Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
An act of terrorism. A Presidential election. A Constitutional crisis. And a terrorist who may get away scott free.


It could happen again. Perpetrated by anyone, anywhere . . . at a financial cost of next to nothing!


A short story -- the secret behind the President's rise to power.

41 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 16, 2016

88 people are currently reading
154 people want to read

About the author

Miles A. Maxwell

12 books30 followers
An IFR certified private pilot, and student of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for more than 15 years, Miles speaks bits and pieces of ten languages, surfs, skis, sails and scuba dives.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
49 (31%)
4 stars
43 (27%)
3 stars
47 (29%)
2 stars
7 (4%)
1 star
11 (7%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Louie the Mustache Matos.
1,427 reviews141 followers
September 3, 2023
Drone is a short story prologue to a series of books (the State of Reason series) by Miles Maxwell. It involves a very well thought out terrorist attack that transpires on election day via drones that take down the President-elect’s plane just before the election results are to be announced. The inevitable confusion leads to a constitutional crisis and civil unrest. This is a nightmarish scenario that is plausible according to many aviation experts. Clearly, Maxwell has considered this possibility a little too much. Very good story which makes me want to keep on reading the series.
Profile Image for Patricia Romero.
1,789 reviews48 followers
June 20, 2016
Now anyone can kill you anywhere!

An act of terrorism. A Presidential election. A Constitutional crisis. And a terrorist who may get away scott free! And it could happen again. Perpetrated by anyone, anywhere . . . at a financial cost of next to nothing.

This short story shows us the secret rise of Christopher Wall's rise to the Presidency. As part of the Reason series, it explains quite a lot and is a great story in and of itself.

Especially frightening in this time of elections and shady dealings of candidates and the media.
When big money and cutting edge technology come together, there is always the possibility for corruption and greed.

A few years ago I would have read this book and thought, " Well that's an interesting theory". But not today. Everything in Mr. Maxwell's story could happen today and some of it has probably already happened.

If you haven't read the Reason series, you should! Mr. Maxwell is one of my favorite storytellers and I greedily look for the Book 3 of the Reason series to get here!
19 reviews
July 31, 2017
Bait and Switch

I may have missed an explanation when I received this. But learning at the end that this story represented a tease for a series of books surprised and disappointed me.
Profile Image for Hemant Jain.
314 reviews28 followers
February 6, 2017
A nice little thriller. Keeps you on the edge and comes out with a surprise in the end. And then you marvel the plot (and even wonder if there was one) :)

Brilliant
630 reviews2 followers
December 16, 2017
Prequel

The terrorists have an evil plan to kill the president. I just hope none of them read this short story because it is a good blueprint of how to kill someone.
Profile Image for Manoj.
99 reviews15 followers
May 22, 2019
Simple, Riveting and scarily possible

Loved it. I totally Recommend reading it. A short story with so much action packed into it. Go for it.
126 reviews1 follower
August 6, 2019
Enjoy this book

A must read this book was interesting. This book will keep your interest till the end. Which was really something
885 reviews4 followers
August 15, 2019
Nice flight of fancy

Completely unsatisfying, a short story or excerpt perhaps billed as a book. Requires a bit of imagination to follow even if devoid of nuance
Profile Image for Tom Bierdz.
Author 9 books55 followers
April 16, 2020
This would have worked better as a prologue. The only character with any development was a terrorist. There was no one to identify with.
Profile Image for Rick  Farlee.
1,153 reviews10 followers
February 7, 2022
Short introduction to a new series that I found interesting, so I purchased the first book out of curiosity…. (LOSS OF REASON).
1 review
October 30, 2023
Very fast read. He entered country, bought stuff, left country. The entire story between entering and leaving consisted of empty pages.
1,072 reviews5 followers
January 13, 2017
presidential election in USA compromsed by a foreign power. too real. i rate this a 3.7.
12 reviews
September 21, 2016
Could this really happen?

This book is a very interesting short as the events could happen anywhere due to the availability of drones! Its well written and a good thriller its the sort of book tom Clancy might have written
Profile Image for Quentin Feduchin.
412 reviews11 followers
July 16, 2016
I find it difficult to write anything meaningful about this, largely because I have already read the two books that came after it. Moreover I read them some time ago and I'm struggling to connect this to them.
For one thing, regretfully, I am not a lover of short stories. I find forty- and sixty-pagers too short to contain any real build up of ideas. They give me nothing for my brain to work on. I truly love a 500+ pager where the nub of the idea grows; where the preparation for the main action of the narrative makes one really think, and attempt to prepare for the meat of the novel. I want to think with the author, to see whether my and his thinking concur or not, to discover how he might have fooled me or given a twist to the story that hadn't occurred to me.
Indeed if that build up takes at least two-thirds of the novel, then all the better, since so often many authors don't handle the denouement particularly well. The problem for most of us is that we have one good idea, which in a novel is the major part of the offering: To 'wind down' that idea to a satisfying conclusion is almost another story and not necessarily a part of the originally planned idea. Hence the reason so many readers might say that the story "fizzled".
It's not fair really; writers are pretty special people considering their ability and persistence to actually get it written and published!
What we have here is only a preparation for the two books that follow. It doesn't really say much by itself, except indicate, towards the end, some of the possible reason for the main narratives.
I'm not at all sure it's necessary; I did OK without it. In terms of poundage, it barely adds any weight to the tons of each of those following. Indeed I think this novelette could even risk spoiling the primary first book. My suggestion is that you do not read it..
Profile Image for Lisa Fitzgerald.
18 reviews
November 7, 2016
This thriller is so intense it will definitely make your blood pressure rise! It is so relatable to what is going on in our current crazy, messed up US of A , one would think the author had psychic abilities. It is so hard to say much about the book, without spoiling it for everyone.

Each scene in the book was just so dramatic, and led so easily into the next scene. There was so much action in the book, and no fluff to bogg it down with. It really kept my attention, and I never felt like I needed to skim over any part. It's one of the things I like about this particular author. Once again, as always in Mr. Maxwell's books, he taught me a few things I wasn't aware of. His books always seem to be well researched.

If you haven't read any of the author's other books in this particular book series I would recommend it. After reading this book we now know how everything starts out, from the very beginning. Then there are two other books that are already out, with a direct tie into the series, with the third book coming soon! I so want to leave you with the last sentence in the book as a quote because it will scare the holy crap out of you but you will just have to read the book yourself to see what it is. So sorry. No I'm not. Read the book, you'll see...
4,416 reviews28 followers
September 4, 2016
Drone review

Drone: The Secret Behind Christopher Wall's Rise To Power is a very short prequel to the State of Reason Mystery series written by author Miles A. Maxwell.
Profile Image for Michael.
573 reviews8 followers
July 20, 2016
Obvious political bias and poor editing!

While the plot is somewhat plausible, the execution leaves much to be desired! If you consider Fox a news source, this story might be for you!
16 reviews
June 23, 2016
Could not put it down once I started reading the story.

Perfect storyline for the times we are living in. Filled with intrigue and written to keep you on the edge of your seat.
172 reviews2 followers
June 24, 2016
Enjoyable

Way to short. Has all the aspects of a great novel. Clear descriptions, strong characters but just as you are hooked it ends.
179 reviews15 followers
Read
August 1, 2016
a short novel that was somewhat interesting
Profile Image for Renee.
320 reviews1 follower
March 28, 2017
A fast paced short story thriller that leaves you wanting more. Would love to see this story continued and follow the characters into their next steps in life.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.