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Jim Dillon #2
The Price of Power
With a feel for politics, a gift for legal drama, and a rush of military action, this rousing novel sweeps from the Oval Office to a Navy SEAL assault on an Indonesian island, from the court-martial of an admiral to the impeachment hearings of a president. The president has ordered the arrest and trial of a battle-group commander who led a congressionally authorized attack on terrorists in defiance of a presidential order. The angry Speaker of the House retaliates by initiating impeachment proceedings. Jim Dillon, the Speaker's top aide, finds himself defending the admiral in the court-martial and is named number-two prosecutor for the upcoming impeachment trial. Meanwhile, in the South Pacific, a fanatic plans to exploit the weaknesses of an American government in upheaval by brutally shedding American blood and taking innocent citizens hostage. But Dillon uncovers another forgotten power in the the Rules of Capture, authorizing a SEAL-led attack. Nothing will prevent a great nation from doing what is right, no matter what the price, not when the honor and the future of America is at stake.
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First published May 19, 1999
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About the author
James W. Huston
11 books107 followersIn addition to being the author of Falcon Seven, Marine One, Secret Justice, Shadows of Power, Fallout, Flash Point, The Price of Power and Balance of Power, I am a partner in the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster, and head of the Trial Practice Group, and a former Navy Flight Officer in F-14s.
I grew up in West Lafayette, Indiana, and attended the University of South Carolina on a Navy ROTC scholarship, majoring in history, with a minor in English. During my senior summer, I did an exchange cruise with the French Navy on a destroyer, the EE Kersaint out of Brest (which was a wonderful experience and reinforced my decision to go into the Navy), and then attended the University of Warwick in England, to study English Reformation history and English literature.
After college, I received my Navy wings as a Naval Flight Officer and after F-14 training in San Diego, was assigned to VF-84, the Jolly Rogers, on the USS Nimitz. While in VF-84, I participated in making the movie, The Final Countdown, starring Kirk Douglas, Katherine Ross, and Martin Sheen. The filming for the movie was done in several places, but most of the flying was done out of Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. The entire movie crew was in Key West, and we would review the dailies (yesterday's filming) every night. I was asked to help direct a couple of scenes—the blowing up of the yacht by the Zeros, and the F-14 low-level flyby over Katherine Ross—as well as filming several other scenes with a Panavision camera in the back seat of the F-14. The DVD version of The Final Countdown was recently released. The producers pulled together the Jolly Rogers guys who did the flying, to create and "behind-the-scenes" bonus cut.
I did two Mediterranean cruises while in the Jolly Rogers, and other shorter cruises to the Caribbean and the North Atlantic. I was selected to attend TOPGUN and graduated before my second cruise.
After six years in the Navy, I left active duty in 1981 to attend the University of Virginia School of Law. After graduation, I joined the San Diego-based law firm, Gray Cary Ames & Frye, and began flying in the Navy Reserves. After a few years in the Reserves, I transferred from flying to Naval Intelligence. Naval intelligence was quite interesting and allowed me access to top secret information about world affairs and military developments. I was on active duty at JICPAC, the Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific Fleet, in Pearl Harbor, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, leading to Desert Storm. I got to see a lot about what happened behind the scenes in an event like that, and how much of importance never makes it to the press.
My writing career started in the form of op-eds for the Escondido Times Advocate and the San Diego Union-Tribune, covering current affairs topics. After numerous editorials, I decided to try fiction. Neither my first novel nor my second were accepted for publication. I went through several hundred rejection letters, and labored almost every night for five years before I had any hope of getting published. I've gone back and looked at those books since, and I could make them publishable now, but they weren't very good back then.
My third novel was different. It combined many areas of my personal experience into one story—military action, political intrigue, and Constitutional Law. I found a clause in the U.S. Constitution that hadn't been used since 1812, and asked the simple question: "What if it was used today? What would happen?"
The first published novel, Balance of Power (William Morrow, 1998), was optioned by Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney. The novel was adapted into a screenplay by Mark Baumbach, but was never made into a film.
Five more novels followed in the next five years—The Price of Power (William Morrow, 1999), Flash Point (William Morrow, 2000), Fallout (William Morrow, 2001), The Shadows of Power (William Morrow, 2002), and Secret Justice (William Morrow, 2003).
I grew up in West Lafayette, Indiana, and attended the University of South Carolina on a Navy ROTC scholarship, majoring in history, with a minor in English. During my senior summer, I did an exchange cruise with the French Navy on a destroyer, the EE Kersaint out of Brest (which was a wonderful experience and reinforced my decision to go into the Navy), and then attended the University of Warwick in England, to study English Reformation history and English literature.
