Author of "The High and the Mighty" and other bestsellers, Gann falls short of expectations in ["The Aviator."] It is gripping where it focuses on flying in its infancy during the 1920s and on pioneers who took the wild risks that made aviation a reality, but it only occasionally succeeds as an adventure tale. In 1928, pilot Jerry takes off northward, carrying the mail and a passenger, 11-year-old Heather. Suddenly, the plane falters and Jerry crashes into mountainous terrain. Both survive but Heather is badly injured, and here is where the story becomes steadily more difficult to accept. Heather is unbelievably precocious and self-sacrificing during the agonizing days when hopes of rescue dim; Jerry is slightly more credible but the narrative, especially when it describes the relationship between man and child, exudes artificiality.

"Fiction: 'The Aviator'," in Publishers Weekly (reprinted from the January 23, 1981 issue of Publishers Weekly, published by...