amazing book of American lore. I savored every word.
Mary: I too will put this one on my “need-to-buy” list. This sounds like a perfect fit for the “lunchtime reads” my husband and I do while chewing on our sandwiches. Your book club must “read like the wind, Maria” to cover so many interesting books. Thanks for sharing.
The book club features one book a month. The Last Pilot is good. It took me a while to get used to no quotation marks.
This sounds like a good book for guys. I intend to look into it for possible Christmas gifts. Thanks for the review, Mary!
It is a good book. Guys, especially, would enjoy it, although in our book club there happens to be only women. They liked it too!