After college, I received my Navy wings as a Naval Flight Officer and after F-14 training in San Diego, was assigned to VF-84, the Jolly Rogers, on the USS Nimitz. While in VF-84, I participated in making the movie, The Final Countdown, starring Kirk Douglas, Katherine Ross, and Martin Sheen. The filming for the movie was done in several places, but most of the flying was done out of Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. The entire movie crew was in Key West, and we would review the dailies (yesterday's filming) every night. I was asked to help direct a couple of scenes—the blowing up of the yacht by the Zeros, and the F-14 low-level flyby over Katherine Ross—as well as filming several other scenes with a Panavision camera in the back seat of the F-14. The DVD version of The Final Countdown was recently released. The producers pulled together the Jolly Rogers guys who did the flying, to create and "behind-the-scenes" bonus cut.
I did two Mediterranean cruises while in the Jolly Rogers, and other shorter cruises to the Caribbean and the North Atlantic. I was selected to attend TOPGUN and graduated before my second cruise.
After six years in the Navy, I left active duty in 1981 to attend the University of Virginia School of Law. After graduation, I joined the San Diego-based law firm, Gray Cary Ames & Frye, and began flying in the Navy Reserves. After a few years in the Reserves, I transferred from flying to Naval Intelligence. Naval intelligence was quite interesting and allowed me access to top secret information about world affairs and military developments. I was on active duty at JICPAC, the Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific Fleet, in Pearl Harbor, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, leading to Desert Storm. I got to see a lot about what happened behind the scenes in an event like that, and how much of importance never makes it to the press.
My writing career started in the form of op-eds for the Escondido Times Advocate and the San Diego Union-Tribune, covering current affairs topics. After numerous editorials, I decided to try fiction. Neither my first novel nor my second were accepted for publication. I went through several hundred rejection letters, and labored almost every night for five years before I had any hope of getting published. I've gone back and looked at those books since, and I could make them publishable now, but they weren't very good back then.
My third novel was different. It combined many areas of my personal experience into one story—military action, political intrigue, and Constitutional Law. I found a clause in the U.S. Constitution that hadn't been used since 1812, and asked the simple question: "What if it was used today? What would happen?"
The first published novel, Balance of Power (William Morrow, 1998), was optioned by Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney. The novel was adapted into a screenplay by Mark Baumbach, but was never made into a film.
Five more novels followed in the next five years—The Price of Power (William Morrow, 1999), Flash Point (William Morrow, 2000), Fallout (William Morrow, 2001), The Shadows of Power (William Morrow, 2002), and Secret Justice (William Morrow, 2003).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 2, 2017
This was a good fighting-terrorists type book. It is starting to get a little dated, since this was written before 9/11, so the terror plot doesn't reflect the current thinking among our national leaders.
November 17, 2019
This was a good fighting-terrorists type book. I liked the first one better--sequels are rarely as good as others. This book is essentially filler between the first novel and others. Premise is over the top
January 19, 2020
Courtroom, Politics and Navy Seals
Great characters, plot and pace. Mr. Houston’s life experiences make his novel especially realistic and believable given today’s geopolitical environment.
Great characters, plot and pace. Mr. Houston’s life experiences make his novel especially realistic and believable given today’s geopolitical environment.
November 22, 2017
Could not put this book down.
A true sign of idiots in D.C. and our Armed Forces. If this was real life, the Admirals career would have been ruined.
A true sign of idiots in D.C. and our Armed Forces. If this was real life, the Admirals career would have been ruined.
January 2, 2018
Court martial?
Impeachment?
Power has a price and James Huston delivers on his promise!
Impeachment?
Power has a price and James Huston delivers on his promise!
July 24, 2018
This is a great sequel to Houston’s first book titled Balance of Power. If you like political thrillers, here is book two of a good series.
November 26, 2018
Jim Dillon saves the day! A fast moving book with two plots going. Good read.
May 28, 2019
Fast read
December 28, 2019
This is today
The situation, procedures, and questions in this story come right out of todays news headlines. It is a great read!
The situation, procedures, and questions in this story come right out of todays news headlines. It is a great read!
September 16, 2022
Novel about the US President vs an Admiral; who is the most powerful.
March 14, 2023
Interesting enough to capture my attention but it seems there is a political agenda and in todays divisive society I am not ready to read of an authors political leanings.
June 10, 2009
PB - 501 A brief outline of this one. Pirates seize an American Flag ship in the waters off Indonesia. The president sends the navy to retake the ship with orders that no lives be lost. The ship is boarded, the crew has been killed, While chasing the pirates a Navy plane is shot down and the pirates are heading towards the pilots. The pirates are chased to an island and attacked with Navy causalities, a kidnapped American missionary is killed and a number of pirates are captured an brought to the US for Trial. The President initiates the arrest and court marshal of the Admiral in charge of the action. A young lawyer leaves his job as aid to the speaker of the house to defend the Admiral for free.
The Speaker is trying to impeach the President for being a pacifist and not defending US interests abroad.
This is longer than I planned, but it is a complicated novel with several plot lines going at once. Its a mixture of courtroom drama and military action and power politics. Once the players are identified it moves right along and enjoyed it.
ISBN - 0-380-73160-6, Suspense, Pages - 488, Print Size - R, Rating - 4.5
The Speaker is trying to impeach the President for being a pacifist and not defending US interests abroad.
