Customer Reviews

Rubicon

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As I wrote on my blog ([...]), what the publisher's blurb doesn't tell you is that this isn't so much a novel as it is a pastiche of left-wing. nut-job conspiracy theories that might easily have been ripped from Daily Kos diary pages.

Put another way, Rubicon is a thinly fictionalized version of Bush Derangement Syndrome wish fulfillment, the gist of which is that an unnamed vice president (obviously Cheney from the descriptions) creates an intelligence network to provide data supporting whatever the Administration wants and then hatches a plot to maintain the unnamed president (equally obviously Bush) in office indefinitely.

Even my more liberal readers probably won't like it. There's zero suspense, as you can figure out where the plot's going (in broad scope) by the end of the second chapter. The writing and plotting are subordinated to making every possible political point in the left's indictment of President Bush.

As one of my readers in fact commented:

"Rubicon, Hart remembers, is the river Caesar crossed with his army when he decided to seize power in Rome. For Caesar it meant that there was no turning back for a republic on its way to becoming an empire. But crossing the Rubicon meant the beginning of an era in Rome. Could it mean the end of something else today?"

This is just painfully bad writing. If you think your readers are too uneducated to appreciate the historical origin and meaning of the phrase "crossing the Rubicon" then avoid using it.

I just finished Rubicon and it is one of the best books I have read. I had to keep reminding myself it was fiction, and yet while reading it, I had to see some similarities in the last eight years of our political times. It was fiction yet I think all people need to read it and truly think how fear based politics could lead to a government controlled society. The book deserves a place in debating and discussing it. It also will probably give a people a lot to think about when they vote in the future.

Since they are writing fiction, novelists have the option of choosing any setting they wish. The White House is a frequent location (Remember the novels of Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Truman, for example?), and the Bush-Cheney preoccupation with secrecy makes their White House a natural for a thriller. And it is a fact that Bush-Cheney have pushed executive privilege very far. With that said, Lawrence Alexander has written a fascinating story of an attempt by the occupants of the White House to take over the government. His protagonists are Democratic Senator Robert Hart of California and Republican Senator Charles Ryan of Michigan. Hart learns of Rubicon, code name for a secret plan that turns out to involve murder of presidential candidates just before the election in order to postpone it indefinitely. The bad guys play for keeps, and a string of murders follow and lead to a thriller of a climax. This is a nice, topical novel and is certainly enjoyable.

Rubicon attempted to capitalize on a publication date of 2008 that coincided with the US presidential election. Out hero is a young senator (carved out of the same block of wood as Obama) with the Hollywood name of Bobby Hart (Robert Kennedy and Gary Hart's love child). While quite the political rookie, he nevertheless has a family background that makes him a well connected insider. While he avoids the pressure to jump into the presidential race, he is dragged into what appears to be an evolving conspiracy. Eventually, political candidates on both sides of the aisle are dropping like flies. Rather conveniently, Hart is the only person who can connect the dots to save the day.

Unfortunately, the plot does not hold together well. The inside conspiracy masquerading as an outside terrorist plot in order to "save America" by destroying it is becoming a worn theme that generally does not pass the laugh test. In order for this type of plot to work, only a small number of people can know the details or there will be leaks, but small numbers preclude big time plans and operations. Hart moves around like some sort of spy without any training or insight, while in the spotlight of being a US senator that is being recruited to run for president. Also, everyone he speaks with seems to end up dead which also tends to draw attention. His mentally unstable wife was mostly a distraction that added little to the storyline.

Political thrillers are well represented in the suspense genre and there are better pickings elsewhere.

I must have hit the wrong button because I never would have purchased this book. But it showed up and I gave it a try. Unreadable--stick characters, cliched plot, juvenile writing.

I received my copy at a hotel lobby book exchange. I wanted something riveting, compelling and completely engrossing for a long cross-country flight (Denver, CO to Bangor, ME), and Rubicon (from its cover) seemed to be the most likely candidate to deliver next to titles like Dinotopia and Barney's Book of Numbers. I parted with my weather-beaten copy of James Clavill's Shogun, and began to read.

