Marine One

by James W. Huston

The president rushes across the South Lawn through a pounding thunderstorm to Marine One to fly to Camp David late at night. His advisers plead with him not to fly, but he insists. He has arranged a meeting that only three people in his administration know about. After fighting its way through the brutal thunderstorm on the way to Camp David, Marine One crashes into a ravine in Maryland, killing all aboard. The government blames the European manufacturer of the helicopter and accuses them of killing the president. Senate Investigations and Justice Department accusations multiply as Mike Nolan, a Marine Corps reserve helicopter pilot and trial attorney in civilian life, is hired to defend the company from the criminal investigations, then from a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the most notorious lawyer in America on behalf of the First Lady. Nolan knows that to prevail in the firestorm against his client, he has to find out what really caused Marine One to crash, and why the president threw caution aside to go to a meeting no one seems to know about. To clear his client, Nolan must win the highest-profile trial of the last hundred years with very little working for him, and everything working against him. Marine One expertly mixes political intrigue with courtroom drama and fast-paced action in the most exciting thriller of the year.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Legal Thriller, Suspense, Politics

336 pages, Hardcover

First published May 12, 2009

About the author

In 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).

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first-rate legal thriller almost certainly bound for the big screen!

If James Huston's new legal thriller MARINE ONE isn't made into a blockbuster movie, I will be the most surprised thriller reader on the planet!

Against the advice of his staff and the pleadings of his wife, President Adams boards his helicopter MARINE ONE in the teeth of a brutal thunderstorm and heads to a top secret night time meeting at Camp David in Maryland. When the helicoper crashes killing the president, the helicopter's crew and all of the secret service on board, the search is on for the causes and a target for the political blame. Top on the list is World Helicopter, the French manufacturer of the aircraft, whose insurance company retains Mike Nolan, an Annapolis attorney, to defend them against a multi-billion dollar lawsuit filed by the former and now widowed First Lady and the other grieving widows of the crash.

MARINE ONE is one HOT thriller - plenty of twists and turns, extensive believable dialogue, superb characterization, fabulous courtroom drama , sleazy political wrangling and grandstanding and a surprise ending that is so realistic, so chilling and, sadly, so believable that the hair on the back of your neck will positively stand on end.

Highly recommended. Be sure you've got plenty of available time because (and I don't say this too often) you won't want to put it down.

Paul Weiss

[Ron Wroblewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished one of the BEST novels I have ever read. Suspense, drama, action - this book has it all.
The US President is killed when the Marine One helo he is traveling in, on the way to Camp David in a severe storm crashes. Who is responsible - faulty aircraft, pilot error, terrorist strike? A huge lawsuit follows seeking compensation for the widow of those killed in the crash. The government is hiding secrets. Mike Nolan, lawyer for the French aircraft manufacturer seeks the truth. Highly recommend.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huston offers readers an explosive legal drama with strong political undertones that keeps its pace to the final sentence. When the President of the United States insists on heading to Camp David in the middle of a hail storm, his Secret Service detail have strong reservations. Once POTUS demands that it be done in Marine One, his private helicopter, levels of concern escalate. Who could be waiting at Camp David that is so important? While travelling to the Maryland countryside in the storm, Marine One falls from the sky in a fiery crash and kills everyone on board. With the leader of the Free World dead, all eyes (and fingers) turn on WorldCopter, the company responsible for building Marine One. The company is bombarded with bad press and numerous federal investigations, leaving them highly vulnerable. The company's insurance company hires Michael Nolan, a civil lawyer with a past as a Marine chopper pilot. As Nolan tries to sift through the wreckage, both literal and legal, he works to determine what went wrong and whether it was a malfunction or an act of terrorism. Pitted against a highly successful class-action lawyer who represents the widows of the crash, including for former First Lady, Nolan and his team work tirelessly to learn all they can about WorldCopter's product and the intricacies of its assembly. As Huston weaves this tale, he injects powerful courtroom scenes and legal negotiating that keeps the reader hooked until the bitter end. What happened during the storm and who was expecting the President so urgently? Huston is a master storyteller and keeps the reader guessing.

I have not read so powerful a legal piece that keeps the action flowing non-stop for a long time. The political undertones also propel the book to new heights while the intricate knowledge of helicopters and Marine One is without match. The reader can follow the plight of Mike Nolan as he fights insurmountable odds to defend his case and seeks a needle in a haystack to salvage what little reputation WorldCopter has left. Huston's succinct dialogue keeps the story moving effectively and courtroom scenes keeps the reader feeling as though they are in the middle of the action. With twists and turns at every juncture, Huston offers up a dazzling piece of fiction that remains so plausible that it could happen at any time.

Kudos, Mr. Huston for this wonderful piece. I was with you the entire journey and barely took time to breathe along the way.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[hllf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Driven heavily by plot, not by characters. An enjoyable read. Here is a breakdown of my rating:

Enjoyability: 4
Re-Readability: 4
Character Development: 2
Complexity: 2.5
Writing Style: 3
Believability: 3
Overall: 3.08

This was my first novel by James W. Huston, and while I am giving this book only 3 stars, I recommend it for anyone who enjoys legal suspense as well as books very much driven by plot.

