The Intruders is a 1994 novel by

Stephen Coonts Stephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American spy thriller and suspense novelist. Early life, education, and military career Stephen Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal mining town. Following high school graduation, h ...

and is a sequel to his 1986 novel

Flight of the Intruder ''Flight of the Intruder'' is a 1991 war film directed by John Milius, and starring Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, and Brad Johnson. It is based on the novel of the same name by former Grumman A-6 Intruder pilot Stephen Coonts. The film received n ...

Plot

After two combat cruises, Grafton is now a flight instructor on a naval base. During a visit to his girlfriend Callie, he has an argument with her father, who's anti-war. Distraught, Grafton is later involved in a bar brawl with another man who's anti-war. His shore duty is cut short and he is sent on another cruise to help train a USMC A-6 squadron. Grafton witnesses accident by accident, some with fatal results. A faulty arresting cable, an in-flight fire, landing at night in bad weather, a cold shot, and lightning strike his aircraft. Grafton is thinking about quitting the Navy but eventually makes up his mind to stay. The book ends when Grafton is shot down by a weapon smuggler and is captured. He and his BN survive, albeit injured and escape from their captor.

Characters

*Lt. Jake “Cool Hand” Grafton – Naval aviator, protagonist. *Capt. Clarence Odysseus “Flap” Le Beau – Grafton's Bombardier/Navigator, an ex-Marine Recon Officer. *“Real McCoy” – Navy Landing signal officer, also A-6 pilot. *Callie McKenzie – Grafton’s girlfriend. Repeated character.

Aircraft appearing/mentioned

*The Grumman A-6 Intruder. A two-man, twin-engine bomber flown from aircraft carriers. *The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. A two-man, twin-engine fighter bomber flown from aircraft carriers. *The

LTV A-7 Corsair II The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was ...

one-man, carrier-borne, light bomber. *The

North American A-5 Vigilante The North American A-5 Vigilante was an American carrier-based supersonic bomber designed and built by North American Aviation (NAA) for the United States Navy. Prior to 1962 unification of Navy and Air Force designations, it was designated t ...

. A two-man, twin-engine, carrier-borne, reconnaissance aircraft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Intruders American thriller novels Techno-thriller novels Novels by Stephen Coonts Aviation novels