Shadows of Power (Power series) - Softcover

James W. Huston

Softcover

ISBN 10: 073227639X ISBN 13: 9780732276393

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia, 2002

Synopsis

Lieutenant Ed Stovic, an F/A-18 pilot, is vectored to intercept Algerians who are defending their newly claimed two-hundred-mile territorial limit. During a dramatic, high-stakes dogfight, the Algerians open fire and Stovic shoots down one of the Algerians' MiGs, its pilot tumbling to a fiery death in the Mediterranean. Stovic is hailed as a hero, and he sees this as the perfect moment to help him achieve his life-long dream -- flying with the world-famous Blue Angels, the Navy's elite flight demonstration team.

Ismael Nezzar, the brother of the deceased Algerian pilot, is in the U.S. on a student visa. He sees the boastful Stovic on the Today show and is enraged by his glibness. While attending his brother's funeral -- the biggest event in Algeria in a decade -- Ismael is coerced by a group of Islamic radicals to seek revenge for his brother's death. Though he withdrew from the powerful group years before, Ismael is filled with fury and will stop at nothing to destroy Stovic.

Unknown to either of these two men, Kent Rathman has been assigned by a highly placed government official to watch them. Working in the shadows, Rat moves easily among government agencies and is ordered by his White House contacts -- including the President and the NSA director, who has plans to bring about a change of power on her own -- to stop the Algerian. To save his country and his friend, Rat must devise a brilliant counterstrike -- a mission in which failure means certain death.

Packed with deadly intrigue, Beltway power plays, and high-flying adventure, The Shadows of Power is Huston's most exciting novel yet. Combining his knowledge of how things work in Washington with his expertise on military hardware, Huston has written an electrifyingly realistic tale of international terrorism and American triumph.

About this title

About the Author

A graduate of TOPGUN, James W. Huston flew F-14s off the USS Nimitz with the Jolly Rogers. He served as a naval flight officer and worked in Naval Intelligence before becoming a lawyer and the acclaimed author of The Shadows of Power, Balance of Power, The Price of Power, Flash Point, and Fallout. He lives in San Diego, California.

From AudioFile

Kent Rathman (aka "Rat") is on a mission is to track down the Algerian who is planning a terrorist attack to avenge the death of his brother, a pilot, who was killed by Rat's old roommate at Annapolis. Political intrigue is rife, and the plot takes many twists and turns before delivering an exciting climax. There are a few graphic scenes of torture that might turn off some listeners. Christopher Price turns in a performance that for the most part enhances the book. Most of the characters' voices are well drawn; the French and Algerian accents are quite good, but the South African voices are not as successful. However, mispronunciations of some words by American characters ("pitture" for "picture") should have been caught by the producers. Nonetheless, this story moves along at a brisk pace, grabbing the listener from the outset with an overall good reading. S.S.R. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 073227639X
• ISBN 13: 9780732276393
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480