Firefox Down

"Firefox Down" is a 1983 novel by author Craig Thomas. It is a sequel to his novel "Firefox".

Plot summary

As with the first novel, the book focuses on the efforts of Mitchell Gant to steal the fictional prototype MiG-31 Firefox aircraft. At the climax of Firefox, Gant engaged in combat with a second MiG-31; the second novel begins mere moments later, with Gant discovering that his aircraft sustained damage in the dogfight and is losing fuel rapidly. After a brief engagement with two Soviet MiG-25s, Gant lands the Firefox onto a frozen Finnish lake. Upon fleeing the lake, Gant is captured by the KGB and taken back to the Soviet Union. The West must then mount a desperate attempt to recover the Firefox from the lake, repair it, and return it to flyable condition before Soviet forces can recapture or destroy it. At the same time, Gant attempts to escape the Soviet Union.

Unlike its predecessor, "Firefox Down" did not become a movie. The book, however, depicts the MiG-31 from the movie on the cover and the text of the novel describes it as black, as it was in the movie, rather than the original silver. As well, it was dedicated to Clint Eastwood "the pilot of the Firefox."

The Mitchell Gant character also went on to appear in the novels "Winter Hawk" (1987) and "A Different War" (1997). The characters Dmitri Priabin, Colonel Kontarsky, Vasilly, and Kenneth Aubrey return from "Firefox".