Jump Seven

Jump Seven is a classic story of a small band of determined warriors overcoming a powerful and evil force told through the lens of current world affairs – a global struggle for control of oil, instability and upheaval in Africa, tension and intrigue between China and the West. The story traces the rapid trajectory of an RAF Harrier squadron commander and his small group of fighter pilots from around the world as they are inserted into the middle of a global conflict. They are asked to give up their families and services to form a brand new air force and prevent a small African country being overwhelmed by powerful enemy. The struggle that ensues will change their lives and the balance of power in Africa. The preparation, training, planning and intense action of modern air combat are woven throughout in incredible detail, revealing the power of the amazing Harrier jump-jet in a way never seen before.

This story lies in the legend that a small band of anti-heroes overcomes big and evil. The author was raised on Robin Hood; Kurosawa’s brilliant Seven Samurai which was copied by John Sturgess in the outrageously anti-genre Magnificent Seven staffed by a gang of grimy anti-hero misfits. And then nothing!

 What if the warriors, samurai and gunslingers were fighter pilots? What if the village they were to protect from the bandits was a tiny country which had just discovered huge oil reserves?  What if Kurosawa’s and Sturgess’ bandits were an aggressive neighbor lead by a dictator who had built an army and air force out of proportion to the region?

The anti-hero this story is a late-thirties Royal Air Force squadron commander and family man. His surprise assignment from the President of The Gambia is to form an air force from scratch in the four months it will take for Guinea to mount an armored assault on the newly identified oil find. From a command position in a well-oiled machine, he now is both commander and machine - and overwhelmed. Little is known or told about the capabilities of the Harrier; this amazing war machine and those who fly and support them. Known as ‘Jump-jets’ for an ability to both hover and perform like a modern jet fighter, the Harrier has a universal mystique. This story takes the reader into the cockpit and decisions of a modern fighter pilot in combat. Selection of pilots includes a fatal accident and natural selection of those suited to the mission. Our anti-hero is befriended by an elder statesman who has returned to his birth place from an international career. Through pre-colonial tribal loyalties, intelligence is gathered and an armored advance is anticipated and then stopped in a classic tactical air warfare campaign. Disaster follows as the ensuing peace falls to the jeopardy of rampaging militias. Our anti-hero is thrust into diplomatic and military actions to rescue the neighboring country from anarchy. Horrifically, the geology which forecast vast oil reserves is found to be imperfect and the entire conflict involving devastation and loss of life is without purpose.

The story ends as it began with family.

help book over the last two decades. He spent two years converting this laborious capability into spirited fiction writing with Gotham Writers Workshop and gained the coveted Fiction Writing Certification in 2008.

Stu strives to invigorate and excite, arouse and challenge; he follows the discipline of Ordinary World and Special World so ably expressed by Chris Vogler and Joseph Campbell for it is his belief that most stories have already been told and our task is to bring them up to date. This novel is an unashamed and admiring tribute to the Robin Hood legend seen in Kurosawa’s brilliant Seven Samurai and copied by John Sturgess in the outrageously anti-genre Magnificent Seven. My men from Sherwood Forest have become fighter pilots.

Stu and his wife live in Western New York.