Customer Reviews

The Price of Power

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I ordered both of Mr. Huston's books at the same time and started them just before Thanksgiving. After three days I had read them both, enjoyed them thoroughly and lost much sleep. It may be trite to say that he writes like Tom Clancy without the tedious technical explanations. It may also be a bit innacurrate as I enjoyed him more than TC. Huston is especially good with dialogue and these characters came alive for me. Clinton is lucky that Jim Dillon is a fictional character and not one of the Managers of Impeachment. I agree with the reader who would have liked to know more about the bad guy "George Washington". The characters in the book wanted to also as they realized the nature and extent of the armaments and techical equipment they possessed and asked the Butch Cassidy question: "Who are these guys"? I tend to agree that there will not be a three-peat...but you may recall that they could not i.d. GW, if that was in fact him who had his face blown off. In any event, if political/military/action novels are of interest to you, you could not do better than to read Mr. Huston. I am now a BIG fan!

I'm still catching my breath. Two memoranda and a research project lay unfinished on my desk: I simply had to finish this book.

Every character is sharply defined: the bile rises against the bad guys - and you want to cheer the good men and women on to victory.

The plot is beautifully honed. Literally every word advances the story. The anti-climax at page 303 is powerful. I was immediately frightened that Huston couldn't keep the story going with the same force. Happily I was wrong: there are another pulse-pounding 128 pages ahead.

As with any truly great thriller, the ultimate disappointment emerges when you finish the last page. You want more. These characters have become your friends (at least the good guys have) and you want them to immediately commence their next adventure.

Thank you, Mr. Huston. It was nice to get entirely away from my petty problems because you wrote a book that I simply could not put down.

Jerry

What a great follow-up to Huston's first novel. Pardon the cliche, but, I couldn't put it down. Fast-moving, plausible, and a true political thriller that weaves great action seamlessly into the storyline. The only negative comment I have is that I don't see a third book in this "series". Not really sure if the same characters can be utilized again. I was a Huston fan after "Balance of Power". Now I am a "groupie".

In his sequel to the "Balance of Power" James Huston provides a riveting extension of the driven political and military personalities in a complex south seas terrorist/Washington D.C. drama "Price of Power". Although the novel was chock full of military and legal details, Huston avoids the overload that often loses many readers. Instead, he provides a page turning, intriguing read that turns into an edge of seat experience. The sequel can be read separately but is most effective following the initial book. The only disappointment comes when you have to close the cover to depart the plane or hit the sack. I highly recommend it to those that like the legal maneuvering of a Grishom novel or the suspense Clancy provides. Huston puts it all together.

James Huston has done what few writers succeed in doing -- creating a sequel that is as good as, if not better than, the original. I would have rated this book "4 1/2 stars" if the Amazon rating system allowed me to.

Like Balance Of Power, The Price Of Power is a political/military thriller that grabs your attention right from the start and never lets go. The action is electrifying, the characters are very well- developed and the dialogue is crisp and realistic. You could almost envision seeing and listening to Bill Clinton in some respects if you try real hard. While 501 pages in length, there isn't one page that you'll be sorry you read.

The Price Of Honor is a book you won't want to miss. But do yourself a favor and read Balance Of Power first. Enjoy them both!

Plot, action and love stories intermingled at a fast pace. Writing skills accelerated, so that Mr. Huston grew as an author before our eyes, developing into Wouk-Michener proportions.

Characters came alive and the dialog sang, so that the absence of explicit sex and four letter words only became noticeable as an afterthought at the conclusion and redigesting of the two books...

James W. Huston will be a writing irresistable force. Can't wait for his next efforts.

I was looking for an alternative to Clancy and I have found it. "Price of Power," moves right along through the multiple series of events that are taking place. Huston doesn't bog you down with an overdose of technical jargon and he doesn't spend several pages describing each character. Huston uses just enough technical savvy to set the scene and then lets the action of the scene draw you in. A quick read and a must read!!

Huston has made it to my must read author list.

Everyone is correct - beats T.C. - lots of tech jargon, but adds to the texture of the novel. I have two questions, however... Why wasn't George Washington's alliance more clearly defined? He was definitely a "bad guy", but I could have found him more dispicable if I'd known where he got those "sams" and cigeratte boats. Since we know he's a goner, will that be taken up in book 3? Additionally, I wonder why more wasn't made of the fact that the "President" cut off all communications with Billings. To me that was the worst of all. Here is the President effectively cutting off all means of contact with an aircraft carrier with several thousand men aboard. It seems to me that if the American people had known the abuse of the presidential authority - impeachment would have been open and shut?

Other than that, I think these were excellent books and eagerly await the next, which I understand will be forthcoming shortly. Keep up the good work - leave it to the attorney's to give us great fiction!

I'll add my praise to the others. I'm retired military. I gobble good books like this one. Huston keep things technically and politically accurate. He is clever (well, he's way beyond simply clever .. but I don't have a spell checker to help me spell ingenious) and does a great job with dialogue. Well done.

He does it again. I got both Balance & Price of power and read them in a row. Both book were well above my "Clancy's" expectations and the story was most fascinating and new.

Definitely, I've you've liked Balance of Power, you'll enjoyed this one as well which is a complete follow-up of the first one.

Finally bagged those terrorists!

Enjoy.