Craig Thomas Books In Order

Publication Order of Kenneth Aubrey and Patrick Hyde Books

Publication Order of Mitchell Gant Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Craig Thomas was a Welsh author born in 1942. Craig primarily wrote thrillers.

+Biography

Craig Thomas was born David Craig Owen Thomas. His father was a Western Mail rugby Union writer. Thomas attended Cardiff High School and University College, Cardiff. He eventually acquired his M.A. This was after he completed a thesis on Thomas Hardy.

With his education completed, Thomas found employment in various grammar schools in the west midlands. He worked as a teacher for some time before finally receiving his appointment as head teacher at the Shire Oak School in Walsall Wood.

+Literary Career

Craig Thomas’ foray into the literary arena begun when he produced scripts for radio. However, Thomas closed that door when he failed to garner any notable success in the area.

With his wife acting as his editor, Craig Thomas instead took to writing part-time, putting forth his philosophical thoughts in books of essays. He also took to writing techno-thrillers.

Some have argued that Craig Thomas invented the Techno-thriller genre, thought most readers have chosen to impute that honor to the better known Tom Clancy. Most of Craig Thomas’ work is situated in MI6 and chronicles the adventures and efforts of Sir Kenneth Aubrey and Patrick Hyde.

For a while, Thomas tried to balance writing and teaching. However, he finally decided to quit teaching to devote his time to writing in 1977; this was after his third novel ‘Wolfsbane’ had been published.

Craig Thomas died in April of 2011 at the age of 68; the author fought acute myeloid leukemia for a while before finally succumbing to pneumonia.

+Movie Adaptations

Craig Thomas is best known for Firefox, his second novel, published in 1977. The novel was eventually adapted into a successful film starring Clint Eastwood who also directed the movie.

+Firefox

The firefox is a thought-controlled warplane. Terrifying and lethal, the Soviet Mig-31 has the power to rule the western skies. Grant is an obsessed renegade American pilot that is determined to sneak into the Soviet Union and steal the machine.

Kenneth Aubrey of Great Britain is his control.

People do not spend as much time talking about Craig Thomas as they should, at least with regards to the techno-thriller genre. This book proves that he is indeed a titan in the arena.

People have described Firefox as being written in a style that is a little difficult to follow. However, once you adapt to Craig Thomas’ approach, this book will keep you glued to the page. It instills a sense of tension and frustration, especially when the characters are faced with one insurmountable obstacle after another.

The fact that Firefox was such a hit when it first came out isn’t surprising. The United States and the USSR were still at loggerheads with one another. The idea of the soviet union bringing to bear a flying weapon the likes of which the United States had never seen, and which they had no hopes of stopping was neither crazy nor irrational during that period.

Additionally, it made sense that readers in the West would gravitate towards a novel that saw the United States get one over their mortal enemy at the time. Rather than an explosive conflict between man and machine, Thomas creates a far more suspenseful situation by throwing the protagonists into enemy territory and tasking him to steal a highly advanced piece of technology.

Firefox is a very easy read. Even if you care very little about techno-thrillers, the novel has a very wide appeal.

+Firefox Down

Mitchel Grant was tasked with stealing the firefox, a highly advanced warplane with the power to dominate the Western Skies. Having successfully hijacked it, Grant is forced to land the plane on a frozen lake near the Norwegian Frontier.

With tracker dogs and helicopter patrols on his trail, Mitchen Grant will have a hard time surviving the assault of his KGB pursuers.

Firefox down is the sequel to Firefox. You will notice that, while people are always raving about Firefox, especially in conversations regarding the techno-thriller genre, almost no one ever talks about Firefox Down.

This is because the book doesn’t live up to the hype of its predecessor. That isn’t to say that it is bad; most people have a relatively positive opinion of Firefox Down. However, they tend to dismiss it as being most disposable.

It has been called dumb, harmless and largely unsubstantial fun, and that is a little problematic because the novel’s predecessor was something so much more impressive. This book gets really wordy in some places.

Some readers seem to appreciate that aspect of things, taking a moment to delve into discussions about the situation at hand; others would have preferred it if Craig Thomas just focused on the action.

Admittedly, Thomas still succeeds in writing engaging action. Maybe if there were more explosive scenes, readers would have a more favorable view of this book. Thomas’ decision to give readers a slow trek through the cold war doesn’t deliver, at least not on the same level as the first book.

Because it picks up right after the first book, Firefox Down isn’t friendly to new Craig Thomas readers either, instead forcing curious audiences to first read Firefox before they can enjoy the conclusion of the story in Firefox Down.

Considering just how small both books are, barely 400 pages, it might have made more sense for Thomas to combine them. Fortunately, the book isn’t without tension of its own.

The Firefox is now in the hands of Grant, and the Soviets will do everything in their power to either take it back or destroy it, if only to prevent it from falling into enemy hands; to an extent, Thomas keeps things interesting by describing the plight of Grant as he struggles to stay alive and keep the Firefox safe from KGB agents in extreme conditions.

It could be argued that audiences do not appreciate this story as much because it is a very different book from the first one; Firefox Down is not quite the techno-thriller that Firefox was. Thomas didn’t help matters by making the Soviets such idiots while the Allies are all ridiculously intelligent agents.

Firefox Down definitely lacks the sophistication of its predecessor.