By Martin Caidin

First published December 1993, Bantam reissue April 2008

Paperback, $6.99

311 pages

Just in time for this week’s release of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” Bantam has reissued a series of adventure novels based on the George Lucas movie character.

I came across five of them in what could be called the “slush pile” of books considered inauspicious candidates for reviewing in TheShelfLifeBlog.com.

I’d had my fill of reviewing books outside my reading “comfort zone,” and wanted something I was pretty sure to enjoy — at least not to actively dislike.

My modest expectations were not disappointed by this book by an accomplished British aviator whose earlier novel, “Cyborg,” was developed into the “Six Million Dollar Man” and “Bionic Woman” TV series.

I’m sure this whole “book-based-on-TV-show-or-film” has an established genre at book fairs, but it’s one I’m only marginally familiar with.

I guess my first experience was back in the 1970s with the early “Star Trek” books. Most recently, I’ve acquired a habit for “Murder She Wrote” and “Columbo” books.

It’s a guilty pleasure, but there are worse things I could be reading.

I digress.

The “Sky Pirates” story seems a good candidate for a graphic novel treatment. It has cool, retro-aviation technology (the Ford Trimotor, early jets and a gigantic helium-filled Zeppelin almost seem to be extra characters), blood, intrigue and lots of exotic locales, from Sub-Saharan Africa to Oxford, England, to the mesas of New Mexico.

The plot centers on a series of mysterious robberies involving other-worldly aircraft that prompts some to think invaders from outer space are plotting to take over the world.

One of the fun aspects of the Indiana Jones phenomenon is the strong relationships that are assumed in each story (Karen Allen’s Marion Ravenwood in the first and Denholm Elliott’s Marcus Brody in the first and third). This aspect falls a little short in “Sky Pirates.”

There are several interesting characters — British and French World War I flying aces, Kurdish and Jamaican bodyguards, and, of course, a sexy Levantine amazon.

But in the course of the novel, some of these characters die, which has little effect on the hero — or anyone else, for that matter. That causes one’s suspension of disbelief to crystallize into something a little cheesy.

If you know someone who takes the death of a friend lightly, you’re unlikely to develop deep respect and admiration for that person. And yet, that’s exactly the feeling said to be felt for Indy by each character.

Nevertheless, I would recommend this book for a lazy beach or backyard read.