"I think with a name like Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr., some of my life's direction was settled from the start," says NASA's longtime flight director in this compelling autobiography. Like the discoverer of America, the Houston author also explored uncharted territory, and his last name suggests not only the aircraft and spacecraft he helped design and oversee but also the skill and expertise that made him a space-race player. Kraft retells many heart-stopping stories, including the near-fatal return of Apollo 13. But what really ignites Flight: My Life in Mission Control is the author's detailed recall of the early days of missile science and aerospace research, when Kraft and his colleagues forged ahead "with not much more than a cocky self-confidence, tinged with occasional moments of total bewilderment." Kraft's style reveals the no-bullshit bluntness that marked his tenure; for example, he remembers John Glenn as "a damn upstart Marine major." For non-engineers, there are a few minor stumbling blocks, but overall, Flight offers a quick time-trip back to an era when America soared. Reviewed by Anne Dingus
Flash back to a grisly double-homicide—father and daughter slain aboard a yacht in California. Freeze the image of the teenage son who survived, only to be murdered in his hospital bed. Fast-forward ten years to detective Frank Harriman as he faces the awful possibility that the case might have wrongly vilified a hero-cop and left a monster free. That's the intriguing setup in Flight: A Novel of Suspense, by Houston native Jan Burke. In this follow-up to her seventh Irene Kelly mystery Bones, Burke relegates Kelly to second-banana status and awards the lead to hard-nosed hubby Harriman. The cozy couple's Nick and Nora Charles routine provides some relief to a police procedural whose meticulous plotting leaves little room for serendipity. Burke's penchant for detail and back story makes for a rich canvas, but sometimes she obsesses when she should just get on with the business at hand. Still, Flight is a note-perfect lesson in building a suspense novel, 2001 edition. It might lack freewheeling charm, but it's tough and honest—and that's saying something these days. Reviewed by Mike Shea
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