The Shadows of Power

By James W. Huston

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061807855

James W. Huston

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.

Reviews for The Shadows of Power

[gwnsad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kent "Rat" Rathman is given a seemingly impossible mission in this fast--paced thriller. Mr. Huston does not disappoint in this story. A heroic act is turned into a personal vendetta by a reluctant terrorist. I told my husband (with a smile on my face) that this book was also a love story to airplanes as it has involves several different war planes with lots of air action, ending with the Blue Angels. It was another terrific story that was so compelling and suspenseful that I caught myself having to remind myself that it was a book, that I didn't need to react so fiercely. Great book.

[gilroy_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

From a reader's perspective, this book does not live up to any expectations. I had difficulty identifying with the main character. For that matter, I had difficulty IDENTIFYING the main character. The details were well written, as if the author knew some of the situations that he put his characters, however, details don't make a plot or a decent book. It was hard to feel anything for any of the characters, hard to want to be any of the characters. Also, the plot plodded along with too much detail and side details to be a decent pacing. It could be shortened to a novella, or even a short story, and be fine.As a writer, I saw points that made me cringe. The author seemed to want to do a third person omniscient view, but he insisted on going into everyone's head. This made it hard to follow, frequently having to reread passages to figure out who's thoughts connected with who's speaking pattern. Also, his point of view changed within the same paragraph! The change of perspective improved in the last two chapters but not by much. I understand the need for subplots, but this one tried to develop too many and that bogged the book down.I don't see myself keeping this book.

[mswallack_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Somehow, this story just never got going. I never felt like I really knew the main character. The "conspiracy" going on as a secondary story actually turned out to be a disappointment, rather than a revelation when finally explained. I've read previous books by Huston and enjoyed them very much. I'm hoping that this was a one-book aberration.