-
Power Play
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $15.56
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Mars, Inc.
- The Billionaire's Club
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do you get to the Red Planet? Not via a benightedgovernment program trapped in red tape and bound by budget constrictions,that's for sure. No, what it will take is a helping of adventure, science,corporate power plays, a generous dollop of seduction - both in and out of theboardroom - and money, money, money!
-
-
Disappointing by any standard
- By Rick Moyers on 02-10-21
By: Ben Bova
-
Powersat
- The Grand Tour Series
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two hundred thousand feet up, things go horribly wrong. An experimental low-orbit spaceplane breaks up on reentry, falling to earth over a trail hundreds of miles long. And in its wake is the beginning of the most important mission in the history of spaceflight.
-
-
Great book but substandard recording
- By Greg on 11-25-11
By: Ben Bova
-
Death Wave
- The Star Quest Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kell and his team return to Earth many years after their departure, they find that their world has changed almost beyond recognition. Not only has a second wave of greenhouse flooding caused sea levels to rise, but society has been changed by the consequences of the climate shift. Few people want to face Jordan Kell's news. He must convince Earth's new rulers that the human race is in danger of extinction unless it acts to forestall the death wave coming from the galaxy's heart.
-
-
complete let down don't waste a credit! !
- By Ryan on 12-02-15
By: Ben Bova
-
The Sam Gunn Omnibus
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Richard Brewer, Emily Janice Card, Gabrielle de Cuir, and others
- Length: 29 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A hero without peer or scruples, Sam Gunn has a nose for trouble, money, and women, though not necessarily in that order. A man with the ego (and stature) of a Napoleon, the business acumen of a P. T. Barnum, and the raging hormones of a teenage boy, Sam is the finest astronaut NASA ever trained and dumped. But more than money, more than women, Sam Gunn loves justice—and he really does love money and women.
-
-
SAM GUNN LIFE STORY
- By Professor on 11-02-12
By: Ben Bova
-
Voyagers
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Ben Bova
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stoner knew. The fiery object hurtling toward the Earth was an alien spacecraft. But the world might never know. He was trapped in an iron cordon of secrecy, for the discovery had shattered the world power balance, setting off a brutal struggle for supremacy that raged from the sacred halls of the Vatican to the corridors of the Kremlin and the Pentagon. The forces of fear and treachery would use any weapon at their command, from mind war to sabotage, to keep the world in darkness.
-
-
Not Quite "Rendezvous With Rama"
- By Noe on 02-26-09
By: Ben Bova
-
Billy Summers
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Paul Sparks
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 08-03-21
By: Stephen King
-
Mars, Inc.
- The Billionaire's Club
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do you get to the Red Planet? Not via a benightedgovernment program trapped in red tape and bound by budget constrictions,that's for sure. No, what it will take is a helping of adventure, science,corporate power plays, a generous dollop of seduction - both in and out of theboardroom - and money, money, money!
-
-
Disappointing by any standard
- By Rick Moyers on 02-10-21
By: Ben Bova
-
Powersat
- The Grand Tour Series
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two hundred thousand feet up, things go horribly wrong. An experimental low-orbit spaceplane breaks up on reentry, falling to earth over a trail hundreds of miles long. And in its wake is the beginning of the most important mission in the history of spaceflight.
-
-
Great book but substandard recording
- By Greg on 11-25-11
By: Ben Bova
-
Death Wave
- The Star Quest Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kell and his team return to Earth many years after their departure, they find that their world has changed almost beyond recognition. Not only has a second wave of greenhouse flooding caused sea levels to rise, but society has been changed by the consequences of the climate shift. Few people want to face Jordan Kell's news. He must convince Earth's new rulers that the human race is in danger of extinction unless it acts to forestall the death wave coming from the galaxy's heart.
-
-
complete let down don't waste a credit! !
- By Ryan on 12-02-15
By: Ben Bova
-
The Sam Gunn Omnibus
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Richard Brewer, Emily Janice Card, Gabrielle de Cuir, and others
- Length: 29 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A hero without peer or scruples, Sam Gunn has a nose for trouble, money, and women, though not necessarily in that order. A man with the ego (and stature) of a Napoleon, the business acumen of a P. T. Barnum, and the raging hormones of a teenage boy, Sam is the finest astronaut NASA ever trained and dumped. But more than money, more than women, Sam Gunn loves justice—and he really does love money and women.
-
-
SAM GUNN LIFE STORY
- By Professor on 11-02-12
By: Ben Bova
-
Voyagers
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Ben Bova
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stoner knew. The fiery object hurtling toward the Earth was an alien spacecraft. But the world might never know. He was trapped in an iron cordon of secrecy, for the discovery had shattered the world power balance, setting off a brutal struggle for supremacy that raged from the sacred halls of the Vatican to the corridors of the Kremlin and the Pentagon. The forces of fear and treachery would use any weapon at their command, from mind war to sabotage, to keep the world in darkness.
