Amazon.com description: Product Description: This is the story of the final years of the life of Hubert Latham, a French aviation pioneer pilot who, along with Louis Blériot, was one of the two best known and popular Frenchmen alive during the period 1909-1911, back in the days when aviation was in its very infancy. Windkiller is replete with fascinating stories and details about the men and their machines during the early days of flying. Their intense rivalries, with their victories, defeats, and disasters, provide a thrilling background to the compelling story of Latham’s intriguing and exciting life as a world-class pilot.

It is the period of his life that opens with spectacular triumphs, soon to undergo a depressing downward spiral ending in tragedy. The author chose to put Latham’s story in novel format to not only make it more appealing, but also to showcase better Latham’s mercurial and peculiar personality.

Stephen King, an "Air Force brat," developed an avid interest in aviation at an early age. His wife is a distant cousin of Hubert Latham, and therein was born his desire to learn about early French aviation and, more specifically, about Latham himself. What makes this book so interesting is the fact that King was able to extract invaluable information about Latham from interviews he conducted with members of Latham’s extended family. Windkiller rediscovers Hubert Latham, an aviator of towering repute in his time, but who today is barely known.