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3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 BOXCAR DOWN Feb 21, 2006
By Larry E. Fletcher
"C-119 Pilot"
Today, Airborne Radio Operators are a thing of the past in the U.S. Air Force but Charles L. Lunsford's action-packed "Boxcar Down" brings these unsung heros back to life during the Cold War Era. In Tom Clancy style, Lundsford hooks the reader early on and does not let go. I could not stop reading the book once I started.
Lundford's remarkable cast of characters are unforgettable. I could see the hidden beauty of Andrianna (Dracula) and hear the deep voice of Mustafa. I could sense Airman Jeem Vilson's feelings of helplessness and fear while trying to evade and escape from a hostile country. Nobody matches the cunning resourcefulness of Albanian partisans Stavro and Mari.
BOXCAR DOWN is uniquely written in a way only Lundsford could accomplish. His knowledge and experience flying C-119 cargo/troop carriers is quiet evident throughout the book. I highly recommend this novel not only for military readers but for anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, suspense-filled story.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Boxcar Down Feb 07, 2006
By Charles L. Lunsford
"Chuckradioop"
This is Charles's second book yet while reading it I felt he's been writing all his life. The feeling is really not far from the truth. The author was a wireless operator aboard the forgotten icon of military transport planes, the C-119, the forerunner of the well known C-130. So where does the writing come in? Wireless communications up to the 2nd World War including shortly after was still a Morse code activity, hence the requirement for a radio operator crew member. The introduction of voice communications put an end to this seat in the cockpit. Charles was a member of a close fraternity that spent most of his life writing in code. This comes through in his latest book.
The book is not really about aviation, however I am convinced that many an aviator will enjoy it. It is more about human nature pressed into the mold of military and international politics. Within the witches brew of military rules and regulations you often find a few that break out because opportunity and situation dictates it.
Boxcar Down is the story of a chain of events bringing two worlds together into a dicey situation. This is not a spy thriller, although it borders on it very well, much in the light of John le Carre's book "The Spy that Came in From the Cold." In essence it's a cold war situation where a plane errantly flies into restricted territory whereby blind procedure causes it to be shot down. The lone survivor trapped behind hostile borders, attempts to find his way back into friendly territory. It is here where the tension begins; Charles does a splendid job of increasing that tension to a screaming end. His painting of the characters involved will indelibly burn them into your mind making you wish the book would go on longer despite it being over six hundred pages.
Charles has become a master of mixing the human element into a potentially dangerous international incident. His main character Wilson, gets involved with the people who help him escape, turning the whole incident into a family of friends deciding to use the situation to flee from an oppressive regime. Each member of that family contributing dramatically their experience in assisting the ultimate escape. I use the word family because only a family could be so dedicated, "family" helps to illustrate the concept. Towards the end, four countries are involved in a tinderbox of negotiations. What Charles brings to the fore is the camaraderie among professionals and the respect this brings. It is during such situations as described where the phrase is so aptly applied, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going".
Although the book is fiction many of the characters used in the book are real life people with whom Charles has served in the US Air Force. This makes the book so vividly real as the traits of these people creep into your mind. The aviation part of the book is well described towards the end making any pilot sit on the edge of his seat. Woven masterly into the background of the story is the C-119 that in a way becomes alive again. It is a tribute to this plane and its crews, yet not forcing you to accept this. All in all a very tastefully written book which I classify into realms of both aviation and historical thriller. A novel well worth your time, keeping you wondering how you would do it.
Charles's first book: Departure Message
Buy the Boxcar. I step back and wait in keen anticipation for Lunsford's next novel.
James Van Etten
Editor
London Morning Paper and The Flight Times
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Wonderful book, Great read Feb 19, 2009
By Sandra E. Graham
Boxcar Down is one of the most exiting and hard-to-put-down novels I have had the honor to read in a very long time. It seems that many writers--especially the better known authors--have begun to put out books for the money, with little to no interest in quality work. Just something to fill the pages, allowing their name to get the book sold to an unsuspecting public. Not so Boxcar Down. This is one book that will hold your interest from the very beginning to the edge-of-your-chair ending.
Lunsford's first book--Departure Message--is an informational prelude (very interesting information, I might add) to his Boxcar Down. It helps you to understand what makes the young radio operators of the early fifties USAF tick.
In Boxcar Down you will go along for the ride as young Jimmy Wilson, radio operator for USAF 37844, tries in vain to correct the obnoxious navigator who insists on following his wrongfully plotted course. A course that sets the stage for the disastrous flight of an American C-119--the infamous `flying box car.'
