Mission to Chara by Lynn M. Boughey

12. – 571.) Mission to Chara by Lynn M. Boughey – Three weeks ago while in North Dakota a casual restaurant conversation with the author, Lynn, and a subsequent vehicle breakdown led to further contacts. Prior to our departure Lynn provided me with a copy of his thriller.

            A long embedded American spy in Russia gets a message to the U.S. that he needs to be extracted because he has vital information he cannot deliver except in person. America’s military, security and intelligence agencies decide an intrusion into Russia is justified. Colonel Jack Phinney is chosen to fly to Chara in Siberia, the long ago pre-arranged location, to pick up the spy. American’s fastest long range military aircraft, the SR-71 Blackbird, is returned to the Air Force for the mission.

            The planning of the mission, the preparations for the mission, the planes to be used on the mission, the logistics of the mission and the equipment to be employed on the mission are set out and described in great detail. Lynn has gone to extraordinary lengths to be factually accurate. I learned a tremendous amount about the incredible technologies and equipment developed by America’s armed forces. I had no knowledge that over 10 years ago American warplanes did much of their flying by computer. I would have appreciated the book better if I had military experience and if I was a pilot.

            Much of the book was like reading a work of non-fiction precisely setting out the events before, during and after the mission. The story comes alive during the actual mission. The action sequences drew me forward anxious to know what would happen next.

            It was intriguing to see a selection of photos in the book showing locations from the novel and the planes set out in the book. The presence of the photos made the story more real.

            I regret that I learned more about the Blackbird than I did about the major characters in the book. Their personalities and lives were just touched upon by Lynn.

            The technical jargon, undoubtedly correct, and the depth of technological information overwhelmed the story at times.

            It is an interesting book. It is not a Hollywood thriller. There is no individual hero off to save the world from destruction as in Rules of Betrayal. Instead, it is a thriller of the dedicated teamwork required of hundreds to thousands of people for special operations missions. (Mar. 1/11)

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SEE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH THE AUHTOR, LYNN M. BOUGHEY, IN THE FOLLOWING POST.