My suspension of disbelief was not heightened from page 1 through page 293, but it was all I had to read, so I endured, with this tome, through to the bitter end. I did; however, come up with a list of questions/points:

1) If Germany was such a dangerous place for German expatriot and double-agent Gunther Kramer to return to, why did he arrange a secret meeting with Senator Bobby Hart at a busy cafe in downtowon Hamburg, Germany? If he had something very important to reveal about the unthinkable plot codenamed Rubicon, couldn't he have just as well arranged the meeting at Damascus, his home during the past two decades, where he was probably safe? When Ceasar crossed the Rubicon, the Roman republic died, but according to the author, all roads must not lead to Damascus.

2) Senator Hart is wounded by gunfire during the assassination of Kramer. How was this event retained from the glaring light of world media exposure, scrutiny and reaction?

3) The terrifying evidence about the Rubicon conspiracy turns out to be simply, and admittedly by the language of the opening chapters, a rumor--a rumor powerful enough to coerce the belief and complete devotion of a United States Senator in tracking it down and thwarting its fruition.

4) As a reader, I was constantly amazed at how gullible and naive the main characters were in predictably rushing to conclusions and itterating public claims founded only upon their suspicions, emotions, passions and preconceived notions about politics leading up to and culminating with a fictionalized rendition of a 2008 non-election. Conveniently, the plot consistently rises to the occasion in producing the needed events and evidence justifying each conclusion. This effect becomes monotnous, and akin to performing feats of magic after all of the methods and devices for each trick have already been revealed.

California Democratic Senator Bobby Hart learns that terrorists plan an attack on America timed to disrupt the presidential race. Hart tries to prevent the disruption that he learns is dubbed "Rubicon". However, in Los Angeles the Democratic nominee dies in a suicide bombing and likewise the Republican candidate in Atlanta.

Like most of the country, Hart assumes Islamic extremists killed the two candidates and others because suicide bombing is their MO. However, as he digs a bit deeper, he begins to believe someone else outside of the Middle East is responsible for the terrorist acts, but who remains shadowy and he fears the assassinations are the first ploy from someone planning to cross like Caesar the Rubicon; only in America that river happens to be the Potomac.

Although over the top especially with its not subtle comparisons to the Bush White House, fans of action-packed political thriller will appreciate the aptly named RUBICON. The story line is fast-paced from the opening suicide bombings until the final revelations are revealed. Perhaps the only major drawback is the heroic senator's wife who exists to make Hart seem human, but only distracts from the exciting escapade driven subplots; fans will skip those intrusive interludes to focus on the entertaining RUBICON.

Harriet Klausner

If you liked DaVinci Code, you should love Rubicon! The strength is in the story, and not the characters.

Instead of a disfunctional church, author Lawrence Alexander takes on the biggest domestic taboo, our very own, neo-con White House. And take it on he does. In this action packed thriller, Alexander demonstrates an insider's knowledge of US politics in a not-so-veiled assessment of what could happen in a system that has recalibrated its moral compass to the extreme right. It is crisp, informed, and ends with on a note that even the constitutionalists will like. Rubicon is a story of these times, and discusses genuine, disturbing issues. At the same time, Alexander presents real characters and tells a carefully-crafted tale. What's next from Lawrence Alexander?

The author does an excellent job of capturing the sense of entitlement to power exhibited by the Bush crowd. Alexander describes their arrogance and use of fearmongering to exploit crisis for political gain. Though the author doesn't go there, one can't help but reflect on 9/11. After all that attack gave the current administration an opportunity to implement police state policies based in large part on the concept of the unitary executive. To date we don't know if the US is still in some state of emergency declared by the President after 9/11. In the book a Supreme Court Justice asks the Attorney General if the President should benefit from an emergency in which he may have played a role. Anyone who has paid attention to politics in the US (and isn't an authoritarian cheerleader for fascism) may find this question rather profound.

I think is one of the best books, I have read in a long time. I think he captured the political arena brilliantly. With this being an election year I think everyone should read this.

The story line is fast-paced, read it in less than 6 hours, from the opening until the final revelations are revealed. This book catches your attention right away and keeps you focused and entertained throughout. Perhaps the only major drawback is Hart's wife who seems to be unrealistic to me.

Like I said one of the better books I read lately. Really enjoyed it from start to finish.