An Electric Read

Ben Coes writes thrillers that remind me a bit of Vince Flynn.  Coes' book Power Down is full of international intrigue, government conspiracy and action packed murder, all revolving around America's need for power (as in electric, oil, gas).  It's very scary to see how dependent we are on other countries for our energy and when you bring in the story line of terrorists attacking our domestic power sources it becomes a very plausible story.  Add in ex Delta officer Dewey Andreas and you now have a full blown action packed thriller.  SG

The cost of intelligence.

In Marcus Sakey's Brilliance he imagines a world similar to our own, but a great shift is going on in the society. About one percent of the children being born are termed brilliants for their astounding mental abilities. When one brilliant or "abnorm" as they are called, makes a fortune on the stock market and succeeds in completely destroying it, the government institutes a policy of hunting down and killing abnorm terrorists. Nick Cooper is an abnorm who works for the government but starts to have doubts about what is is doing. This parable of an out-of control government spying on its citizens is particularly relevant to today. An engaging and thoughtful book with a propulsive plot. ML