Customer Reviews

State of Emergency

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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.

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. {;-)

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.

There is a word in Spanish that perfectly describes this book, "caca". Don't waste your money, just ask me for my copy if you really want to read it. Of course, several other reviewers have liked it, so maybe you just have to be tolerable of sickeningly syrupy sweethearts, ridiculous assumptions (the governor of Arizona is going to kill the population of one of his cities???), complete disregard to geography EVEN WHEN IT IS A CORE ELEMENT OF THE PLOT, hypocritical heroes, complete lies about the Mormon church, and a total lack of understanding of the mentality of the West. The publisher sucked me in with the interesting premise, but I sure do regret the time and money that I spent.

To start with I have read many books on many subjects. I have an open mind too. This book is good for the "dime" novel rack, maybe. Bad research, confused heros, unrealistic militarily, and just poor writing and the only surprises tend to let you down. The best part of the book is the introduction. And what a stick in the eye for the Mormons of whom I do not belong. Of my 33 years, this is the second worst book I am ashamed to admit I paid for. CR in Sacramento

The is one of those reviews where it is difficult to know where to start. It is a very stupid story in which the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming try to secede from the union. The first plot problem is the people of these states would never go along with it. However, the author explains that since the population of these states is highly Christian, they'll just follow along like sheep. As a matter of fact at one point, the author goes so far as to say that since Christians believe Christ will return at the time of the final battle between good and evil, they actually would want a civil war. At another point, he lumps the Christian Coalition in with the neonazis and skinheads as hate groups who want a war. Excuse me, but if such terms were used against Jews or Moslems, the author would be considered to be bigoted against those religions; the same goes for his views against Christians(and I, for the record, am an agonistic). Secondly, a civil war between the US and these states would last about 5 minutes. Now I must go on to my second point. I don't care what race or sex characters have, as long as this is not used for an excuse for bigotry in the popular literature. This book, is, in my opinion, as bigoted against caucasians as "the Turner Diaries" is against blacks and Jews. All the "bad guys" in the book are caucasian(though at least they are both male and female), and the author goes out of his way to stress this. At one point, it mentions that the black secretary of state has had to "clean up" the errors of the unfeeling protestant white males who proceeded her in the job. It is stressed that the FBI group moving against the secessionists are 60% minority and gay and then stresses that this is not because of affirmative action. It stresses that England, France and Germany are pushing secession because they want to recreate their old worldwide empires iwht white domination of the world(wouldn't China or one of the Middle Eastern countries be a more probable enemy). I'm not nitpicking on this issue, race and religion are stressed throughout this book! To sum up: Christian and White are bad; minority and gay are good! It is fearful when such a hate filled book enters the popular literature. Bottom line:this book isn't fit to be used as toilet paper!

I picked out this book because Steve R. Pieczenik is the co-creator of Tom Clancy's Op-Center books, which I've enjoyed. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with this book. The dialogue in the first few chapters feels forced. Eventually the action picked up and the book became more fun, but the first third or so was really difficult to get through. I also found the timelines difficult to believe. Each chapter begins with a location and time stamp. However, the elapsed time doesn't seem long enough for the characters to have covered the distance between story locations. This was so bad that I ended up just ignoring the time stamps completely. Once the action picks up, this isn't a bad thriller, but it starts too slowly, and has too many inconsistencies to be an outstanding book.

It's true, this book does have a fascinating premise. It's true, the author doers have good insight into the mindset of America's "False Patriots". It's true, this could be a good book.

And it would be if it wasn't confusing and inconsistant. One moment she's the Prime Minister of France, the next a renegade Foreign Minister. One minute he's a doctor, the next a top level diplomat. The author jumps through time and circumstance, sometimes reffering to events that haven't happened yet.

And worse, the 'sympathetic' heroes are not. In fact, they are unapologetically guilty of exactly the crimes the 'antagonists' accuse them of.

This could be a great book--certainly a great story--but in the end it falls short.

This book opened up and explored ideas and trends that are happening all around the United States in a provocative and challenging plot. It made me think hard about the trends toward gated communities, suburbs becoming cities, everyone seeking autonomy and separatism. I applaud Pieczenik for having the courage to grapple with this crises of commmunity. It is frighteningly relevant to the current events in Servia, Macedonia and Kosovo. Critics have been so shortsighted as to have missed the insights in the thesis that illuminates the path we are taking toward not only to a divided U.S., but to a possible World War III.

I have read this book and can honestly say that it is a quality read. I think the premise for the book is a winner. After reading it, I believe the actual book is a winner too. The story kept my attention throughout. The opening scene in the dam grabbed my attention and held on throughout the book. The seemingly improbable situation always manages too nag the reader with the question "What if this really happened?" After reading Mr. Pieczenik's credentials, I have the fear that he might know something about the future that we don't. I thought this was a great book to sit down and read for hours on end. The book flowed well and had a page-turning story. What else can you want from a book? I hope to see more from Mr. Pieczenik in the future.