The Hunter Killers: The Extraordinary Story of the First Wild Weasels, the Band of Maverick Aviators Who Flew the Most Dangerous Missions of the Vietnam War

“You Gotta Be Shitting Me!” was what one Wild Weasel uttered when he was informed of his mission, dueling the sophisticated SA-2 missile systems that ringed Hanoi so that strike packages could do their work. The Weasels suffered a 50% loss rate from Rolling Thunder through Linebacker II, evolving tactics and technology to stay ahead of the Vietnamese air defense system.

There are some bits that really work, like the opening narration from the NVA/Soviet point of view, on the complex technical process of dialing in an SA-2 (which you can follow along at home). And a few of the combat narratives come together, the frantic efforts to sort out the beeps and buzzes of experimental threat indicator scopes and spot a SAM site before it locks on and kills you. But the rest of the book is an uneasy mash of war stories, a second-hand history of the Vietnam War with a strongly revisionist bent, and not much analysis of the unique mission of the Weasels, or how they did it.

Hampton is pretty good at writing aviation fiction, but he should stay away from history. The best that I can say is that at $2, this is a lot more accessible than Col. Rock’s First In, Last Out, and it is not painfully dry like reading a late 60s electronics manual.