Racing the Dream by M.T. Bass (review)

 

Racing the Dream

by M.T. Bass

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GENRE: Action and Adventure

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

BLURB:

 

“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” ~Mario Andretti

 

Strap down the 5-point harness in the cockpit of a Formula 1 air racing plane and join Hawk as he chases victory! First on their amateur make-shift course over Antelope Acres, then on the re-emerging pylon racing circuit in the early 1960s. And finally, as Hawk battles 7 other top-level pilots at the very first National Air Racing Championship event in Reno!

 

Abandoning the cloth and his African mission, Father Bob returns to his slide rule to design Hawk’s racer. Sparks, his loyal yet surly mechanic, built it and wrenching both on the engine—as well as on Hawk—keeps them at the front of the pack. Home again in Los Angeles from behind the stick of a T-6 Texan as a mercenary in the Congo civil war, air racing is a new aviation adventure for Hawk. Ride along as he tangles with fellow pilots in “uncooperative formation flying” at two-hundred miles per hour a mere fifty feet off the ground!

 

And then one day cruising home to Van Nuys airport, Hawk spies Allison, a beach-blonde surfer girl, insanely wing walking on the top wing of a Stearman PT-17 bi-plane. He quickly sets his sights on her.

 

Fly low…Fly fast…and Turn Left…

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Excerpt:

 

Chapter 8 — The Albatross Hotel

 

 

Allison kicked off her shoes and dropped them in the car. I stripped off my jacket and left it, then we wound our way around the Albatross to the waterfront where she skipped ahead and waded into the surf.

 

Staring out to sea, she took a deep breath. “You’ve got to love it. It’s the law.”

 

“Well, I’m kind of a desperado.”

 

Allison spun around to kick water at me, then started walking north. 

 

I followed along just outside the retreating waves.

 

“Sure, sure—a desperado. Well, don’t make me walk out here all by myself.”

 

“But—”

 

“But nothing.”

 

So I slipped off my shoes and socks, then rolled up my pants legs. She didn’t stop. “Hey, wait for me.”

 

Allison ran ahead, stopped, then turned to face me.

 

“I’m beginning to think that you’re the one who’s an outlaw,” I said walking up to her. “A real Black Rebel.”

 

“Maybe…”

 

“So, what are you rebelling against?” I asked.

 

“Whadda ya got?”

 

I looked her in the eyes and smiled.

 

“Well, then, don’t wait too long.”

 

I leaned in and we kissed, softly. Then more passionately as I took her in my arms.

 

“Mmmm…” she moaned sweetly, then put her head against my chest. “Come on.”

 

She took my hand and we walked north through the moonlit surf.

 

I watched her looking out to sea. “What are you doing?”

 

“Oh, nothing,” she sighed. “Just counting waves.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Force of habit. It’s what you do in the lineup.”

 

“The lineup?” I asked.

 

“Uh-huh. When you’re surfing.”

 

“Oh, no. Don’t tell me you’re a surfer girl.”

 

Allison began to sing The Beach Boys song: “Do you love me, do you, surfer girl? Surfer girl surfer girl.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

I stopped walking, but she pulled me along. “Everything’s a song.”

 

“Aye-Yi-Yi,” I moaned. 

 

“And, you know, it does make sense—considering my job and all.”

 

I thought about it a bit. “Yeah…I suppose. A surfboard is kind of like a wing. And how long have you been doing that?”

 

“Before I started flying. I learned in Hawaii when Dad was based at Hickam. I think I might have been twelve. And, of course, there are great waves up north when I went to Stanford. It gets in your blood. You’re not fighting gravity, you know? You are riding a wall of green that some storm has thrown at you from way out at sea. And some of them get pretty big and mean and, man, you are racing for your life with the wind blasting in your face as the wave crests over your head. You’re scared, but your juices are flowing like crazy, too.”

 

“Sounds wild.”

 

“Yeah. Yeah, it is. Some say it’s better than sex.”

 

“You?”

 

She smiled at me. “Haven’t decided, yet.”

 

“Right…and you surf here?”

 

“Up north past the Malibu pier, at Surf Rider Beach. And Zuma Beach and County Line.”

 

“Well, what do you know: flying, philosophy, and surfing.”

 

“I do lead a full life.”

 

I looked out at the waves, then back at her. “So you do.”

 

We walked another half-mile north, then turned back south towards the Albatross, got in the car, and drove back to Hollywood.

 

When I walked her to her apartment door, we kissed again.

 

“Don’t wait so long to call, again,” Allison said as she slipped inside. Before she closed the door, she looked back at me. “Who knows, one of these days you just might get lucky.”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Review:

We’re thrown right into the action and get a feel for what it’s like to fly a plane. Readers get an inside view into flight culture and the people who live this life. The book is filled with realistic airplane talk and dialogue that fits the times. The story feels vintage.

 

Scotty, a pilot, starts dating Alison, and they work well together. The supporting characters complement them and the story in a way that makes the scenes comes to life. 

 

The characters have things to overcome, but it’s not a high-tension novel. It’s more of appreciating what it would be like to be in a certain time and place, with a certain crowd. Be prepared to enjoy a lot of flight talk and action.

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

M.T. Bass is a scribbler of fiction who holds fast to the notion that while victors may get to write history, novelists get to write/right reality. He lives, writes, flies and makes music in Mudcat Falls, USA.

Born in Athens, Ohio, M.T. Bass grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, majoring in English and Philosophy, then worked in the private sector (where they expect “results”) mainly in the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing market. He is the author of twelve novels, two novellas, and a book of verse. His writing spans various genres, including Mystery, Adventure, Romance, Black Comedy and TechnoThrillers. A Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor, airplanes and pilots are featured in many of his stories. Bass currently lives on the shores of Lake Erie near Lorain, Ohio.

 

M.T. Bass Author Links

Website:  https://www.mtbass.net

Blog:  https://www.owl-works.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/owlworks/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Owlworks

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/author/mtbass

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5270962.M_T_Bass

 

 

Racing the Dream Purchase Links

Author Web Site Info Page: https://mtbassauthor.wordpress.com/racing-the-dream-white-hawk-aviation-stories-3/

Amazon (Kindle Unlimited):  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CCSVMSQV 

 

Stories by M.T. Bass

 

White Hawk Aviation Adventure Stories

My Brother's Keeper

Jungleland

Racing the Dream

 

***~~~***

 

Murder by Munchausen Sci-Fi Thriller Series

Murder by Munchausen

The Darknet

The Invisible Mind

Motherless Children

Murder by Munchausen Trilogy: Books 1-3

 

***~~~***

 

Article 15

Somethin' for Nothin'

In the Black

Crossroads

Lodging

Untethered

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

 

M.T. Bass will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 Enter here:

 

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4687

Follow the tour:

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2023/08/review-tour-racing-dream-by-mt-bass.html