Author: Miguel Vargas-Caba
ISBN: 978-0-595-42558-7
Publisher: iUniverse

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Set in 1976 in the Soviet Union, and almost inside the Arctic Polar Circle, BEAR: Flight to Liberty, is the debut novel of Miguel Vargas-Caba, who devoted more than thirty years to researching and writing this riveting yarn.

Main character Captain Mikhail Makarov, the hero of this book, is a bit of a rogue, as he is not a member of the Communist Party nor is he an enthusiastic proponent of their system. Rather, he is a great admirer of Western democracy, and he dreams of the day when he will defect. Due to his rebellious nature and his refusal to follow the party line, his superiors considered him unreliable and dangerous to keep on as a bomber squadron commander, even though he had been a war hero during World War ll.

Using trumped up charges, Makarov was court- martialed, demoted and transferred from the Soviet Air Force to the Soviet Navy in Kuzomen. Realizing that his career had reached a dead end, and that he would have to spend the rest of his life in this god-forsaken place, he decides he has to flee at any price.

In order to defect to the West and escape the impregnable fortress of the Soviet defense system, Makarov first needed to assemble a competent team of airmen, which he does with not too much difficulty. A more serious and perilous problem is coming up with a viable escape plan. It is here where his audacious team proves to be invaluable with their cunning tactics that include the use of bribery, a daring venture to secure essential jamming equipment, getting people drunk in order to extract vital information, and a number of other hair- raising shenanigans. All of this was accomplished in strict secrecy and under the noses of their superiors, including a known KGB stoolie.

The suspense of this heart-stopping novel arises from the unfolding series of challenges faced by the defecting crew that always appear insurmountable. However, Vargas-Caba's characters never give up easily, and in using a good deal of creativity and ingenuity, they always overcome a multitude of risks, particularly that of being discovered, which would lead no doubt to their death sentences. The culmination of all of this is a novel that hurtles the reader toward a chillingly climax replete with all kinds of sophisticated weaponry.

Although the novel could use a little more polish, particularly in the areas of dialogue, grammar, vocabulary, sentence structuring, and using more showing than telling, it, nonetheless, provides the reader with some great suspense and entertainment. In addition, it is loaded with some interesting information concerning real events of the Soviet armed forces during the Cold War era.

Incidentally, don't be deterred by the Russian expressions and English terms, as well as the acronyms that the author sprinkles throughout the novel; he does provide his readers with a comprehensive glossary. In addition, you will also find a technical appendix pertaining to Russian aircraft.

Miguel Vargas-Caba was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. He is a professional technical-literary translator and a polyglot. He knows how to read Latin and Greek, speaks fluently in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Russian, and not so fluently in German, Swedish, and several other languages. In 1974 he migrated to New York City, where he acquired his higher education in the field of Electromechanical Technology.
BEAR: Flight to Liberty is his first book, which made him the first, and at this moment the only Dominican national to write a book on the subject of the Cold War.

Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With Miguel Vargas-Caba

Click Here To Purchase Bear: Flight to Liberty