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 and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars as Gant. A bestseller, the book had 33 printings in the 17 years following its publication, and has been credited with starting the "techno-thriller" genre.
Thomas researched the novel's subject with help from former Royal Air Force friends. 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 as Thomas was finishing the novel, and is referenced in the story. The novel was followed by a sequel, Firefox Down, in 1983.