The Usurper: (conservative political thriller) [Kindle Edition]

Cliff Ball (Author)

Book Description

This political thriller is set during the Cold War right on up to the collapse of the Soviet Union and beyond....

Gary is raised to hate. Hate the United States, its people, and everything they have ever stood for. His mission is to destroy the country from within, allying himself with the worst of America's enemies, and one very powerful and malevolent trillionaire, to accomplish the deed. Once elected to the highest position in the land, Gary puts his lifelong goals to work, and puts the USA onto the path of ultimate destruction.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating premise. The altered-history speculation is always an intriguing way to go." Writer's Digest

"A cold-blooded, Clancy-esque political thriller; The Usurper is sure to entertain." Nurture Your Books.com review

"What impressed me the most was Ball's very accurate depiction of the power of indoctrination. In many ways it was a rather chilling view of what 'could have been'. If you like political thrillers then I highly recommend it." Reader review by Tracey Alley, author of Erich's Plea.

"The Usurper" is a fast-paced fictional story that has non-fictional elements in it of events that really happened. Cliff makes you think 'could this really happen?'" Heather D. - reader review on Amazon.

"I love the concept of this book and the ending caught me totally off guard. The Usurper is a quick read. There are many correlations with the real world that most of us can relate to. If only they had turned out differently." Reader review by J.C. Phelps, author of The Alex Stanton Chronicles.

"The Usurper is an attention-grabbing story and an eye opener on many levels. Although The Usurper is a work of fiction, many instances could be comparable to some going-ons in our world today. Ball indeed did a terrific job with his imagination." Review on Manic Readers.com

About the Author

Cliff Ball lives in Texas, is a Christian, has 2 BA's and a Technical Writing Certificate. Cliff has published 8 novels and 2 short stories so far. Visit his website at cliffball.net

Product Details

• File Size: 280 KB
• Print Length: 141 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007K9WDA4
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,352 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible! Do Not Waste Your Money, Time or Life July 29, 2012

By Texanna

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the most poorly written book I have ever attempted to read. Either the previous reviewers are friends of the author, or they have very low expectations. I tried to finish it, really I did, thinking it has to get better, but my brain wouldn't let me go on.

From what I read, I believe the plot is stolen from The Manchurian Candidate and The Omega Code.

Please, don't waste your hard earned money. And don' t give this author the mistaken idea that he is an accomplished writer.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Ugh. Please. June 10, 2012

By KeysDreamin

Format:Kindle Edition

Ok the subtitle conservative political thriller didn't warn me off but should have. This was the worst kindle book I've read, cant believe I paid for it. Kicking myself. Forget political leanings this is drivel. Poorly written and unimaginitive. Go elsewhere unless you are just looking for a conservative fantasy rather than a decent read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars UGH September 27, 2012

By Lauran Strait

Format:Kindle Edition

This book has it all--bad writing, poor characterization, lousy dialogue, intrusive narration. I thought at first that the poor writing, which read like pure farce with its simplistic "plot" and cardboard characters, was intentionally created such as it was to offer up a satire on cold-war era politics. Sadly, I came to realize that wasn't the case. The author really doesn't know how to write and doesn't realize all the amateurish mistakes he displayed throughout the book.

My comments have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the readability of the book. It was a real stinker.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't finish it!! September 4, 2012

By Pat Reynolds

Format:Kindle Edition

This was surely written by an 8th grader. It is so poorly written that I was surprised to find the author has a degree in English. The characters are not well developed; no only do we have no compassion for them, we can't even hate them. It reads flat, like a manual on how to repair cars. The concept is intriguing but the book is horrible. I couldn't finish it--don't waste you time or money!!!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced political thriller March 15, 2012

By Heather D.

Format:Kindle Edition

This is the first Cliff Ball book I've read...and I'd have to say that if he writes another political thriller ... I'm in! "The Usurper" is a fast-paced fictional story that has non-fictional elements in it of events that really happened. Cliff makes you think 'could this really happen?' He makes it all seem possible...which is a scary thought! This book had lots of twists and turns that kept the reader on the edge of her seat throughout the book. I gave this book to my dad to read since he likes the same kind of books that I do. I'm sure he'll have a good review as well. Thank you Cliff for writing this book!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I loved this novel March 14, 2012

By sally

Format:Kindle Edition

I saw this listed on a list of free books on Kindle Nation Daily when it was free a while ago under a different link, so I clicked the link, and I saw that the author said that conservatives would like this novel. I enjoy political thrillers, so I figured I'd give it a try. I don't usually do reviews, but I really enjoyed reading this. I don't get the people who leave a 1 star for a book that's free, you could've deleted it.

It follows the story of Gary being indoctrinated by the communists so that he can eventually help to take down the USA. If you follow any news at all it is kinda similar, Gary joins up with unions to intimidate his enemies, his friends and allies bribe and intimidate voters, etc. In this novel, Gary gets everything he wants without any pushback from Congress, he creates and uses environmental disasters to get his way, and he executes people who disagree with him. The surviving opposition decide they need to take him down, so they begin to.

I thought the ending was surprising.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars TRULY THRILLING- TRULY BRILLIANT March 14, 2012

By Richard S. Friedman

Format:Kindle Edition

Amazing- edge of your seat thriller- The Usurper is the Real thing!! Cliff Ball makes both characters and plot come alive in what is one of the most scariest thrillers I have read. Scary because it is so possible. Read this and wonder at the talent of a top notch thriller writer.
Rick Friedman
Founder
THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good political thriller March 14, 2012

By Joshua James

Format:Kindle Edition

I enjoyed reading this novel. It's definitely not a cookie cutter political thriller, which made it more interesting to me. Ball does a good job of keeping his reader turning pages to find out if the authors' plot follows what the reader thinks will happen. This is the mark of a good action adventure writer.

This novel is very similar to current events, written over two years, with a frightening back story created. It builds off of the fears Americans had from the Cold War, moves into the role and power of government in our lives, as well as the battle of capitalism versus socialism. This was filled with lots of symbolism and eerily similar to actual current events. In summary, a very good read and I look forward to reading more by this author.

*re-posted*

More About the Author

Cliff Ball lives in Texas, born in Arizona, is a Christian and is Baptist. Has two BA's, and a Certificate in Technical Communications. Has published ten novels and two short stories. Won third in high school for a short story written in Creative Writing class for a young adult magazine. Cliff writes fast paced novels because that's what he wants to read and his sci-fi novels would be considered in the lite category. His novels are clean reads: no sex, cussing, very little violence, and can be read by anyone above 13.

In order of original publication:
Out of Time - Time Travel
Don't Mess With Earth - Alternate history/fantasy/scifi
The Usurper - political thriller
Shattered Earth -alternate history/fantasy/scifi
Voyager and the Aliens (short story) -sci-fi
Dust Storm (short story) -western
New Frontier -Alternate History.thriller
Times of Trouble - Christian Fiction
Times of Trial - Christian Fiction
Final Frontier - a sequel to New Frontier
Beyond the New Frontier - combo of New Frontier & Final Frontier.
Times of Turmoil - NEW RELEASE 04/09/2013

www.cliffball.net Blog & Website
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Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1309948.Cliff_Ball