State of Emergency (Library Edition) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Steve R. Pieczenik (Author), Adams Morgan (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2010

Steve Pieczenik brings his extensive experience inside the halls of power at the U.S. State Department to create a frighteningly authentic novel of the ultimate crisis--an American civil war.

Steve Pieczenik brings his extensive experience inside the halls of power at the U.S. State Department to create a frighteningly authentic novel of the ultimate crisis--an American civil war.

It's the fourth of July, 2010, and the governors of four western states are threatening to secede from the Union in their outrage at the federal government's takeover of land for environmental purposes. Their bargaining tool: the mighty Glen Canyon Dam in Page, Arizona. If the president does not give in to their demands within seventy-two hours, they will destroy the dam, and the lives of thousands will be at risk. Their ultimatum: accession of all constitutional rights and full military control of their borders.

With the president and vice president overseas, responsibility falls to Secretary of State Barbara Reynolds, an African-American diplomat as savvy as she is shrewd. As the western states' National Guard faces up against the U.S. Marines in Arizona, Reynolds sends Dr. Allison Carter to negotiate. But Carter finds himself entwined in a web of deceit and betrayal, and faced with dangerous questions for which he has no answers.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

It's almost the Fourth of July, 2010, and the governors of four Western states wish to secede from the United States in their fury over the federal government's takeover of land for environmental purposes. To make their point, they organize their national guards and evacuate citizens so that they can blow up the huge Glen Canyon Dam and draw attention to their cause. Secretary of State Barbara Reynolds sends her personal envoy and negotiator, Alison Carter, to handle talks with the alienated governors and find out what is really behind their desire to secede. Carter does indeed ferret out the "bad guy" with a secret agenda. Pieczenik (Pax Pacifica, Warner, 1995) crafts an excellent story with well-developed characters, lots of action, and a pleasant writing style, and he includes well-integrated historic material on states' rights and early federalism. Recommended for libraries where Joseph Heller and Harry Turtledove are popular.?Alice DiNizo, Raritan P. L., N.J.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Pieczenik (Pax Pacifica, 1995, etc.) offers a sluggish, unforgivably talky near-future tale in which four western governors with more guts than brains lock horns with a federal government whose increasingly autocratic actions have driven even law-abiding citizens into the arms of secessionists. National Guard units seize Glen Canyon Dam at the start of a July 4 weekend, and the US is on the brink of its second Civil War. In the name of states' rights, the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming call for the immediate return of lands and resources expropriated by Washington for environmental or military purposes. With both the president and his veep conveniently out of the country, Secretary of State Barbara Reynolds is minding the store in the nation's capital. Aware that the breakaway jurisdictions have foreign allies (especially France) prepared to support them for commercial reasons, Reynolds responds in measured fashion, first seeking guidance from a self-consciously multicultural advisory board and then dispatching Allison Carter (her clever medical officer) to parley with the rebels at their remote command post in the Grand Tetons. Once there, he clashes with Josiah Brigham, the militant governor of Utah, and joins forces with Coloradan Cheri Black (an apparent co-conspirator who's been drummed out of the conspiracy for insufficient ardor). As US troops regain control of federal properties and as American agents fire warning shots across the bows of European ships of state, luscious Cheri and smitten Al head into the hinterland. The crafty pair eventually track Brigham to his lair in Salt Lake City. In this muddled version of future shock, good fellows and bad have world enough and time to crack wise or to debate the Constitution and its meanings with considerable eloquence and at great length. Their disinclination to stop chatting and get on with the harder jobs at hand, though, leaves both their insurrection and counterattack DOA. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.; Unabridged library edition (February 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1441719199
• ISBN-13: 978-1441719195
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise, but sloppily written, January 9, 2000

By 

George Adams (South Bend, Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: State of Emergency (Paperback)

The idea of four western states seceding from the Union is fascinating, but I was frequently distracted by poor writing. The most glaring error is that Pieczenik apparently thinks Lake Powell is below Glen Canyon Dam; either he doesn't understand how dams work, or he never did on-site research. In another geographic error, Al Carter and Cheri flee the secessionists by floating down the Snake River from Grand Teton to Yellowstone--a gravity-defying feat, since the Snake rises in Yellowstone and flows from there to Grand Teton before turning west into Idaho. Another major distraction was the very simple French-language dialogue between the between the French Prime Minister (or perhaps Foreign Minister--Pieczenik isn't clear on this point) and Al Carter. Pieczenik provides translations, and in at least one instance, I needed his translation, because the verb "se renconter" does not exist in French--I think the word Pieczenik was looking for was "se rendre compte". In any case, two people who are both presumably fluent in French would not be using such simple construction and vocabulary to speak to each other. Bottom line: I'm glad I borrowed this book from the library, rather than buying it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pieczenik does what he does best..., December 6, 1999

By 

Alec Corday - See all my reviews

This review is from: State of Emergency (Paperback)

To set something straight... Steve is NOT a Tom Clancy whang-bang-action-military-spy-Jack-Ryan writer. If you only like the simple and blant entertainment that offers a Clancy/Pieczenik novel such as the utherly boring OP-Center series, then he is not for you. However, if you are the rare version of a reader who seeks smart, funny and highly inteligent readings, Steve is your buddy for live. His novel traverses in areas most people don't even concider, and subjects joe-six-pack thinks as strange. Drawing heavily on his past, Steve gives us one of his best performances since Pax Pacifica. He writes a lot about politics, gives us his opinions concerning democracy. In many ways SOE is not an adventure novel. It is a sociological and psycological study of what America really is, its values and downsides. Many people get a hard time, foremost the Mormons. But anyone who has a foothold in that area knows how very true his words are. I can only applaud his curage to name these subjects. However, on the downside I want to say that he sometimes submerges himself in long narrations of philosophy and the meaning of democracy at points when another subject is crucial. Example: his heroine floats towards a possible death and starts pondering about what faith really is and what all of his favourite Greek thinkers came up with along the years. I believe Steve's own esprit de finesse should have warned him of such faults. However, in face of such an excellent and well researched book I can only hope that his dreamed-up plot may never come true ... because it just might. And that is his magic. And no, Steve, you have not become a modern-day Cassandra, but rather a modern-day Greek philosopher, Homer or other, and I hope Birdie is well. But would you please replace the picture of you on the last page? It kills your image. {;-)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pieczenik needs to pay attention to what he writes, August 4, 2001

By 

bob ashmore (Jupiter, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: State of Emergency (Paperback)

Dr. Pieczenik has tossed off another techno-thriller that lacks a believeable plot. In addition it is often internally inconsistant. If you accept his premises and plot twists you are a better man than I. By the way, Dr. Piecznik knows that if you accept the basic premise of a paranoid personality, he makes perfectly good sense also. While we don't expect well-developed people in this genera, his fall below even such low expectations. Finally a 10th grade English teacher would not accept the gramatical errors which occur throughout the book. While I've enjoyed Dr. Pieczenic's collaborations with Tom Clancy, my first outing with him as sole author was a major disappointment.