Jake Grafton Books In Order

Publication Order of Jake Grafton Books

Publication Order of Tommy Carmellini Books

Jake Grafton is one of the series of that include techno-thriller books by American writer Stephen Coonts. The first novel in this series, Flight of the Intruder, was actually adapted into a movie in 1991 and it starred Willem Dafoe and Danny Glover. The series was then spun off into Tommy Carmellini series.

The Jake Grafton series by Stephen Coonts consists of a total of 10 novels. These 10 novels take Jake Grafton from being a young Navy attack pilot who used to fly the A-6s during Vietnam War (Flight of the Intruder) to being a 2-star admiral who works with CIA (Liberty). These books introduced several people all over the world to the modern America’s military and carrier aviation. Although some sections of people like to read these books in the order that they were written, they can all be read as stand-alone novels. In fact, you can just pick any novel and dive into Jake Grafton’s world. He isn’t that brilliant, has no good insight into all the problems of our life but he still has common sense and he always tries hard to do the right thing at all times irrespective of the personal consequences that might befall him. He’s literally the hero for our time.

Flight of the Intruder

In the Flight of the Intruder novel, Jake Grafton is presented as A-6 Intruder pilot in the course of the Vietnam War. Jake Grafton flies his bomber on the sorties past enemy SAM and flak missiles. He must maneuver his plane, mostly at night on the relatively smaller deck of the aircraft carrier. Stephen Coonts, a former Navy flyer gives a great sense of the complexities in the modern air raids as well as how nerve-wracking it’s even for the top airmen so as to technically solve the sudden problems. He knows well that even a twist of fate just like a peasant who fires a rifle wildly from a field might wipe out the whole crew. Jake Grafton alternates between the remorse over the whole fate of all his unseen Vietnamese victims on the battle ground and the gung-ho “let us win this war” sentiment which lashes at both the policymakers who normally select less-than-important targets for dangerous missions and the peace advocates back in the United States.

This novel is a very typical of the 1980s military books although the time era that’s represented in the book is early 1970s. Jake Grafton is the protagonist, a 27 years old carrier pilot who is flying missions to Vietnam. The writer really manages to build adequate tension into the novel to make the book a page turner. Unlike some of his colleagues, the author manages to make his characters complex enough so as to be interesting. It’s not just about radio communication, aircraft controls and target acquisitions, but the plot revolves around a host of interesting encounters.

The best thing about this novel is the fact that it was written by ex-navy pilot. The novel really shows the sections which cover scenes in the cockpit, the take-off as well as landing of the plane on the aircraft carrier. The characters in the book have that real feel that’s invaluable.

The story takes place in the course of Vietnam War before and at the beginning of ‘Rolling Thunder’ phase. There have been several books written with the anti-Vietnam war sentimentality. However, what sets this book apart is the fact that its main character isn’t anti-War but he is rather against how the war is being run which seems to have been the major feeling of all participants at that time.

If you actually want to read a very enjoyable story which revolves around the cockpit of the naval carrier with the real feel of authenticity, then Flight of the Intruder is certainly worth a look.

The Intruders

The skies over The Vietnam Country have gone silent at last. America has already pulled out, the war is certainly over. However, for Lieutenant Grafton, fresh from 2 combat cruises and the harrowing shoot-down in Laos, the personal battle has just begun. His country hasn’t welcomed him at home with open arms, but with closed fists and closed minds. When his girlfriend’s dad called him as a murderer, Jake Grafton walked away. However, when a stranger in one bar decided to challenge his honor, the man wasn’t so lucky – he actually landed in a hospital. Jake Grafton landed in jail. Grafton’s shore-duty commander, the man who bailed him out, has already devised the ideal punishment for the ace flight instructor: an 8-month cruise on aircraft carrier Columbia while teaching jarheads the nuances associated with carrier aviation. Flying several missions over Vietnam used to be a living hell.

As a Navy man who’s working side by side with the Marines who do not have any carrier aviation experience, Jake Grafton is about to discover yet another whole new world of fresh hell. These Marines might be made of brass balls or tempered steel but landing or taking off from the slippery flight deck, on the choppy sea in the pitch-black night, there’s no margin for any error or even for animosity. Men like Flap Le Beau, his navigator and bombardier, have the real gift for pushing Jake Grafton’s buttons. However, he is going to have to learn how to live with him or else he will die trying. They actually belong to a similar society of warriors. The two fought in the same Vietnam War, they drink similar whiskey to toast the fallen comrades. Now they have to fly together in one cockpit. They must lock into one other and in their million-dollar machine. They also have to make the split-second decisions that will insure that their fellow pilots will not raise any glass to them during the flight.

For those who love Jake Grafton, then this is a very good book to add to your collections. You’ll find Jake just after the Vietnam War had ended courting his true love and at the same time struggling, during the cruise aboard the aircraft carrier, with a difficult decision on whether to remain in the Navy or quit. You will learn a lot concerning the operations on the carrier during peace time as well as the cycles which the personnel on board usually go through. This is certainly interesting for all the technical aspects that Stephen Coonts brings into this book. There are several dangers aboard and one gets a good glimpse of most of them as you’ll be reading the narrative.

2 Responses to “Jake Grafton”

1. John James: 2 years ago

   I’ve always wondered why Mr Coonts has not (yet) written about Jake Grafton’s activities as a Lieutenant Commander and Commander, two naval ranks that would need to be passed on the way to Captain, the rank we see Jake at in “Final Flight”. In answer to Phil’s question about three and four star rank I offer that such persons’ travel about the place with such a retinue of subordinate people they rarely get opportunity to engage in the kind of action that Grafton’s character tends to require.

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2. Phil Lology: 3 years ago

   I started with the Tommy Carmalleni series so I missed Jake Grafton being promoted to a Captain (Colonel). Half way through the Carmalleni series reading The Disciple I’ve got to wonder being in high level world shaking decision making meetings with the President and other major national leaders as only a two star Admiral does Coonts Ever think of promoting Jake to at least a 3 star Admiral or better yet skip him up to four stars? If not, why not??!

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