-
-
Not Quite "Rendezvous With Rama"
- By Noe on 02-26-09
By: Ben Bova
-
Billy Summers
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Paul Sparks
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 08-03-21
By: Stephen King
-
Invisible Girl
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Donna Banya, Katherine Kelly, Connor Swindells
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Owen Pick’s life is falling apart. In his 30s and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct - accusations he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel forums, where he meets a charismatic and mysterious figure. Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen.
-
-
Hate it ended!! Lisa Jewell, you did it again!!!!
- By Lisa Lawson on 10-15-20
By: Lisa Jewell
-
Win
- By: Harlan Coben
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family's estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors - and the items stolen from her family were never recovered. Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead - with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.
-
-
It’s a WINner!!!!
- By shelley on 03-16-21
By: Harlan Coben
-
The Other Black Girl
- A Novel
- By: Zakiya Dalila Harris
- Narrated by: Aja Naomi King, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Heather Alicia Simms, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust.
-
-
Provocative
- By TDub on 06-05-21
-
Wicked
- A Wicked Saga, Book 1
- By: Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-two-year-old Ivy Morgan isn't your average college student. She, and others like her, know that humans aren't the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun... and for food. Her duty to the Order is her life. Four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she'd sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart. Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He's six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm.
-
-
TINK!
- By whatcha.listening.to on 03-31-19
-
The Shadows Between Us
- By: Tricia Levenseller
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power: 1. Woo the Shadow King. 2. Marry him. 3. Kill him and take his kingdom for herself. No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it. But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king.
-
-
Excellent and Unique
- By English Teacher on 03-04-20
-
The Girls Weekend
- A Novel
- By: Jody Gehrman
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
June Moody is a 30-something English professor. Her old friend and longtime nemesis Sadie MacTavish, a mega-successful author, invites June and her college friends to a baby shower at her sprawling estate in the San Juan Islands. June is less than thrilled to spend time with Sadie and her husband - June's former crush - but agrees to go. The party gets off to a shaky start when old grudges resurface, but when they wake the next morning, they find something worse: Sadie is missing, the house is in shambles, and bloodstains mar the staircase.
-
-
Save yourself the pain and skip
- By Ardenl on 08-28-20
By: Jody Gehrman
-
The Hellfire Club
- By: Jake Tapper
- Narrated by: Jake Tapper
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Marder is an unlikely congressman. Thrust into office by his family ties after his predecessor died mysteriously, Charlie is struggling to navigate the dangerous waters of 1950s Washington, DC, alongside his young wife, Margaret, a zoologist with ambitions of her own. Amid the swirl of glamorous and powerful political leaders and deal makers, a mysterious fatal car accident thrusts Charlie and Margaret into an underworld of backroom deals, secret societies, and a plot that could change the course of history.
-
-
Awful!
- By Richard Bruno on 06-07-18
By: Jake Tapper
-
A Rose for the Crown
- By: Anne Easter Smith
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 25 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Rose for the Crown, we meet one of history's alleged villains through the eyes of a captivating new heroine, the woman who was the mother of his illegitimate children, a woman who loved him for who he really was, no matter what the cost to herself.
-
-
Captivating
- By Pamela on 07-05-07
-
Black (4 Novel Bundle)
- By: Russell Blake
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 29 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Artemus Black doesn't believe in fate...but even a hardened Hollywood PI can question destiny when cases turn ugly. With an assistant who mocks him relentlessly, an obese cat that loathes him, a romantic life that's deader than Elvis, money problems, booze, nicotine, and anger management issues, how much worse can it get? The answer is plenty, and Black finds himself in a web of deceit, betrayal, and murder - and bad hair days.
-
-
Boy, What a Bargain
- By Wiley Brooks on 09-13-18
By: Russell Blake
-
Bringing Down the Duke
- A League of Extraordinary Women, Book 1
- By: Evie Dunmore
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Jasicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the queen's command.
-
-
Definitely An Adult Romance
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-20
By: Evie Dunmore
-
Tart of Darkness
- The Chef-to-Go Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Denise Swanson
- Narrated by: Melissa Moran
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dani unexpectedly inherits an enormous old house in a quaint college town and pursues her true passion - cooking! She opens Chef-to-Go, preparing delicious, ready-made meals for hungry students as well as providing personal chef services. To help support her new business, she opens her home to a few students, renting them rooms and becoming almost like a big sister figure in their lives. But just as Dani is relishing her sweet new life, the friend of one of her boarders is murdered, and Dani becomes one of the primary suspects!
