Book Review: The Hunters

The Hunters, written by James Salter, is a gritty tale of Korean War pilots attempting to become "aces" by felling five enemy MiGs.  The story is centered around Captain Cleve Connell and his fighter wing.  Within the ranks there are bitter rivalries and the best of friends, but one prevailing theme is wingmanship. 

The writing itself was juvenile at times and powerful yet simple in others.  Every once in a while, Salter came through with a real gem of a thought, though the rest of the novel seemed to drag its feet from plot point to plot point.  Thinking of the novel in retrospect, however, those key moments that were done well are the ones best remembered.  Luckily, the novel is short enough that it didn't feel as though I was wasting my time because the overarching plot was actually interesting.

The book is very loosely based on Salter's time in the Korean War which shows through with his thorough insight into what it was like to be a fighter pilot in the fifties.  Despite parts that dragged and sporadic infantile sentence structure, I would recommend this book to those that are interested in Air Force history or aviation.  I would not recommend this book to those who cherish good storytelling in addition to a good story.  Sometimes, it's all in how it's said.

Bookophile Rating: Average (For poor sentence structure and story flow, but redeeming qualities in overall plot and quaint fifties nuances).