"The four women in the group had known that they were perceived as weak links, and they were determined to prove their detractors wrong,"- David Michaels. A young female pilot, Jenna Munrough, must prove herself as a successful fighter pilot. David Michaels HAWX entertained me with an excellent, action packed adventure.
To start with, the Air Force gender role for pilots has traditionally been male pilots. In the beginning of the book, David Michaels wrote "No woman who had sat in this room a week ago was more determined to triumph than Lieutenant Jenna Munrough." As being seen as a weak link, Jenna wanted to prove that a woman can be as good as of a pilot just as well as any male pilot could be. She wanted the Air Force and other soldiers to realize that a pilot does not have to be a male gender role.
Continuing, women tend to have more administrative jobs in the military, rather than fighting in combat. David wrote in the middle of the book that Jenna is an "administrative liaison...I spend a lot of time schmoozing with customers." Jenna took a job with a PMC, a private military contractor, and instead of flying, she became an administrator for customers. While she performed her job well, she was not piloting a fighter aircraft, which meant that she could not fulfill her overall goal. Jenna really wanted to be back in an airplane instead of doing administrative jobs for a PMC.
Finally, David makes you believe in Jenna's ability to be a great pilot. Towards the end of the book, Michaels wrote that Jenna asserted "Trust me, you have better things to do with your life than to be sitting around in a cell waiting to be executed for treason." Over time, she became confident in her career as a pilot. When someone was going to assassinate the president, she demanded a guard in the Air Force base to allow her to use an F-16. She warned him that if he didn't let her take a plane, then he would go to prison for treason. The person that was about to kill the president was flying an aircraft, and Jenna needed a plane to take out the killer, before he reached the president.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in action packed books. HAWX was a very well written story that is easy to get into and enjoy.
