Firefox (novel)
First edition cover | |
| Author | Craig Thomas |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Techno-thriller |
| Publisher | Michael Joseph (UK) & Holt, Rinehart and Winston (USA) |
Publication date | 8 August 1977 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 0-03-020791-6 (first edition, hardback) & ISBN 0-7181-1570-8 (UK hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 2966300 |
| 823/.9/14 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.T4543 Fi3 PR6070.H56 |
| Followed by | Firefox Down |
Firefox is a thriller novel by British novelist Craig Thomas, published in 1977. Set amid the Cold War, the plot recounts an attempt by the CIA and MI6 to steal a highly advanced Soviet fighter aircraft. The lead character, Mitchell Gant, is an American fighter pilot and Vietnam veteran turned spy. The book was made into a 1982 film adaptation produced, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood. A bestseller, the book had 33 printings in the 17 years following its publication, and has been credited with starting the "techno-thriller" genre.
Friends from Royal Air Force backgrounds helped Thomas research the novel's subject. Despite its level of detail, it took only four and a half months to complete. Sphere Books printed a 250,000-copy paperback edition, leveraging the recent 1976 defection of Viktor Belenko, a Soviet Air Defence pilot who flew his MiG-25 Foxbat to Japan and gained asylum in the United States. Belenko's defection occurred just before Thomas finished the novel, and is referenced in the story. Firefox was followed by a sequel, Firefox Down, in 1983.