Punk's War

The Punk Series, Book 1

By: Ward Carroll

Narrated by: Paul Heitsch

Punk’s War reveals the inner workings of the US Navy as only an insider can. An authentic and riveting thriller, it is a highly acclaimed novel of a fighter pilot’s experience in the era just before 9/11. As the US military enters another postconflict period, the themes of leadership during crisis and accomplishing the mission make Punk’s War more relevant than ever.

©2001 Ward Carroll (P)2002 Blackstone Publishing

I really like Ward Carroll's first novel

A little too much politics, but otherwise a great story! Looking forward to parts 2 & 3 of this trilogy.

Absolutely Awesome

Who better to write a Tomcat book than a guy who spent YEARS in one. This is vetter than you expect, especially it you’re a Naval Aviation nerd. This scratches all itches.

Cannot recommend enough.

Would love Ward to narrate the next one.

What a surprise!

Great narration combined with well developed characters made for an enjoyable book that made me laugh. As you audio book folks know, bad narration can ruin a story. This guy changed his voice for each character and nailed it!

Great read for Naval Aviation fans.

As a former teenager of the 80’s this book hits home with all of Naval AirPower “inside baseball” of my youth. A good story and likable characters round it out. I finished it in 3 days. Highly recommend!

An inside view of Naval Aviation

Author Ward Carroll was known to me by his YouTube channel, and I was familiar with his no nonsense approach to telling short tales of his time in the service as well as great interviews he had conducted. What I was NOT prepared for was the seamless way which he was able to tell the story of several "fictional" Naval Aviators in both cold War AND active wartime!

I was prepared for his factual style of storytelling, but what I was NOT prepared for was his ability to make the characters COME ALIVE in the book. Ward's ability to weave the day to day of these Aviators and the HUMAN ELEMENT had me listening NON STOP to all three books in the Punk trilogy.

If you are interested at all in naval aviation and appreciate a good story then this series is well worth the listen.

Thumbs up

Excellent tale with some occasional humor mixed in to go with the story line. Highly recommend.

Tomcats!

This was a great book. I'm not sure if it's because of my love for the F-14, or because I love aviation in general, but I could vividly picture the scenes described in this book. Exhilarating stuff!

Ward "Mooch" Carrol was a Tomcat RIO and runs a great and informative YouTube channel.

on to the next one!

Very entertaining

I thoroughly enjoyed the slice-of-life perspective in this story. I usually don’t listen to these kinds of stories but this one convinced me to give the other 2 stories done by Ward Carroll a chance. Fun read overall.

Excellent glimpse into Naval aviation

Ward balances intricate nerdy details about the F-14 Tomcat and Naval operations as a whole with a cast of multidimensional characters that you love to root for (or against). Doesn't fall into the trap of getting so detailed that it sacrifices the plot as a whole.

The narrator is also worth mentioning, he has a perfect voice for the cast and the subject matter. Sure, there was a mispronunciation here or there, but his tone is absolutely on point.

All in all a fantastic effort, can't wait to listen to the next two novels as soon as they're released.

happy with narrator

I saw another review noting a disappointment in the narrator. I don't share that view, I thought it was excellent. I loved the storyline, it's my first time experiencing this book, and I'm happy with it. Can't wait for book 2.

Thanks Ward. I've been wanting an audiobook for a long time. Two thumbs up.