Very shortly into the flight, the C-119, its crew, and a courier carrying an attaché containing some type of top-secret files are hopelessly lost over the communist country of Albania. Within minutes their plane is locked on by a Russian surface-to-air weapon that has orders to shoot down any unknown aircraft flying over their territory.
At the first realization that their aircraft has been hit and most certainly going down behind unfriendly borders, young Jimmy scurries to help the other crew members prepare for the inevitable crash of their crippled plane. You can feel the terrible terror that all these men feel as they fight the out-of-control aircraft as it continuously loses altitude.
Will any of the men survive the crash? And if so, will they manage to evade the communist Albanians and Russians that are surely watching and waiting as the aircraft plummets to the rugged terrain below? At the command of the pilot to "Bail Out!" Jim fights against an enormous vacuum-like force to get himself into the laundry chute that would allow him to drop free of the dying plane and parachute to possible safety--praying that the others would make it out too.
As he slowly floated down, Jim looked around him for other parachutes but saw none.
In the distance he witnessed the fiery explosion of what had been USAF 3-7844, and the great flying boxcar was down. His heart was in his throat as he thought about his fellow crewmen and prayed they had all gotten out--then he saw it: another parachute already dropping into the trees below him.
If you enjoy the reading excitement of adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and danger with a spattering of humor and romance, Boxcar Down, has it all. Well written with lovable and realistic characters, this book will win your heart and fill your senses with a message emanating from the brave young men of a time and occupation all but forgotten.
A `must read' from every sense of the word.
Reviewer: Sandra E. Graham, author Amos Jakey and Nicolina Published by American Book Publishing. Visit my website: http://www.sandragraham-articles-books.com to read more about my writing and other book reviews I have written.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
by Mildred Joanne Branson Smith "author of I Lived In The Rico Depot" Aug 20, 2008
By Mildred Joanne Branson Smith
Boxcar Down by Charles Lunsford is a story well told. It is so well written that when the book arrived; I never put it down, not until I finished reading the entire book. I had intended to read several chapters. I never closed the book and had to drag myself to work the following morning.
Airman Second Class Jim Wilson is assigned a special flight. The cargo is a courier as the only passinger. This special courier had a briefcase hooked to his wrist.
Chuck Lunsford builds intrigue right from the start. Flying around the Mediterranean in the "Twin Fan Spam Can' was a batch of officers new to this squad and detail. Only problem Wilson could see, he and this new set of officers just didn't click.
Wilson belonged to a unique club. He was an Morris Code radio operator who worked in the cramped confines of his radio desk. Jim knew he was good; in fact, he knew he was the best damn radio operator in the world.
The flight takes off to a secret destination. The new pilot and aircraft commander nor the new navigator wouldn't take advice from anyone. Even with the navigator aboard, habit kicked in and Wilson began to do his dead-reckoning. Much like working a cross word puzzle, finding his bearings and plotting the planes' positon by contacting the ground stations Wilson could plot location of the plane.
No doubt about it, they were off course. This is where the story brings in the human element and one is swept into the character of Wilson. We have all worked with situations where an individual is the smartest on the the planet. This was the case with the pilot. He wouldn't listen and the navigator was green to the gills.
Drifting over hostile territory, Albania, the plane is shot down. The only members of the flight to excape the plane were Wilson and the courier who dies of his injuries.
Wilson has to get the dispatch and himself out of Albania before the local authorities or the Russian Army find him.
Lunsford transports the reader into a thrilling tell as the Albanian and Russian persons that are serving their country work to find the downed airman.
The reader is swept into the intrigue and cunning as Wilson makes his way to Greece and safety.
I give this a five star rating. A novel that I truly enjoyed.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 A wonderful novel, told in bright terms Dec 29, 2005
By James W. Anderson
If you like novels couched in the intrigue of the cold war in Europe you will find this very exciting. How he gets into that problem and how he gets out provides a particularly entrhalling text. I really like this type of nove.
Seems like one always wonders what happens next. Like we all do, we try to anticipate and hope that the next turn goes both his and our way. The book is something like a mystery story with the expected twists and turns but with a lot more. It gives one a chance to assimilate the advance of the story without the confusion, because of too many sub plots.
Mr. Lunsford's style of writing is very appealing to me. Somewhat like the old Mike Hammer novels. The Bob Burton Bounty Hunter books. Speculation is not there when he says something. He just spits it out. Some vernacular, colorful words and such.
You will not mistake his meaning.
If you don't like this book you don't like chicken soup.
A new fan of this gentleman.
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