Customer Reviews

$oft Money: The True Power in Our Nation's Capital

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Eric Burton tells a story with real feeling. $oft Money explores one man's dilemma when a former business associate becomes President of the most powerful country on earth. In a crisis of conscience, he struggles with his loyalty to his country against his conviction that the truth about a corrupt political regime should be told. Whichever way he goes, his decision with alter the course of history.

The author writes with a real insiders feel about the hypocritical nature of campaign funds, the pushing and shoving that the television cameras never see, the power-wielding, the influence, the whole, nasty, political game that we like to call 'a free and fair election'. After the fiasco of the last ballot, $oft Money is a timely book, but it should also remind us that the modern history of USA has been littered with such fiascoes. Most of them never came to the surface. But what if...

E.L. Burton weaves an entrancing tale with $oft Money. The characterizations are wonderful, and the storyline reads as though it came right out of the news and into a television movie.

$oft money tells the story of Lawrence Brazelton, a former legal partner of President Preston Wesley. Brazelton has evidence that could critically damage Wesley's term of office, and as a person. However, he has been holding onto it for a long time. A presidential protection group discovers the secrets that Brazelton holds, and threatens to not only dispense with the information, but with him as well. All for the cause of saving the presidency.

The characters are wonderfully written. One character that stood out with our staff was that of Lucky, a small-time hood with big-time connections. His compassion for Brazelton's cause, and his willingness to help, epitomized the characture of people such as this...out to make a buck and will help anyone who can help them - even if it does mean doing things on the wrong side of the law. Brazelton came to rely on Lucky, and it seemed that the dependency did go the other way as well.

There are a number of twists in the book, some could be seen and some not. However, this does not take away from the story in any way. Mr. Burton, in his quest to become an author while he still has the ability, has succeeded in every way. Clearly, he has earned the moniker of "Author". Hopefully, there will be more coming in the near future.

A scorching story centered round the concept of a dishonest, unprincipled White House regime. (Nothing new there, you might say!) Where this book makes the difference is that Eric Burton's grasp of political chicanery MUST come from an inside knowledge. I'm not suggesting that the author of $oft Money was involved in anything, but either he's an even better writer than his book suggests (which, in my view, would be difficult, since $oft Money is extraordinarily well written), or he knows something the rest of us don't.

The political `truths' in $oft Money read like you would imagine a Tom Clancy book to read if Clancy took up writing political thrillers instead of war/army type books - they seem to be well-researched and factual. Money-laundering, double-dealing, power struggles - it's all been seen before in USA (think Watergate, think Monica, think this is not good for America!) and Burton's book brings it right to our living room. Here, though, we see one man torn between loyalty for his president and loyalty to his principles. Well, okay, what would YOU do? There's your conflict and, since conflict makes a good plot, there's your plot.

Eric Burton has made a great start to his writing career. Long may he continue.

Classic read! If this was E.L.Burtons debut to writing, he's made a remarkable job of it and you can be sure he'll go on to write some more top sellers. You really feel you're in amongst the power-brokers, the movers and shakers, the spin doctors, the politicians the good guys, the bad guys. (I live in Bruxelles, I should know!) $oft Money has a real `insiders' feel to it - makes me wonder what the author does for a living!

In real terms, this book deals with campaign funds, the fight for power, the men behind the men behind The Man. In fictitious (?) terms the book deals with the moral struggle of one man to either remain loyal to his former business associate or expose him for what he is. The problem is - this man is now the President of the most powerful country on earth.

Truly compulsive reading, and I'm not sure how the author's going to follow up on $oft Money. I just KNOW it's going to be good.

Words as sharp and accurate as a rapier, a storyline as intriguing as a spider's web. E.L.Burton's $oft Money is a dazzling study of the abuse of power that has blighted America since Watergate and before. In it, he relates one man's struggle against his conscience when a former associate is elected President.

More than just a floral use of words and a sharp sense of timing, Burton brings us a sense of realism that can best be described as on-the-spot. In dialogues, his choice of phrase says as much about his ability as a writer as his knowledge of political America. He doesn't seem to feel the need for `he opinioned', `she screamed', or `he blustered'; the discourse does it for him. The sure sign of someone who knows how to wield a pen.

In his biography, the author claims to have worked in `Corporate America'. Methinks he stretcheth the truth a little. Only an insider could have written with Burton's amazing breadth of knowledge. He is surely the Tom Clancy of political novelists and I look forward to his next book with eager anticipation.

I agree entirely with what Mr. Grover (author of STRIKE HARD) and his new Columbus based Book Nook Review Club had to say about this book. So I guess all I can add would be be to say this was a great first effort on behalf of this new writer.

If I could give this book four-and-three-quarters, I would! Not because I didn't like it (I DID like it), but because I found myself at the end too soon and wanted more of the same. This is SO real. You're there, living through the soul-searching, the back-stabbing, the political machinations. I couldn't help feeling that Eric Burton has been in a situation similar. His writing is lively, his presentation of 'facts' is precise and knowledgable, his characters are wholly believable (maybe, like I say, he really DOES know them), and the plot is gripping and cleverly constructed. I suspect we're going to see more of Burton's books in the future because this one's a keeper.

Author Eric Burton's story telling brought this reader 'up close and personal' with the people who are closest to one of the most powerful men on the planet; the spin doctors and the political hucksters bent on protecting the President's image and career, at all costs. Burton's fictional president, Preston Wesley, like some of his predecessors (JFK and Bill Clinton) has a skeleton or two in his closet, and the author did a great job of keeping this reader in suspense through to the end.

I'm sorry. I guess I'm an island here and stand alone, but this book didn't impress me. I think perhaps with time, the author will develop an incredible talent, but it didn't shine through this time. The book was readable, but the plot was predictable and shallow. The style seemed misplace--almost like he hadn't quite found his own voice yet. It's a great first effort--but I can't understand the Clancy comparisons. It definitely does not fall in that class.

As the author of Strike Hard, I found this book to be one of superb quaity in the aspect of frighteningly realistic. $oft Money explores the dark and twisted underbelly of political campaign contributions that are in the forefront of today's headlines.

Currently, there are a number of debates on Capitol Hill concerning campaign money and the format by which it is contributed. Many times over the years, we have seen news articles that talk about corruption and scandal associated with the so-called "soft money" of politics. E.L. Burton has taken this and turned it into a story that shows all of the implications involved with these monies, and how even those who go to Washington with the best intentions can come out being on the wrong side of the corruption fence.

"Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely", and "Money is the root of all Evil", are catch phrases that everyone associates with government politics today. This book explores how one man can be held in thrall by these two "magic potions" - power and money, and how another can be torn between friendship and duty.

E.L. Burton has managed to tell a story that is one of the best new novels of this millennium, and shows promise of being one of the stalwart authors that will dictate the basis for corruption/suspense novels for years to come.