A pair of ferocious forest fires rages out of control, threatening to
destroy two American national parks and incinerate thousands of homes
and park buildings. As the desperate battle to squelch the global
warming-induced fires before they "blow up" reaches a fever-pitch, a
mysterious string of violent airborne accidents among the air tanker
fleet produces a mounting body count. The air tankers--the old aircraft
used by pilots to bomb the fires with fire retardant slurry--have been
literally falling apart in midair. Clearly not designed for such
punishing high-stakes flying, the flying museum pieces should have been
grounded years ago.
Veteran pilot Clark Maxwell thought his fire bombing days were well
behind him. But when Jerry Stein, Maxwell's friend and air tanker
fleet-owner, calls at the height of the fire season to beg him to
reenter the war, he doesn't hesitate. As the wildfires spread, whipped
by massive winds and the federal forces arrayed against the fires reach
their limits, hysteria and potential evacuation threatens the local
population. In the middle of this crisis, Clark Maxwell becomes
convinced that a sinister cover-up is behind the rash of horrific air
disasters. As he races to unravel a very real mystery and prevent a
natural disaster of massive proportions, Maxwell's probe reaches the
upper levels of government agencies charged with mounting the aerial
fire fighting effort--a move that for wholly unexpected reasons just may
cost him his life.
