Marine One

By: James W. Huston

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

After the presidents' helicopter, Marine One, goes down in a brutal thunderstorm, the government blames the European manufacturer of the helicopter, accusing them of killing the president.

Senate investigations and Justice Department accusations multiply as Mike Nolan, a Marine Corps reserve helicopter pilot and trial attorney in civilian life, is hired to defend the company from the criminal investigations and a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the most notorious lawyer in America on behalf of the First Lady.

Nolan knows that to win his case, he has to find out what really caused Marine One to crash and why the president threw caution aside to go to a meeting no one seems to know about.

©2009 James W. Huston (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Nonstop legal suspense at its best."( Publishers Weekly)

GRIPPING, FAST MOVING, EXCELLENT WRITING, CLEAN

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is my first James W. Huston book and I loved it. It is so hard to find a good gripping book without having to wade through gratuitous sex, violence and profanity. Huston is like Clive Cussler...clean, gripping, exciting and fun to listen to. I'll listen to all of his book now and recommend them to my grand kids.

Great courtroom thriller

I really enjoyed this one. This book suggests the sword of damocles theory how people in positions of power are always under constant threat. The President's chopper crashes and the expected media frenzy ensues, the manufacturer of the chopper is the obvious scape goat so a court battle follows while evidence is covered up and a the real story wreaks of conspiracy. The action starts right from the first page, and I was hard-pressed to find one dull moment. Always on the edge of my seat, the narrative is fast paced and free flowing. The only criticism I have is regarding some of the chapters in the first half. This book reads like an abridged version. sometimes, the chapters would just stop! The author tries to make it suspensefull by cutting the chapter off, mid-sentence, but it gives an unfinished impression. I was quite surprised at this. Having said that, the Narrator does a brilliant job with tones and accents, etc. It is very well read, and an exciting story to listen to.

Starts with a bang...(actually, a crash)

STORY - (courtroom thriller) I really, really enjoyed this book. There is an intense investigation involving the crash of a French-made helicopter which kills the President of the U.S. There are all kinds of theories of whether it was due to faulty manufacturing, a storm-related accident or whether there were motives to sabotage the copter and murder the President. The investigation culminates in a federall trial where the First Lady and widows of the crew of Marine One are suing the French manufacturer for over a billion dollars. I thought the whole book was exciting and very, very interesting. I would have rated it a 5 except for the fact that I am in the legal profession and some of the courtroom procedures were a bit over the top. Despite the fact that I sometimes would roll my eyes, it was great listening.

PERFORMANCE - The narrator did a good job, but nothing exceptional. He didnt try very hard to distinguish between the different characters.

OVERALL - (Actual rating 4.5) Great courtroom thriller with elements of crash investigation and political conspiracy. No violence or foul language.

Political Conspiracy or Accident? Courtroom Drama!

This story was an entertaining listen, but the ending was a "stretch".... The court room drama was very satisfying but the ending while viable, it left me disappointed. Even though the ending was potentially possible, I guess I wanted something more. I wanted an ending that would have taken down the bad guys who were involved in the courtroom drama.

The court room tactics were the best part of the story. Which side, the defense or the prosecution, would come up with the best "gotcha" moments. There were lots of legal wrangling going on while each side were investigating who manufactured key parts of the helicopter that crashed killing the President of the United States. Determining why the helicopter crashed would determine who was responsible.

The narrator was on point, no complaints there...

A great read/listen

This one is well worth a credit. Save it for a long trip because you can't stop once it gets started.

Fantastic story, well told, action packed!

Huston does it again with this wonderful book. Full of suspense and unexpected turns that are both fantastic and plausible. This is a great book that's well read by the narrator.

Just as good, or perhaps better than John Grisham

This is both an international spy thriller and a courtroom drama book. The author does a great job of combining the 2 genres into one compelling novel. If you like John Grisham or Tom Clancy you will like this book.

After the crash of Marine One and the death of the president a witch hunt begins to assign blame for the crash. The likely target is the helicopter's builder and a French company World Copter. Was it a plot by the French to kill the president or just a bad design? (The story is partly based on reality because there was a big hoopla over who would build Marine One, and the contract was given partly to an Italian company. The trial in the novel also brings up the cost of the helicopter which in reality at $400M each costs as much as Airforce One, the president's 747).

The lawyer called on to the defend the company, Mike Nolan, is a helicopter pilot himself, and quickly realizes that something is not quite right. As in any good courtroom drama, the truth comes out, and the culprit's are not the ones anyone suspects.

The narration is quite good. If this book was from a better know author I am sure it would be on the top seller list since it is actually better than many of the ones there at this time.

Fast pace and fun and well worth one credit for 12 hours of listening..

Great Suspense Book

Marine One

Huston is a master storyteller, often combining political suspense with fast-paced courtroom drama. His latest thriller is also his best. It grabs the reader from the first word and does not let up. On the first page the President's helicopter, Marine One, crashes and kills the President and everyone else on board. Attorney Mike Nolan, a reserve Marine helicopter pilot himself, is hired to represent the French manufacturer of the helicopter in a criminal investigation and a wrongful death lawsuit by the First Lady. Nolan knows that in order to prevail, he must find out what caused the helicopter to crash and why the President chose to fly to Camp David in a horrible storm.

Huston's bio says he is an aviation attorney in real life; he clearly is an expert on aviation and litigation. He uses his expertise to tell a brilliant story, filled with political intrigue, suspense and excellent courtroom drama. Once I started reading this outstanding book, I could not put it down. It is a sophisticated thriller that stands above others in this genre. I strongly recommend it.

Joe Barrett was outstanding with the delivery of the story

Suspense and action packed legal thriller!

With the sheer number of great legal thrillers written by James W Huston, Michael Connelly, Scott Pratt, Joel Goldman, and others, I continue to be amazed that most people seem to believe that John Grisham owns this genre. Grisham has been very good in the past, but his two most recent novels (and some older ones) have been disappointing with the most recent one being very, very bad.

Marine One is a great novel! The topic is a lawsuit resulting in the US president's helicopter going down. If one is looking for a really good action/thriller/suspense novel, Marine One is a good place to start.

15 Stars! Did NOT want it to end.

James Huston is now one of my favorite writers. His plotting’s tighter than a sausage casing. Every part of this puzzle involves volitional characters that fit into this intricate tale like Russian nesting dolls. I’m not sure which genre best pigeon-holes 'Marine One'. It is a legal thriller, yep. It’s a political thriller, uh-huh. It’s a science story, a murder(s) mystery, an international why-dunnit, a PI and even a military yarn. And they work together the way all the disparate stuff satisfies in a slice of lasagna.

I like it that Mike Nolan is not a super hero, but rather he’s people like us with a law degree. Yeah, there are suspense echoes of a David Mamet adaptation of Barry Reed’s great novel, ‘The Verdict’ with overtones of both Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy, all sautéd in a John Le Carré sauce. Like each of those masters, James Huston is a story teller.

Andrew Miller once wrote that “a novel is a collection of anxieties held together, more or less well, more or less interestingly, by the chicken wire of plot" And while the anxieties here are cranked up to 10, the characters are all seemingly possible people and Huston’s chicken wire’s spun from tungsten.

BTW, Joe Barrett once again manages to disappear replacing himself with an accessible ensemble of identifiable characters and an interpretation of their personalities that I’d never have envisioned if I’d read this thing from a book. Barrett reads better than I imagine.

‘Marine One’s’ an Audible Book at its best. It would make a great multi part successor to "House of Cards". Are you listening Net Flicks?