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Summary
Summary
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.Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
With gadgets, gizmos, guts and buckets of testosterone, Huston's latest military-techno thriller leaps into the already crowded subgenre that pits American good guys against Islamic terrorists. Huston (The Price of Power) introduces super-hero Kent Rathman, aka Rat, a versatile navy SEAL doing undercover spook work for the CIA and the National Security Council in this predictable mishmash of car chases, shoot outs, jet plane dogfights, secret terrorist plots and Washington, D.C., conspiracies. Navy Lt. Ed Stovic shoots down an Algerian jet fighter in an aerial confrontation over the Mediterranean Sea, killing the Algerian pilot. The pilot's brother, Ismael, a student in Washington, D. C., vows revenge against Stovic, the U.S. and Stovic's vaunted navy Blue Angels flying demonstration team. Rat and Stovic are old navy buddies, so Rat sees this threat as an opportunity to protect his friend and knock off another terrorist. Too early in the book, Huston reveals the villain, his motive and his deadly scheme, and there is not much left for the reader to do but follow Rat and his thick-necked pals as they chase, gun down and torture a surprisingly inept group of Algerian terrorists. Side plots involving geopolitics take a distant backseat to the chest-thumping, rah-rah bravado of Rat, Stovic and the rest of the gunslingers who think nothing of slicing up a prisoner to make him talk. There is plenty of action, but Huston forgot to add suspense and credibility, which makes this story a two-dimensional orgy of violence. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Huston revisits Washington, DC (see, e.g., Balance of Power), with a new hero in tow. Ken (Rat) Rathman gets involved in international intrigue when his old roommate's fighter plane is challenged by Algerian aircraft. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
