Air Pirate

The skies have become the newest frontier of civilization-and the newest hunting ground for crime.

In a near-future Britain transformed by aviation, enormous transatlantic airliners carry passengers across the ocean while the newly established Air Police guard the world's aerial routes. When a mysterious pirate aircraft begins attacking these great flying vessels, leaving destruction and terror in its wake, Sir John Custance, Britain's Commissioner of Air Police, is charged with bringing the elusive enemy to justice. The pursuit becomes desperately personal when Constance Shepherd, the woman he loves, disappears during one of the pirate's most audacious attacks.

Following a trail of violence and mystery into the remote reaches of southwestern England, Custance discovers an adversary whose daring and mastery of aviation rival his own. With further attacks threatening the security of the skies, he must uncover the pirate's hidden stronghold and confront the mastermind behind a campaign that has terrified two continents.

First published in 1919, Guy Thorne's The Air Pirate is an imaginative early work of aviation science fiction that anticipated a future of transatlantic air travel, aerial policing, and technologically sophisticated airborne crime. Combining futuristic speculation, mystery, romance, and high-flying adventure, this remarkable novel captures both the optimism and the dangers imagined for the coming age of flight.