Ernie Gann is well known to lovers of tales of the air. His classic novels "Fate Is the Hunter" and "The High and the Mighty"—and the movies made from them—captured the magic as well as the tragedy of the early days of aviation.

With his new book, "The Aviator," Mr. Gann once again explores this familiar skyscape….

In many ways "The Aviator" is reminiscent of Antoine St. Exupery's "Night Flight"—a wonderfully told story of a mail pilot in Patagonia caught in a storm. Gann cannot match the French lyricism of Exupery, but, in his own way, he does create interesting characters and put them in a suspenseful situation. One only wishes he had developed the characters more fully and painted the story with more detailed brushstrokes.

David F. Salisbury, "Novel from King of Aviation Fiction," in The Christian Science Monitor (reprinted by permission from The...