-
-
NOT A Clean Cozy
- By hutchinre on 06-19-19
By: Denise Swanson
-
Magic Required
- A Lochlan Ellyll Novel
- By: HS Paisley
- Narrated by: Patrick Zeller, Addison Barnes
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the year 2047, Lochlan takes the bus to his soul-sucking job answering phones to remain unnoticed. Life is easier that way. Little attachment. Few friends. That means less people caught in the crossfire when he loses control again. The last time he came close to losing it was when he was around Zemila. That was five years ago, just before he disappeared. That was why he disappeared. He’s good at that. Disappearing. Resettling. Being overlooked.
-
-
Get ready for a Great Story
- By Elizabeth on 06-24-20
By: HS Paisley
Publisher's summary
Dr. Jake Ross, a university astronomer, wants nothing more than to teach a few classes each semester and continue his research. Instead, he finds himself aggressively recruited to be the science advisor to Frank Tomlinson, an ambitious politician with his eye on the US Senate. Tomlinson is in need of an edge that will allow him to defeat his opponent at the polls, and Dr. Ross can contribute just that: MHD.
MHD, or magnetohydrodynamics, is a new innovation that will allow electricity to be generated efficiently and cheaply. The Senate seat is essentially guaranteed if Tomlinson can deliver unlimited energy to voters at less than half the price of nuclear power. But MHD is still in its infancy, and although the outlook is extremely promising there are great - and deadly - risks.
The incumbent senator will not give up his seat without a fight, and as Ross discovers, the world of politics carries its own dangers. Nothing has prepared him for the extreme tactics that desperate and powerful people are willing to use.
Power Play is a timely thrill ride by Ben Bova, one of science fiction’s most respected novelists.
Ben Bova, six-time winner of science fiction’s Hugo Award, is the author of over one hundred works of science fact and fiction. A former editor of Analog and former fiction editor of Omni, he is also a past president of the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lives in Naples, Florida.
More from the same
Author
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
Hunter
- A Thriller
- By: Robert Bidinotto
- Narrated by: Conor Hall
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From its first moments, Hunter takes you on a nonstop thrill ride: from the top floor of the CIA, to the marbled corridors of Capitol Hill...from the posh hotels of downtown Washington, to the city's mean, violent streets. It introduces a colorful new hero for our time - and a dazzling heroine every bit his equal. A spy mystery...a crime thriller...a passionate romance: Hunter is a genre-bending novel unlike any you've read. Deviously plotted, filled with vivid characters, and propelled at a breakneck pace.
-
-
Best Vigilante Story since Without Remorse
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 04-16-16
By: Robert Bidinotto
-
Until Proven Guilty
- J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 1
- By: J. A. Jance
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lurking in the dark corners of J. P. Beaumont's bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.
-
-
Until proven guilty
- By Jean on 04-21-11
By: J. A. Jance
-
The Eighth Commandment
- By: Lawrence Sanders
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Damaretion, the prized Greek coin from Archibald Havistock's collection, disappears and appraiser Mary Lou "Dunk" Bateson comes under suspicion, Bateson, a cop, and an insurance investigator set out to solve the crime.
-
-
It was a nice listen
- By John on 10-01-12
By: Lawrence Sanders
-
Crimes by Moonlight
- Mysteries from the Dark Side
- By: Charlaine Harris - author/editor
- Narrated by: Natalie Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris’s "Dahlia Underground,” venerable vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers survives an attack by an anti-vampire terrorist group, only to show them they tried to blow up the wrong bloodsucker. Bailey Ruth Raeburn, a ghost assigned to assist humans in trouble, steps into the middle of a marital dispute with surprising twists in Carolyn Hart’s “Riding High”....
-
-
Pleasantly surprised
- By Bonnie on 08-06-11
-
Open Season
- A Joe Pickett Novel
- By: C. J. Box
- Narrated by: David Chandler
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts and the game warden—especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way—is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state-owned home, he takes it personally. There had to be a reason that the outfitter, with whom he's had run-ins before, chose his backyard, his woodpile to die in.
-
-
Disappointed.
- By Kristina on 02-18-14
By: C. J. Box
-
Murder at the Kennedy Center
- By: Margaret Truman
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kenneth Ewald has what it takes to win the presidency: the support of his party, a lovely wife, a dynamic campaign. What neither he nor any candidate needs is a corpse. He knows only one man capable of solving a crime, clearing his son, putting his campaign back on track and catching a killer: his best friend Mac Smith. Oddly enough, it was Mac and his dog Rufus who found the body in the first place.
-
-
Truman
- By Barbra on 01-01-08
By: Margaret Truman
-
Hunter
- A Thriller
- By: Robert Bidinotto
- Narrated by: Conor Hall
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From its first moments, Hunter takes you on a nonstop thrill ride: from the top floor of the CIA, to the marbled corridors of Capitol Hill...from the posh hotels of downtown Washington, to the city's mean, violent streets. It introduces a colorful new hero for our time - and a dazzling heroine every bit his equal. A spy mystery...a crime thriller...a passionate romance: Hunter is a genre-bending novel unlike any you've read. Deviously plotted, filled with vivid characters, and propelled at a breakneck pace.
