While fiction, Flight of the Intruder draws on some actual events, and some recognizable to me.I think the book is a lot better. The movie was great, but deviated some from the actual plot and a lot from the characters. I couldn't put it down.
Out of shear coincidence I ran into Stephen Coonts' flight lead from Vietnam in Culpeper, VA. Great guy with some great stories.
However for many years one thing bothered me. It appeared we might have known the same woman in Hong Kong. So some time ago, I emailed the author to find out for sure. Stephen Coonts was kind enough to respond. And no, though similar in some ways, we determined she was someone different.