Ben Coes
St. Martin’s Press
September, 2010/ ISBN 978-0-312-58074-2
Political Thriller
Amazon
Reviewed
by Elise Cooper
Ben Coes’ debut novel, Power Down, is a winner. He
captivates the reader from page one. This story is very relevant
considering the price of gas in America today. Dewey Andreas, a
former Delta Ranger and one of the main characters, is in charge
of an oil platform off the coast of Columbia. After terrorists,
whose leader is a radicalized American, Mohammed Fortuna, seize
the platform, Andreas saves many of his crew as it is being blown
up. The story takes off from there where various parts of America‘s
economic and manufacturing infrastructure ports, nuclear power plants,
and refineries are attacked. Andreas along with intelligence and
law enforcement agencies try to untangle these events and find those
responsible.
The reader will discover many themes to this thriller. For example,
this quote from the book should make an impact on Americans: “every
dollar over four dollars a gallon costs this country roughly twenty
billion dollars a day in GDP.” Besides terrorism, dependence
on Arab oil and achieving energy dependence Coes also explores the
belief of patriotism. Coes commented that he wrote about the Patriotism
theme “to compare two views. Fortuna, who had every reason
to love America; yet, tries to destroy it from within versus Dewey
who had every reason to hate America after being falsely accused
of killing his family; yet, he risks his life because deep down
he loves America.” The other major point in the book was the
need for energy independence. Coes takes that important topic and
makes his points through action packed sequences while at the same
time showing how “the energy sector makes the world turn.
We need to get off the dependence of oil from the Middle East. My
theory is we will not get off it until it gets too expensive.”
To obtain a glimpse of Coes’ philosophy in dealing with the
terrorists he speaks through the character Teddy Marks, a “no
nonsense” guy who throws political correctness to the wind.
Marks commented that “There are terrorists on our shores,
in our midst…But the way to stop the attacks is not to apologize,
to cower in the corner, or to change our ways. The way to stop the
terrorists is plain and simple. We must hunt them down. We much
capture them…” Coes felt that the phrase was written
to show “how someone should say what he feels; the idea of
a guy not being politically correct or shading his words.”
The characters are extremely well developed. The reader is able
to formulate the characters view of life and current issues. They
form a kinship with the good guys and will grow to despise the bad
guys. The main female lead, Jessica Tanzer, was based on the author’s
wife who Coes describes as a “no nonsense, beautiful, Irish
personality woman.” The male lead, Dewey Andreas, was based
on “what I would like to be: patriotic, humble, and tough
as nails when necessary.”
For a debut novel Coes will have a lot to live up to with his next
book. Considering the topic will be the India/Pakistan conflict
with America right in the middle of it, he should have no trouble.
Power Down is a political thriller that is the mold of
a Nelson DeMille, Brad Thor, and David Baldacci book. It is powerful,
relevant, fast paced, and suspenseful. A book the reader will definitely
not want to put down.
|