Executive Intent

March 29, 2010
China and Russia pursue newly aggressive policies in hot spots like Somalia and Yemen that threaten the U.S. in this exciting near-future political thriller from bestseller Brown (Rogue Forces
). Kenneth Phoenix, the U.S. vice president, finds himself at odds with Joseph Gardner, the cautious U.S. president, who's inclined to cancel a space weapon system, which includes a precision-guided artificial meteorite, in favor of negotiating treaties to abolish space-based weapons. Characters from past Brown books, like Lt. Gen. Patrick McLanahan (ret.) and Lt. Col. Jason Richter, play key roles as the U.S. faces growing crises at sea and in space. Congress scarcely exists. Techno-thriller fans will enjoy the detailed descriptions of cutting-edge technologies as they morph into action sequences (“The sabots hit the Earth traveling almost two miles a second, each with the force of a two-thousand-pound high-explosive bomb, creating a crater large enough to fit a jumbo jet within it”).

September 27, 2010
The Chinese and Russian heads of state collaborate, using deception and sabotage to jeopardize the successful U.S. military facilities on the sea and in space. Recurring characters from Brown's previous books play major roles in both thrilling military operations and tense political confrontations. William Dufris is an accomplished and versatile reader; having read previous Brown books on audio, he delivers an experienced and animated performance that adds heft and color to characters that are already easy to visualize, and his talent enhances the story with increasing tension that makes the most of this exciting action techno-thriller. A Morrow hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 29).