Brett Arquette

If you are reading this, then you are either reminding yourself what happened in the first book of the Hail series (Hail Storm) or you skipped the first book and are shamefully reading the second book first.  

​

In Hail Storm, readers are introduced to many characters affected by a terrorist act. The event is referred to as The Five which occurred two years earlier. Why is it called The Five? In five different countries, at five-minute intervals, five terrorist organizations shot down five commercial aircraft using five shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles. The combined death toll was 1716. Many families were impacted. Children were left without parents and left to fend for themselves. Marshall Hail lost his wife and two young children. In addition to a strong desire to avenge his family’s deaths, he also wanted to help those who became orphaned have a chance at a better life. Hail became their legal guardian. On his cargo ships, he provides them with both a high school and college education, jobs, and the opportunity to have friends who understand their plight.

​

Hail Industries, in a nutshell, refines nuclear waste to be burned in his traveling wave reactors they manufacture. They sell and install those reactors in power-challenged countries. His crew of young adults have learned how to remotely fly both drones and aircraft. Some the crew are responsible for building the drones. Some are surveillance drones; some have the capability to fire weaponry at targets. All drones within the books are named after an 80s band. It is amazing how they have been fashioned to mimic stones, sticks, and birds. There are pick-up and delivery drones. From Hail Storm, “The term micro-hub didn’t have much to do with the size of the drones. It was nomenclature Hail’s crew used to refer to a drone’s heritage. The main drone was Foghat, which dropped off the hub called Led Zeppelin or its mini drone. The next group of hubs that were released by Led Zeppelin were referred to as micro-hubs. If those hubs parented more hubs, then those would be called nano-hubs and so on until pico had been used. Hail’s drone laboratories had never nested drones deeper than pico, so there was no need for any further extended classification.” The drones can stream audio, video as long as there is enough battery and good signal. To preserve battery life, drones can be put in sleep mode. They can be charged on his other ships. To really understand the technology, I would advise reading Hail Storm. 

​

What makes drones difficult? Flying with night vision because everything is green, not being seen when flying from one location to another, being very small makes it more difficult to fly. Certainly, weather plays a factor as does curious birds. Because the technology is so advanced, Hail insists no evidence is left behind. If, for example, a drone was set to insert cyanide into orange juice (as was the case in N. Korea), but a bird attacked the drone, rendering it useless, those within the command center would self-destruct the half a million-dollar drone.

​

The command center is a replica of the starship Enterprise, right down to Captain Kirk’s chair. Around the perimeter of the room are huge 80-inch monitors used to show the drones activity and what they are seeing. Each chair also has flight controls, foot controls, and monitors on each armrest.

​

Just so you don’t think Marshall Hail has captured orphaned young adults and enslaved them, his ship (Hail Nucleus) and all other ships have identical amenities including weight gyms, basketball courts, shops they also work at in order to learn skills needed off the ship paid by Hail dollars in which they can purchase goods. In addition, there are restaurants (Asian, French, American, and Italian) open 24/7 to make his crew anything they want. They have simulators to practice flying, driving, etc. My favorite is the movie theatre with popcorn and candy with movies and Broadway shows. Why? The ports they stop at are often in countries very poor, and thus dangerous. They live on the ship and Hail knows happy employees are productive employees. He often compares it to the Google concept.

​

Marshall respects all his employees and considers them his family. After all, they have shared a devastating experience.

I could elaborate on missions, major players in D.C., but I am not going to. After collecting the bounty on Kim Young Chang, those in D.C. are highly skeptical of his organization and they send in vivacious, beautiful Kara Ramey to monitor, observe, and provide mission summaries. An assignment is given to Hail. Kara and Hail have trust issues mainly because she is CIA and he is used to being in control. He also wants to kill a major arms dealer; however, she wants him alive as a conduit of information, especially to find out which terrorist organization shot down her family. There is a chemistry between them which they do not act upon instead concentrating on the mission. Those in D.C. decide to establish a backup plan, just in case his “flying contraptions” cannot blow up the missiles in a warehouse. He is warned of this by Trevor Rodgers, a lifelong friend within the FBI. However, Kara knows of the plan and does not tell her. Hail and his team are victorious, but the pilot to finish the job does not scrub the job, instead continuing on his mission who also wants to avenge his twin brother’s death (and really does not care to live). Two Chengdu J-20s try to shoot him out of the sky. Do they succeed? Does Hail kick Kara off the boat due to her betrayal? Does the White House provide Hail further assignments? I guess you will have to read on….

​

Marshall Hail: Owner of Hail Industries, Recipient of Nobel Prize in physics

Gage Renner: Aeronautics engineer, Marshall Hail’s former roommate at MIT

Pierce Mercier: Specializes in flora, meteorology, animals, and wet craft.

Kara Ramey: CIA operative aboard Hail Nucleus overseeing the mission in N. Korea

Jarrett Pepper: Kara Ramey’s handler within the CIA

Trevor Rodgers: Lifelong friend of Hail; FBI agent

Gen. Quentin Ford: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Lt. Commander Nolan: F-35 jet pilot tasked to ensure missiles are destroyed in N. Korea

Joanna Weston: United States President

Eric Spearman: Director of National Intelligence