-
-
Best Vigilante Story since Without Remorse
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 04-16-16
By: Robert Bidinotto
-
Until Proven Guilty
- J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 1
- By: J. A. Jance
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lurking in the dark corners of J. P. Beaumont's bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.
-
-
Until proven guilty
- By Jean on 04-21-11
By: J. A. Jance
-
The Eighth Commandment
- By: Lawrence Sanders
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Damaretion, the prized Greek coin from Archibald Havistock's collection, disappears and appraiser Mary Lou "Dunk" Bateson comes under suspicion, Bateson, a cop, and an insurance investigator set out to solve the crime.
-
-
It was a nice listen
- By John on 10-01-12
By: Lawrence Sanders
-
Crimes by Moonlight
- Mysteries from the Dark Side
- By: Charlaine Harris - author/editor
- Narrated by: Natalie Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris’s "Dahlia Underground,” venerable vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers survives an attack by an anti-vampire terrorist group, only to show them they tried to blow up the wrong bloodsucker. Bailey Ruth Raeburn, a ghost assigned to assist humans in trouble, steps into the middle of a marital dispute with surprising twists in Carolyn Hart’s “Riding High”....
-
-
Pleasantly surprised
- By Bonnie on 08-06-11
-
Open Season
- A Joe Pickett Novel
- By: C. J. Box
- Narrated by: David Chandler
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts and the game warden—especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way—is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state-owned home, he takes it personally. There had to be a reason that the outfitter, with whom he's had run-ins before, chose his backyard, his woodpile to die in.
-
-
Disappointed.
- By Kristina on 02-18-14
By: C. J. Box
-
Murder at the Kennedy Center
- By: Margaret Truman
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kenneth Ewald has what it takes to win the presidency: the support of his party, a lovely wife, a dynamic campaign. What neither he nor any candidate needs is a corpse. He knows only one man capable of solving a crime, clearing his son, putting his campaign back on track and catching a killer: his best friend Mac Smith. Oddly enough, it was Mac and his dog Rufus who found the body in the first place.
-
-
Truman
- By Barbra on 01-01-08
By: Margaret Truman
-
Chiefs
- By: Stuart Woods
- Narrated by: Mark Hammer
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1919, Delano, Georgia, appoints its first chief of police. Honest and hardworking, the new chief is puzzled when young men start to disappear. But his investigation is ended by the fatal blast from a shotgun. Delano's second chief-of-police is no hero, yet he is also disturbed by what he sees in the missing-persons bulletins. In 1969, when Delano's third chief takes over, the unsolved disappearances still haunt the police files.
-
-
In my 'Top Ten' books of all time!
- By karen on 09-17-13
By: Stuart Woods
-
Red Swan
- By: P. T. Deutermann
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A behind-the-scenes operator at the CIA, Wallace was integral to the agency's secret war against China's national intelligence service, which infiltrates government offices, major businesses, and systems crucial to our security. Wallace had severely damaged China's Washington spy ring with a devastating ruse, a so-called "black swan", in which a deep-undercover female agent targeted and destroyed a key Chinese official. Now, Wallace's mysterious death suggests that the CIA itself has been compromised and that China has someone inside the agency.
-
-
A flawed thriller
- By John Riehl on 10-29-17
By: P. T. Deutermann
-
The Hot Rock
- The First Dortmunder Novel
- By: Donald E. Westlake
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Dortmunder and company are hired by an U.N. African Ambassador to steal the famed Balabomo Emerald from the hands of a rival African country. But their daring and clever burglarly goes awry, and the emerald slips through their fingers. Undaunted, Dortmunder chases the gem by plane, train and automobile in hot pursuit of the hot rock.
-
-
Dortmunder is on his game in this fun introduction
- By William R. on 08-25-11
-
Darkside
- By: P. T. Deutermann
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a midshipman plunges six stories to his death, the U.S. Naval Academy begins investigating an apparent suicide. But there's a bizarre twist: the young man's body is found wearing undergarments belonging to Midshipman Julie Markham, a senior at the academy.
-
-
Darkside is worth your credit
- By shelley on 02-07-14
By: P. T. Deutermann
-
Mistress of Justice
- By: Jeffery Deaver
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taylor Lockwood spends her days working as a paralegal in one of New York's preeminent Wall Street law firms and her nights playing jazz piano anyplace she can. But the rhythm of her life is disrupted when attorney Mitchell Reece requests her help in locating a stolen document that could cost him not only the multimillion-dollar case he's defending but his career as well.
-
-
Pathetic! I wasted a credit!
- By Wayne on 06-28-18
By: Jeffery Deaver
-
Rising Sun
- A Novel
- By: Michael Crichton
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A riveting thriller of corporate intrigue and cutthroat competition between American and Japanese business interests. On the forty-fifth floor of the Nakamoto tower in downtown Los Angeles - the new American headquarters of the immense Japanese conglomerate - a grand opening celebration is in full swing. On the forty-sixth floor, in an empty conference room, the corpse of a beautiful young woman is discovered.
-
-
THESE DAYS, EVERYBODY IS BUILDING WALLS
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-14-17
By: Michael Crichton
-
The Merlot Murders
- A Wine Country Mystery
- By: Ellen Crosby
- Narrated by: P. J. Davis-Oran
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucie Montgomery's semi-estranged brother, Eli, calls her in France to tell her that their father, Leland, has been killed in a hunting accident on the family's 500-acre Virginia vineyard. But the vineyard is now shabby and run-down and her siblings want to sell it. Then Lucie's godfather tells her Leland's death was no accident. With her greedy brother, hell-raising sister, and a seemingly cut-rate vintner hired by Leland just before he died, all the suspects are disturbingly close to home.
-
-
Wine & history w/ your mystery!
- By Cracker1951 on 03-27-08
By: Ellen Crosby
-
Near Death
- A Thriller
- By: Glenn Cooper
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milan, Italy, today. It is the most serious crisis that the world has ever faced. Bewildered, young and old, believers and atheists are asking all the same distressing questions: What will they do now that the greatest dream of humanity has turned into a nightmare? What will happen when the countdown clock winds to zero?
-
-
Not quite dead...yet
- By Matthew on 11-24-15
By: Glenn Cooper
-
Heartbreaker
- Buchanan-Renard-MacKenna, Book 1
- By: Julie Garwood
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the still shadows of the confessional, a madman tauntingly reveals his plan for a murder he is going to commit, pulling Father Thomas Madden into a twisted game by disclosing his next intended victim: Tom's sister, Laurant. In a frantic race to protect her, Tom calls upon his best friend, elite FBI agent Nick Buchanan, to track the predator who is closing in on Laurant. Now, as an electrifying attraction grows between Laurant and Nick, so does the danger - and one false move will cost both of them everything that matters.
-
-
No struggle here.
- By Tom on 04-09-16
By: Julie Garwood
-
Hush Money
- Hush Money Mystery Series, Book 1
- By: T. E. Woods
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madison is booming with dreamers and drifters, visionaries and entrepreneurs. Among them is Sydney Richardson, the daughter of a cop who died on these streets and now the proud, stressed-out owner of Hush Money, one of the city's top new restaurants. Like everyone else in town, Sydney is shocked when Madison's popular mayor - a crusty, charismatic man of the people - is shot to death in his own home. But the news hits especially close to home for Sydney because one of her own stands accused of the brutal crime. Sydney's the one person that Wanda Fields, a quiet, hardworking waitress and single mother, can think to call after her arrest.
-
-
T E Woods sure know how to write 'em!
- By shelley on 02-14-18
By: T. E. Woods
-
Men in Blue
- Badge of Honor, Book 1
- By: W. E. B. Griffin
- Narrated by: Michael Russotto
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
W.E.B. Griffin's best-selling series, The Corps and Brotherhood of War, have captured the pride and glory of the military community. Now he reveals a city police force with the same unique blend of realism, drama, and action. Here are the brave men and women behind the badge as you've never seen them before - their hopes and fears, their courage and heroism, sparked by a single, shocking event: The killing of a cop in the line of duty.
-
-
Tremendous Cop story with Mystery and some Romance
- By Bevs Mom on 10-08-12
By: W. E. B. Griffin
-
The Last Policeman
- The Last Policeman, Book 1
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway? Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.
-
-
Not your regular mystery
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 09-20-16
By: Ben H. Winters
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Book of Hidden Things
- By: Francesco Dimitri
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four friends have a pact: to meet up on the same day every year in their small hometown in southern Italy. Art, the charismatic leader of the group, has always been adamant about the pact. But this year, he doesn't show up. Searching for him, the friends make a worrying discovery: Art has been farming marijuana, a very dangerous activity in mafia-controlled country.
-
-
So many loose ends
- By Abbe on 01-13-21
-
Exiled from Earth
- The Exiles Series, Book 1
- By: Ben Bova, Claire Bloom - director
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful world government has scientists transported from an overpopulated earth to a satellite on the eve of their discovery of a method to modify the human embryo.
-
-
Big questions require hard answers
- By Aron on 07-30-19
By: Ben Bova, and others
-
Powersat
- The Grand Tour Series
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two hundred thousand feet up, things go horribly wrong. An experimental low-orbit spaceplane breaks up on reentry, falling to earth over a trail hundreds of miles long. And in its wake is the beginning of the most important mission in the history of spaceflight.
