Flight 685 is Overdue by Edward Moore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a very well written book. The plotting is uneven and there’s a bit much background of many characters. The cover is just awful, though not unusual for an Ace book. Considering what is inside, the cover is unfortunate.

Inside is a well thought out air disaster involving the technical aspects of various airports, air traffic control, the space program, etc. Moore packs every military air aspect in. These parts, that make up a great deal of the book, are extremely well done. I’ll write more in the Florida section below.

It’s important to realize this book was written before Arthur Hailey’s ‘Airport’. There are many similarities in characters, tone and action. Almost have to sonder if Hailey didn’t get the idea from this book.

This is overall a terrifying book with lots of gun play and violence. The writing is far more likely to be found today than 1960. Possibly why it became an Ace book.

All of the characters are well, if not over, defined. For a short book, Moore should of cut back on exploring so many lives.

The troubles occur with the interaction of some of the characters. Though Moore knows his characters, he seems less adept of having them come together. There are a number of awkward scenes written where it seems Moore wasn’t sure how to best get the scene written.

The last 5th of the book definitely seems rushed. Too much happens with little written of outcomes. Thus leaving the reader with loose ends.

The Florida part: Moore obviously knows Florida air and space bases. He also knows how they interact and react to situations. His details here are very well written and accurate. Love his indication of bases that readers even in 1960 wouldn’t have known mush or anything of. At one point McCoy is written offhandedly but in the correct context. Only once. McCoy Air Base is basically where the Orlando International Airport is not. The scenes of Cape Canaveral are also very impressive involving missile launches.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 6 out of ten points.

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