From Publishers Weekly
During his 30 years in the Air Force and Air National Guard, Fleming made a career of descending from the sky to pluck disaster victims from the jaws of floods, storms, sharks and polar white-outs. His gripping memoir vividly illustrates how tenuous the life of a deus ex machina can be. Fleming recalls the tragic and sometimes gruesome deaths of unlucky colleagues who succumbed to the elements and recounts hair-raising missions that often took place at night, flown through hazardous weather (including the vicious nor’easter Sebastian Junger made famous in The Perfect Storm) in fragile helicopters prone to mechanical breakdown. Avoiding gung-ho special-ops bluster, he probes the human flaws and lapses—incompetent, panicky pilots, abusive officers, penny-pinching bureaucrats who refuse to pay for much-needed equipment—that bedevil even elite outposts of the military. Fleming’s sober, straightforward, well-paced style lucidly conveys the lore of helicopter flight and the practical difficulties of rescue missions while letting the heroics speak for themselves. Photos.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
A real gift for adventure readers, this is the autobiography of a veteran U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard rescue helicopter pilot. The title refers to where Fleming spent a good deal of his time, including during the "Perfect Storm" of book and movie fame and on the longest helicopter rescue mission ever flown--to rescue the sole survivor of a freighter lost off Newfoundland. Fleming also survived Vietnam-era helicopter training and some instructors with more attitude than knowledge; in turn, he trained some would-be helicopter pilots who should never have set foot in one of the complicated, fragile, versatile, and now indispensable machines. He served in the Gulf War and, toward the end of his career, organized the complex mission that rescued cancer-stricken Dr. Jerri Nielsen from the South Pole. Now a teacher of college-level leadership courses, Fleming is less gifted as a writer than as a pilot, which, however, doesn't detract much from his exciting recollections. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Adrenaline-charged stories of the author's helicopter rescue career". (Reader's Digest, Editors' Choice, December 2004)

Review
"Adrenaline-charged stories of the author's helicopter rescue career". (Reader's Digest, Editors' Choice, December 2004)

Review
"To risk your life to save a stranger is the highest mark of a human being. Ed Fleming is such a man, and this book is a great read."
—Dr. Jerri Nielsen, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Ice Bound

"Filled with suspense and emotion, Heart of the Storm reads like a thriller — but it's all true. Ed Fleming has led a dramatic and interesting life, and this book portrays it in living color."
—Robert K. Tanenbaum, New York Times bestselling author of Resolved and Absolute Rage

Book Description
Advance praise for Heart of the Storm "Col. Ed Fleming tells a story of true heroism about the constant dangers faced by the pilots and crews who fly the most versatile–and vulnerable–aircraft in the skies today." –John Glenn, former U.S. senator, astronaut, and bestselling author of John Glenn: A Memoir "To risk your life to save a stranger is the highest mark of a human being. Ed Fleming is such a man, and this book is a great read." –Dr. Jerri Nielsen, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Ice Bound "Filled with suspense and emotion, Heart of the Storm reads like a thriller–but it’s all true. Ed Fleming has led a dramatic and interesting life, and this book portrays it in living color." –Robert K. Tanenbaum, New York Times bestselling author of Resolved and Absolute Rage

From the Inside Flap
During the course of a thirty-year career in helicopter rescue, Col. Edward Fleming led scores of high-risk missions, including rescue operations during the Halloween storm of 1991 described in The Perfect Storm and the successful rescue of Dr. Jerri Nielsen from Antarctica. Flying helicopters is more dangerous than flying fixed-wing aircraft–and helicopter rescue is one of the most dangerous occupations on earth. Now, Col. Fleming takes readers along for a bracing ride as he recounts the most thrilling episodes of his long career. With all the nail-biting excitement of a thriller, Heart of the Storm brings to life dramatic jungle rescues in the Philippines, the longest helicopter rescue mission in history to save crew members of a Ukrainian freighter 840 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, harrowing desert operations deep in the Iraqi desert, a nearly disastrous rescue off a listing two-masted schooner during an Atlantic winter storm, and many more. During the course of his career, Fleming was responsible for saving 293 lives, including that of Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the physician and Antarctic researcher who in 1999 was airlifted from the South Pole in time to receive emergency breast cancer treatment. From the South Pole to the South Pacific to the Arabian desert, Heart of the Storm vividly recounts tales of bravery and adventure under the most extreme conditions. Col. Fleming brings us into the eye of the hurricane to experience life as it is lived by a handful of airborne heroes who routinely risk everything to save strangers from the jaws of death. An engrossing chronicle of a fascinating life, Heart of the Storm is a nonstop adrenaline rush and must reading for anyone who enjoys a rousing true-life adventure story.

From the Back Cover
Advance praise for Heart of the Storm "Col. Ed Fleming tells a story of true heroism about the constant dangers faced by the pilots and crews who fly the most versatile–and vulnerable–aircraft in the skies today." –John Glenn, former U.S. senator, astronaut, and bestselling author of John Glenn: A Memoir "To risk your life to save a stranger is the highest mark of a human being. Ed Fleming is such a man, and this book is a great read." –Dr. Jerri Nielsen, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Ice Bound "Filled with suspense and emotion, Heart of the Storm reads like a thriller–but it’s all true. Ed Fleming has led a dramatic and interesting life, and this book portrays it in living color." –Robert K. Tanenbaum, New York Times bestselling author of Resolved and Absolute Rage

About the Author
COL. EDWARD FLEMING served in the Air Force and Air National Guard for three decades as a helicopter rescue pilot. He was Commander of the 106th Operations Group, 4412th Squadron, in the Persian Gulf and Vice Commander of the 109th Airlift Wing.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

During the course of a thirty-year career in helicopter rescue, Col. Edward Fleming led scores of high-risk missions, including rescue operations during the Halloween Storm of 1991 described in The Perfect Storm and the successful rescue of Dr. Jerri Nielsen from Antarctica. Flying helicopters is more dangerous than flying fixed-wing aircraft -- and helicopter rescue is one of the most dangerous occupations on earth. Now, Col. Fleming takes readers along for a bracing ride as he recounts the most thrilling episodes of his long career. With all the nail-biting excitement of a thriller, Heart of the Storm brings to life dramatic jungle rescues in the Philippines, the longest helicopter rescue mission in history to save crew members of a Ukrainian freighter 840 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, harrowing desert operations deep in the Iraqi desert, a nearly disastrous rescue off a listing two-masted schooner during an Atlantic winter storm, and many more. During the course of his career, Fleming was responsible for saving 293 lives, including that of Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the physician and Antarctic researcher who in 1999 was airlifted from the South Pole in time to receive emergency breast cancer treatment. From the South Pole to the South Pacific to the Arabian desert, Heart of the Storm vividly recounts tales of bravery and adventure under the most extreme conditions. Col. Fleming brings us into the eye of the hurricane to experience life as it is lived by a handful of airborne heroes who routinely risk everything to save strangers from the jaws of death. An engrossing chronicle of a fascinating life, Heart of the Storm is a nonstop adrenaline rush and must reading for anyone who enjoys a rousing true-life adventure story.

SYNOPSIS

During the course of a thirty-year career in helicopter rescue, Col. Edward Fleming led scores of high-risk missions, including rescue operations during the Halloween storm of 1991 described in The Perfect Storm and the successful rescue of Dr. Jerri Nielsen from Antarctica. Flying helicopters is more dangerous than flying fixed-wing aircraft–and helicopter rescue is one of the most dangerous occupations on earth. Now, Col. Fleming takes readers along for a bracing ride as he recounts the most thrilling episodes of his long career.