-
-
Great book but substandard recording
- By Greg on 11-25-11
By: Ben Bova
-
Voyagers
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Ben Bova
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stoner knew. The fiery object hurtling toward the Earth was an alien spacecraft. But the world might never know. He was trapped in an iron cordon of secrecy, for the discovery had shattered the world power balance, setting off a brutal struggle for supremacy that raged from the sacred halls of the Vatican to the corridors of the Kremlin and the Pentagon. The forces of fear and treachery would use any weapon at their command, from mind war to sabotage, to keep the world in darkness.
-
-
Not Quite "Rendezvous With Rama"
- By Noe on 02-26-09
By: Ben Bova
-
Mars, Inc.
- The Billionaire's Club
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do you get to the Red Planet? Not via a benightedgovernment program trapped in red tape and bound by budget constrictions,that's for sure. No, what it will take is a helping of adventure, science,corporate power plays, a generous dollop of seduction - both in and out of theboardroom - and money, money, money!
-
-
Disappointing by any standard
- By Rick Moyers on 02-10-21
By: Ben Bova
-
Penance
- A Mysterious Press-HighBridge Audio Classic
- By: David Housewright
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Holland Taylor is comfortable in interrogation rooms. For years the cold dark cells of the St. Paul Police Department homicide squad were his turf, and with the help of his partner he wrung confessions out of countless killers. But that was long ago. Tonight Taylor is on the other side of the desk. Tonight he is the suspect.
-
-
Excellent modern detective novel!
- By Wayne on 04-23-20
-
The Book of Hidden Things
- By: Francesco Dimitri
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four friends have a pact: to meet up on the same day every year in their small hometown in southern Italy. Art, the charismatic leader of the group, has always been adamant about the pact. But this year, he doesn't show up. Searching for him, the friends make a worrying discovery: Art has been farming marijuana, a very dangerous activity in mafia-controlled country.
-
-
So many loose ends
- By Abbe on 01-13-21
-
Exiled from Earth
- The Exiles Series, Book 1
- By: Ben Bova, Claire Bloom - director
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful world government has scientists transported from an overpopulated earth to a satellite on the eve of their discovery of a method to modify the human embryo.
-
-
Big questions require hard answers
- By Aron on 07-30-19
By: Ben Bova, and others
-
Powersat
- The Grand Tour Series
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two hundred thousand feet up, things go horribly wrong. An experimental low-orbit spaceplane breaks up on reentry, falling to earth over a trail hundreds of miles long. And in its wake is the beginning of the most important mission in the history of spaceflight.
-
-
Great book but substandard recording
- By Greg on 11-25-11
By: Ben Bova
-
Voyagers
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Ben Bova
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stoner knew. The fiery object hurtling toward the Earth was an alien spacecraft. But the world might never know. He was trapped in an iron cordon of secrecy, for the discovery had shattered the world power balance, setting off a brutal struggle for supremacy that raged from the sacred halls of the Vatican to the corridors of the Kremlin and the Pentagon. The forces of fear and treachery would use any weapon at their command, from mind war to sabotage, to keep the world in darkness.
-
-
Not Quite "Rendezvous With Rama"
- By Noe on 02-26-09
By: Ben Bova
-
Mars, Inc.
- The Billionaire's Club
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do you get to the Red Planet? Not via a benightedgovernment program trapped in red tape and bound by budget constrictions,that's for sure. No, what it will take is a helping of adventure, science,corporate power plays, a generous dollop of seduction - both in and out of theboardroom - and money, money, money!
-
-
Disappointing by any standard
- By Rick Moyers on 02-10-21
By: Ben Bova
-
Penance
- A Mysterious Press-HighBridge Audio Classic
- By: David Housewright
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Holland Taylor is comfortable in interrogation rooms. For years the cold dark cells of the St. Paul Police Department homicide squad were his turf, and with the help of his partner he wrung confessions out of countless killers. But that was long ago. Tonight Taylor is on the other side of the desk. Tonight he is the suspect.
-
-
Excellent modern detective novel!
- By Wayne on 04-23-20
-
March Upcountry
- Prince Roger Series, Book 1
- By: David Weber, John Ringo
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 17 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang MacClintock was young, handsome, athletic, an excellent dresser, and third in line for the Throne of Man. So it wasn't surprising that he became spoiled, self-centered, and petulant. After all, what else did he have to do with his life?
-
-
2 GREAT WRITERS 1 FANTASTIC STORY
- By Randall on 08-26-18
By: David Weber, and others
-
How to Be Lost
- A Novel
- By: Amanda Eyre Ward
- Narrated by: Carine Montbertrand
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amanda Eyre Ward plumbs the depths of loss and captures the uplifting power of hope in this stirring novel. How to Be Lost is a devastating portrait of a family ravaged by grief—and by the very human longing to make things right again. Three sisters are on the verge of running away from home when the youngest, Ellie, disappears without a trace. Fifteen years later, sister Caroline finds that shemight still be alive.