This is longer than I planned, but it is a complicated novel with several plot lines going at once. Its a mixture of courtroom drama and military action and power politics. Once the players are identified it moves right along and enjoyed it.
ISBN - 0-380-73160-6, Suspense, Pages - 488, Print Size - R, Rating - 4.5
April 20, 2013
This book was 'meh.' I liked the first one better. Brief synopsis: a terrorist group takes Americans hostages. The President--suspected to be a pacifist--will not order the Navy to get the hostages back. The Congress issues an order based on the 'Letters of Marquee' clause in the Constitution. The admiral orders the attack, frees the prisoners, and is courtmartialed. Much of the book is about the trial, and the incredibly nimble mind of the main character, Jim Dillon. At one point, one of the escaped terrorist masterminds tries to assassinate the admiral and his brilliant lawyer in Hawaii where the court-martial is taking place. This event is barely mentioned again once it takes place.
While all of this is going on, the President is served with articles of impeachment, and brought on trial by the House for failing to fulfill his duties as commander and chief of United States military. This trial takes up the last 70 pages of the book, and was actually interesting. Can a pacifist be President? It was an engaging premise. Other than that...'meh.'
Overall, I found this book to be a bit of a dud.
While all of this is going on, the President is served with articles of impeachment, and brought on trial by the House for failing to fulfill his duties as commander and chief of United States military. This trial takes up the last 70 pages of the book, and was actually interesting. Can a pacifist be President? It was an engaging premise. Other than that...'meh.'
Overall, I found this book to be a bit of a dud.
April 13, 2009
I read this on the recommendation of an advisor. While I enjoyed it as an exercise is structuring a mass market novel, this book is essentially filler. Little surprise or suspense through the entire length, no twists or plot turns to speak of, and while the attention to military detail sounds exciting, it comes to little use in service of the story.
Occasional flourishes of style stand out against what is mostly utility fiction.
Occasional flourishes of style stand out against what is mostly utility fiction.
August 21, 2010
Although not quite as good as his first novel, "The Balance of Power",
Huston's sequel was exciting and finished the story of how the United States Congress can initiate action in response to attacks on the US, when the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces refuses to act. This book also contained courtroom scenes of a military court martial, and an impeachment of the President. -very interesting
Huston's sequel was exciting and finished the story of how the United States Congress can initiate action in response to attacks on the US, when the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces refuses to act. This book also contained courtroom scenes of a military court martial, and an impeachment of the President. -very interesting
April 10, 2012
One really needs to read "Balance of Power" in order to fully appreciate this story. It is good political thriller with some interesting court machinations. James Huston did a fine job with this book, although I don't completely agree with his interpretation of Article 8 as it pertains to capture, it makes for a good read. Both the court martial and the impeachment proceedings were interesting and as I read they had me wanting to keep reading to see how the trial turns out. Recommended.
December 2, 2008
Compared to Tom Clancy & John Grisham, James W. Huston combines terrorism in the Pacific, gold mines, a court marshal of an outstanding Admiral, an empeachment trial of the President, and a love story to make a unique, finely-tuned, twisty novel well worth the read.
October 23, 2012
This is not really an independent novel, but volume 2 of THE BALANCE OF POWER.
There is plenty of food for thought. What is the balance between the branches of government? What is to become of war-levying powers? And is it acceptable for a pacifist to be President?
There is plenty of food for thought. What is the balance between the branches of government? What is to become of war-levying powers? And is it acceptable for a pacifist to be President?
February 28, 2016
#2 in the Jim Dillon series.
James Dillon - former aide to the Speaker of the House, defends an admiral court-martialed for attacking terrorists against Presidential orders and takes part in the impeachment of the President for being a pacifist.
James Dillon - former aide to the Speaker of the House, defends an admiral court-martialed for attacking terrorists against Presidential orders and takes part in the impeachment of the President for being a pacifist.
December 17, 2018
Started this but put it aside to read the first book in the series. So back to this one now. Should be easier going as the main characters are known. A little too much court/battle description. Good story of Dillon and Molly. Topical.
September 5, 2008
An entertaining thriller... this F-14 pilot knows what he is talking about. I've gone running with him!
March 4, 2011
This was the abridged audio book version. Would have rated it higher, but being abridged, it was disjointed...
July 26, 2011
Very good book. The first book in this pair/sequence was good, but this was better.
August 17, 2011
Another page turner.
Read
March 14, 2012Good book!!
October 20, 2012
Interesting read, but the premise is over the top.
September 18, 2012
First book I have read by James w Huston.
A good writer a great thriller. Plot and heroes were engaging.
Looking forward to reading many more by this author
A good writer a great thriller. Plot and heroes were engaging.
Looking forward to reading many more by this author
September 22, 2013
Sequels are rarely as good as their predecessors, but I found this follow-up to "Balance of Power" to be just as thrilling and fascinating. Great combination of political drama and legal wrangling.
February 11, 2016
His books are always very good. Just can't remember the date I finished this one. Know it was 2013.
Read
October 28, 2016Good sequel
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews