The sky jinx

In the sweltering streets of Manila’s Walled City, Army pilots Mac and Prop Owens hear a familiar voice boasting about aerial combat. Prop recognizes the speaker at once: Eddie Bride, a veteran flyer known throughout the service as “the Jinx.” Wherever Bride goes, aircraft seem to fail, missions turn dangerous, and bad luck follows—though his skill in the air is impossible to dismiss.

Bride’s unexpected arrival at Burton Field stirs old memories and immediate concern, especially in Prop, who appears to know more about the pilot’s troubled past than he will say. As the oppressive heat gives way to an uneasy evening, Mac finds himself drawn into Prop’s urgent search for answers. Against a backdrop of military aviation, colonial Manila, and the ever-present hazards of the skies, this fast-moving adventure introduces a mysterious flyer whose reputation may be deserved—or may conceal something more complicated.