-
-
Kind of a spoiler alert.
- By Sowazup on 01-28-23
By: Amanda Eyre Ward
-
The Precipice
- Book One of The Asteroid Wars
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Amanda Karr, cast
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, Dan Randolph was one of the richest men on Earth. Now the planet is spiraling into environmental disaster, with floods and earthquakes destroying the lives of millions. Martin Humphries, fabulously wealthy heir of the Humphries Trust, also knows that space-based industry is the way of the future. But unlike Randolph, he does not care if Earth perishes in the process.
-
-
Space Opera Fun ( not for Kids)
- By Chris on 02-08-06
By: Ben Bova
-
A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
-
-
series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
-
The Complete Mapp and Lucia, Volume 1
- By: E. F. Benson
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 26 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sharply observant and wickedly funny, E.F. Benson's six Mapp and Lucia novels satirize the upper-middle-class social climbers in 1920s and '30s rural England. Games of bridge and cups of tea fuel hilarious gossip and vindictive plots a-plenty. It is a masterfully sustained spotlight on the minutiae of village life - a clever and ultimately heart-warming series that seems tailor-made for audio. Volume 1 contains the first three books.
-
-
At last!
- By Grace M-T on 06-15-21
By: E. F. Benson
-
The Cleaner of Chartres
- By: Salley Vickers
- Narrated by: Pamela Garelick
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is something very special about Agnès Morel. A quiet presence in the small French town of Chartres, she can be found cleaning the famed medieval cathedral each morning and doing odd jobs for the townspeople. No one knows where she came from or why. Not Abbé Paul, who discovered her one morning 20 years ago, sleeping on the north porch, and not Alain Fleury, the irreverent young restorer who works alongside her each day - and whose attention she catches with her tawny eyes and elusive manner. She has transformed each of their lives in her own subtle way, yet no one suspects the dark secret Agnès is hiding.
-
-
Not my favorite S.Vickers, but worth reading!
- By KP on 09-14-14
By: Salley Vickers
-
Joust
- Dragon Jousters, Book 1
- By: Mercedes Lackey
- Narrated by: Ryan Burke
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first audiobook in this thrilling new series introduces us to a young slave who dreams of becoming a jouster - one of the few warriors who can actually ride a flying dragon. And so, in secret, he begins to raise his own dragon....
-
-
Fantastic
- By Krystalline on 03-22-19
By: Mercedes Lackey
-
Colony
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Kristopher Tabori
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Island One is a celestial utopia, and David Adams is its most perfect creation - a man with a brain as advanced as any computer and a body free of human frailties. But David is a prisoner - a captive of the colony that created him - destined to spend the days of his life in an island-sized cylinder that circles a doomed and desperate home planet. Thousands of miles below him, a world trembles; its people cringe in terror and despair in anticipation of an impending apocalypse. And fate has cast one extraordinary human in the role of savior.
-
-
Complex Classic Sci-Fi Thriller -- Must Read
- By GH on 09-23-13
By: Ben Bova
-
Corduroy Mansions
- A Novel
- By: Alexander McCall Smith
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In London’s Pimlico neighborhood lies a tenement described in architectural guides as “a building of no interest whatsoever.” But the residents of Corduroy Mansions—including a literary agent, a wine merchant, a thoroughly unpleasant member of Parliament, and a vegetarian dog—are a rather fascinating lot.
-
-
Oedipus Snark, MP
- By connie on 04-25-12
-
Bluffing Mr. Churchill
- By: John Lawton
- Narrated by: Lewis Hancock
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1941. Wolfgang Stahl, an American spy operating undercover as an SS officer, has just fled Germany with Hitler's henchmen on his trail. He is carrying valuable cargo - the blueprint of the Führer's secret plan to invade Russia. Stahl's man in the American embassy, the shy and sheltered Calvin M. Cormack, is teamed with a boisterous MI5 officer, Walter Stilton, to find the spy and bring him to safety. Their investigation takes them across war-torn London, from the shelled-out blocks to the ubiquitous pubs to the underground counterfeiting shops; and in Cormack's case, into the arms of Kitty, his partner's rambunctious daughter.
-
-
Interesting
- By Jayne s. on 10-18-20
By: John Lawton
-
The Art of the Tale
- Engage Your Audience, Elevate Your Organization, and Share Your Message Through Storytelling
- By: Steven James, Tom Morrisey
- Narrated by: Steven James, Tom Morrisey
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone, regardless of their background and training, can improve their storytelling abilities. But what is a story? How can you tell it in a way that delights and informs your listeners? Take a journey into the keys to great storytelling with two of the country’s top experts on story presentation and speech writing.
