Power Curve

Madeline Turner, the first female U.S. President, has already weathered global crises during the first months of her administration. But the balance of power has suddenly shifted dangerously and dramatically in Europe—the Russian government has fallen into the hands of a criminal—and a fearsome, re-emergent bear is on a rampage. Locked into a war of wits and weaponry with the deadly cabal of drug runners and murderers who now rule a one-time empire, Maddy Turner will need capable allies beside her—like Air Force legend Matt Pontowski, who will become the beleaguered Commander-in-Chief's confidant, friend, and more. An explosive confrontation is coming that could reshape the face of the world—and the fate of President Turner herself.

America is caught in the lethal center of an unwinnable two-front war -- in this gripping and explosive thriller from the master of geopolitical intrigue . . .

The war on terrorism has borne bitter fruit, as the radical Islamic states forge an unholy alliance with a surging China, aiming for total control of the Middle East's vast oil reserves and the strategic Strait of Malacca. As a new axis of world power simultaneously launches a devastating double-pronged conflict -- one a depleted American military cannot possibly win -- President Maddy Turner, the first woman ever to occupy the Oval Office, must react swiftly to a global crisis of world-altering proportions. And so she turns to the only man she can trust in the brutal snake pit of Beltway politics: Brigadier General Matt Pontowski. A brilliant flyer and military tactician, and the intimate confidant of the most powerful woman on Earth, he must now undertake a mission at once bold and extraordinary -- and potentially suicidal -- as a desperate nation confronts Armageddon, and its leader approaches what will be either her finest hour . . . or her most tragic mistake.

There is a new order to the world. The first female president of the United States sits in the White House. Monster corporations wield the real global power. And all the old rules have changed.

From Richard Herman, whom Clive Cussler calls "one of the best adventure writers around" and the Denver Post places "on a par with Tom Clancy," comes a spellbinding new novel of intrigue, politics, deception, murder, and the bloody manipulation of world events for the sake of pure profit.

Beautiful and brilliant, Lee Justine (L.J.) Ellis is, at thirty-eight, the youngest CEO ever of a major oil corporation. Ruthless, charismatic, greedy, and philanthropic, she is a strange dichotomy of positive and negative, a driven crusader on a god-given mission. And now she owns something worth killing for: secret knowledge of vast, untapped reserves of oil right in America's backyard ... beneath the territorial waters of a sworn enemy ... Cuba. It is a prize she must capture at any cost.

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Stuart is the most average of men. A military functionary toiling in bureaucratic tedium, he could never hope to live up to the legendary reputation of his father -- one of the great air force fighter pilots -- so he is resigned to serving his country in his own quiet way. But in his daily war of figures and on-screen data, Stuart notices an unusual pattern of oil tanker movement and he dutifully reports it to his superiors. Suddenly Mike Stuart's ordinary life starts spinning dangerously out of control.

A series of seemingly random "accidents" and narrow escapes -- all explainable and unremarkable, except for the number of them -- puts him on the alert. But when his ex-wife and her lover are killed in Stuart's car, he realizes that his growing paranoia is frighteningly justified. There are powerful forces closing in on one inconspicuous man, trapping him in the wide flung net of a devastating conspiracy that could brutally change the political face of a hemisphere, bring a government down in flames and chaos ... and take the life of America's's president.

Now Mike Stuart is being called upon to defend his nation in ways he never imagined. And his sole chance for success -- and survivals to become something he has never been: a warrior.

Call to Duty is a novel of epic scope and breathtaking adventure that races at mach speed between two deadly wars -- one waged five decades ago against a madman with dreams of world domination, the other to be fought tomorrow against well-armed dealers in poison and death. For there are times that call for swift, decisive action -- as unforeseen global events threaten to shatter an uncertain peace. There are times that test the mettle of even the most courageous of men and women -- as four young Americans taken captive by a power-hungry Asian drug lord. And now, a beleaguered Commander-in-Chief -- beset upon by internal political turmoil and terrifying international intrigues -- must find guidance and strength in his own heroic past. Then he must act.

For these are certain times.

When fear becomes a weapon...When a few good men go bad...America will be consumed by the fire that burns within.

Colonel Anthony "Muddy" Waters has a mission: to mold a company of poorly trained rogues and misfits into heroes. His assignment is one that no other officer in the United States Air Force would touch. But Waters has a fabled stubbornness and dedication unparalleled in the armed services ... and the will to make the impossible possible.

The Warbirds is the breakthrough novel that captures the saga of the F-4 Phantom and the men who made it a legend: like "Muddy" Waters, who must transform the men and women under his command -- Including a superbly talented pilot but loose cannon named Jack Locke-into a fighting force to be reckoned with. Because their country could ask them at any time to fly their F-4s into the eye of the firestorm, to face an overwhelming enemy and brave the flames of hell itself without question and with no support.

Tomorrow that call will come.

And there will be no turning backwhen the heavens explode.