In novel 18 of this series, Tom Swift gets the call to put his inventive brains to work for Hollywood. A producer for one of the studios wants to resurrect the old movie series that featured a hero using a flying rocket pack. But, when Tom convinces him that roaring flames and something looking like a pair of fire extinguishers isn't going to work, he agrees to set his serial in the near future. That just leaves Tom with the task of creating a wearable, flyable backpack that can fly for a half hour at a time, be absolutely safe for the stunt man to pilot, and look really incredible.Forces are at work to steal such a technology from both Tom and another company in California that tried making something like it a year earlier. And, it turns out to be an old enemy of the Swifts behind it all.Now, with pressure put on him by the US Government and constant nagging requests to get the backpack delivered to the movie set, Tom must satisfy many people, keep the plans and actual device safe, and still get his and Bud's wife out to Hollywood to meet some stars.