-
-
Excellent
- By Debbie on 12-22-22
By: Steven James, and others
-
Cruel Candy
- The Cozy Corgi Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Mildred Abbott
- Narrated by: Angie Hickman
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winifred Page and her corgi, Watson, move to Estes Park to hit the reset button on life. Fred is about to open her dream bookshop, and the only challenges she anticipates are adjusting to small-town life, tourists, and living close to her loveable mother, Phyllis, and hippy stepfather, Barry. When Fred steps into her soon-to-be-bookshop for the first time, she expects dust bunnies and spiders...not the dead body in the upstairs kitchen. The local police have an easy suspect - Barry.
-
-
Voice
- By Debbie Showalter on 06-27-22
By: Mildred Abbott
What listeners say about Power Play
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 10-31-22
Good Story, Mostly Good Performance
I thoroughly enjoyed Power Play except for one thing. The performer mispronounced Tycho Brahe every time he said it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Catherine Shea
- 01-06-22
Thebook was too slow and lacked enough plot line.
Way to slow and not enough of a plot line . Should have been a short story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- R. Laplante
- 06-21-12
Not bad
I love Ben Bova books. That being said, this one is just OK. It is a decent story and good science. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it is not one of his best. I would still recommend is as Ben Bova, at his worst, is still fanatastic.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Luetra
- 06-23-21
Anticlimactic
I kept waiting for the big reveal the twist I wasn't expecting. Instead it's a long set up for the other books. Hopefully they deliver.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 08-02-21
Political 'thriller' passing for science fiction
First, I have read and enjoyed many Ben Bova novels and his favorite narrator, Stefan Rudnicki, is always an attraction but not even he can save this one. The story has promise and the science is interesting but the story reads like the first novel of a high school student. Certainly, the main character displays all the political, emotional, and romantic sophistication of a 16 year old. An assistant professor of astronomy at an unnamed university he is drawn into politics as the science advisor of a first run senate candidate. There he encounters murder, corruption, and 'politics' while helping his candidate promote a new form of efficient, green energy using local coal. (No mention of how burning coal can be good for the environment.) The novel is populated by cardboard characters - heroes and villains - who are hard to care about or take seriously. Had it not been free I would have felt I had wasted my money.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Myranda Stangeland
- 01-03-23
Unrealistic Characters and No Climax or Twist
The whole book is just a long, slow lead up to nothing. The actual happenings just seemed so unnatural and all the characters were practically interchangeable, if they have any personality all.
At first I thought this book must have been written 50 years ago, with all the outdated male-female relations. I kept expecting the men to refer to the woman as “Dames.” I did eventually realize this was a more modern book, based on the fact that everyone started banging each other randomly regardless of marital status.
The main character is supposedly motivated by being a bullied nerd in high school. Yyet he was actually friends with the bully and sleeps with girl after girl who are each described as “cheerleader” looks including his high school sweetheart. And he still finds some way to whine about whichever girl isn’t actively banging him at the moment. Don’t forget he’s recently widowed from the love of his life, cause the main character completely forgets.
Then I got to the point where the Republican candidate was losing the primary because the other candidate was more conservative. His solution, come out as pro-choice. Ben Bova thinks being for abortion would be a winning issue among the ultra-conservative PRIMARY voters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Edvr Schl
- 07-18-23
Well….
First of all and last of all. Some books can be saved by a great narrator…and some can’t.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Debra Lloyd
- 08-23-21
A Good Setup?
I read all 3 of the other available reviews, after having listened to the book. I was curious what others had to say. I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it either. I found the story interesting but the characters were not riveting, and as one other reviewer said "cardboard". I'm hoping this is what someone else said "a good setup for the following books". I decided to give the next in the series a try as it seems Ben Bova has a loyal following, which is usually a good indicator of likely appeal.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- another know it all
- 02-13-22
Good, but…
A solid story but the main character was hard to care about. Don’t know when this was written but the relationships between men and women are in the 60s and simple caricatures even for that time. Not much science fiction here either. A weak crime drama. I finished this book but won’t be going on. Too bad I was looking forward to a good Ben Bova series.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Censored & Silenced
- 06-05-23
One of Bova's Best
Anyone familiar with Bova knows he only works in cliches and tropes. However, this is one of his best. I hate the main character -- he's a weak, mewling, needy, selfish, arrogant, out of touch, tone deaf jerk. And none of the other characters are likable, save for the main character's mentor. But, somehow, Bova makes entertaining art from the dregs of drama's curdled dumpster juice. It seems impossible, but he makes good stories from literary culture's garbage. Taken individually, not a single element of the story stands up to scrutiny -- every piece is recycled trash -- but the whole transcends the sum of its parts to comprise a deceptively enjoyable, almost enthralling ride.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!