Fly Girl by Bill Hellman is a perfect read for fans of military thrillers. Rawley West developed a strong sense of secrecy from being born to a father who works in a government agency, the kind of girl who learns to ride a horse and shoot from an early age. Her father, a fighter in the US Navy, instills in her a passion for flying, so after college, she decides to follow in her father’s footsteps. She responds to an ad and gets hired for a job flying for the CIA in Afghanistan. On the job, she discovers people she has known and to her utter surprise, her father is her new boss. But the most shocking discovery is that the boyfriend who disappeared mysteriously also works for the CIA and now, she is partnered with him to hunt a deadly weapon linked to the Vietnam War and stop a terrorist attack on US soil.  

Bill Hellman crafts a book in which adventure and secrecy take a prominent place in the story, and that fuels the mystery and suspense that augment the entertainment. Rawley is a wonderfully crafted female protagonist, a character that has almost forgotten about love and that has no time for men. Rediscovering that the boyfriend who left her is actually alive and working for a covert government mission is a strong plot point. As she and the boyfriend travel from one continent to another pursuing leads and getting through difficult situations, readers are keen to find out what becomes of the pair. Themes of terrorism, love, and family are ingeniously written. Hellman’s work is hugely imaginative without losing the realism that makes for a delightful reading experience. The atmospheric writing melds with the author’s clever plotting to deliver a winner for fans of military thrillers and novels pulsating with action. The surprises abound and the unpredictability in the plot makes Fly Girl one that is hard to put down.