The Higher They Fly

By Christopher Hodder-Williams

The Jet-Four Statelines Flight Forty-Six, London to New York. A full complement of crew and passengers and something ‘not entirely satisfactory’ with the undercarriage.

In the air, Captain David Crooke, veteran fighter-pilot of World War II, faces a situation becoming increasingly more unstable. He was prepared for trouble with the passengers, but now it appeared a crisis was likely to explode in the crew quarters.

On the ground, Robert Fleming, a discredited pilot, tried to persuade the authorities-and himself-that he knew how to get the Jet-Four down in one piece. When they told Crooke on the radio a few minutes later, he replied: ‘It’s crazy-but then flying is crazy. And as a matter of fact, I’m crazy. We’ll do it.’

Christopher Hodder-Williams was an English writer, mainly of science fiction, but he wrote novels about aviation and espionage as well. Before his career in writing, Hodder-Williams joined the army in 1944, and served in the Middle East and lived in Kenya and New York, later settling in the UK. Many of his books are early examples of what would later be called techno-thrillers. He also worked as a composer and lyricist, and wrote numerous plays for television.