The story is a step-by-step account of the main character's attempt to solve the case. There are no subplots or other stories that are embedded in the novel; every chapter is sequential, and every single chapter is told from the perspective of the main character. While I am not a fan of this style in general, this book can get away with it for the most part because the plot elements are compelling, and Huston does a good job of keeping the reader engaged throughout the novel.

It was difficult for me to rate the believability, as I am by no means an expert in federal investigations. Some of it seemed a bit far-fetched to me, but overall, there wasn't anything too blatant to make me question it.

Character development was virtually non-existent. For example, all we really ever learn about the main character is that he used to be a Marine, he has a wife, and two kids. We never even learn the age or gender of his children. But as I mentioned above, the plot elements capture the reader's attention well enough that it works, albeit lowering the rating I give the book.

Finally, the ending is a bit strange. The case is solved, but a lot of questions are left unanswered. Not having read other Huston novels, I am not certain if this is his style, where he throws many things into a novel and leaves them unanswered, so long as the big questions are answered, or if he plans on writing a sequel. Even the last sentence of the book really leaves the reader thinking their should be a sequel. I have not checked Huston's website to see if he is planning any sequel, but if he is, I will certainly read it.

Finally, despite only a 3-star rating, I gave it a higher re-readability score because there is a lot of evidence and data presented in the novel, and I am sure I will find things I missed the first time around. And it was enjoyable enough that it is definitely worth at least one more read.

[Veronique · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
This was a really interesting law - political thriller.
The book starts with a helicopter crash that kills the President of the United States. The helicopter manufacturer is sued and you follow the lawyer who needs to defend this case. There is a lot of political intrigues and things going on behind the scenes.

The story was really interesting and kept me hooked until the end. You just want to know what is going on, you feel like the manufacturer was done an injustice but you and the attorney are not really sure about that. I was not a big fan of the great reveal, was for me a little farfetched.
The characters were enjoyable, they did not really have a growth in the book and you don't get much information about the side characters that aren't relevant for the case.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything a good thriller/mystery should be without graphics, gore or profanity. Very well narrated by Joe Barritt (one of my favourite performers).

[Jerome Otte · Rating 1 out of 5]

If ever there were an oxymoronic genre, it's the legal thriller. Courtrooms are boring by definition.

There is much for me in this particular one not to like: plot holes, stilted dialogue, little character development, no real resolution for much of anything, and a hero too good to be true (we are always reminded of this even though the story's told in the first person, so Mike Nolan is really telling all of us how smart and wonderful he is). But the plot and subplots: was there an affair between the "First Widow" and the Marine One pilot? It was certainly hinted at enough. And the poor investigator who gets made into dog food only gets passing mention after his gruesome death and you never find out who was responsible. And that incident in Fallujah involving a mid-air of two gunships, one of which was flown by Nolan (an aside: the author says they were Huey gunships, but I think he means Cobras); surely there was more to be told about that! There are improbable chases, nefarious dealings by the plaintiff's attorney, Nolan cool throughout but for me the faults made the book tedious in the extreme.

And the writing is poor also. Within the first few pages the author writes that "the helicopter fought to recover..." Not the pilot? A couple pages later "TV news helicopters hovered over the crash site." Uh, if the president's copter crashed the FAA might put a restriction on airspace around the crash site? During a review of the voice recorder the late pilot surmises to his co-pilot that an anomaly in the flight controls was due to a tire settling into the wet White House lawn. Lawn? What about the pad? And Marine One was bought from a French company? How likely is that?

There are a bunch of conspiracy plotlines that go nowhere. Lots of pages are devoted to details of the pilot's possible relationship with the First Lady, his hatred for the President, his odd living situation with his wife, but we never get an answer. His investigator is gruesomely killed: he doesn't attend the funeral, and we never find out who did it. Nolan is chased and shot at by bad guys, possibly Asian. Who are they? Don't know, we never find out. The whole plot is wrapped up in the last few pages, with an explanation from out of nowhere.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book at a used bookstore for a quarter. What made me buy this one over many other choices was the genre combined two of my biggest interests: law and politics. And the plot summary was instantly gripping. The President is killed and Mike Nolan, a lawyer for the helicopter company accused of murdering the President, has to fight enemies both foreign and domestic to find the truth. So does the book live up to my initial expectations?

For the most part, it does. The book begins with the President flying to a very secret and important meeting during a terrible storm. His helicopter crashes, killing everyone on board. Mike Nolan is retained to defend WorldCopter (the builder of Marine One) in a lawsuit against the widows of the crash.

From the beginning, we are aware that there is much more to the crash than just a shoddy helicopter. Government agents make threats to Nolan, WorldCopter's case is constantly sabotaged, and there are hidden people watching their every move.

The middle of the book gets a little slow. Nolan and his team are working on the case but for a while, not much is learned. The opening statements and the prosecution's case don't do much to excite. But the final four chapters, the book reaches great heights. I couldn't put it down. There were hidden documents, traitors, action, and sabotage. I couldn't wait to find out how the book would end and I was very satisfied when it all came together.

There is just one thing I wish was added. There is no epilogue. The author gives a one sentence look into what happens after the trial. But a short epilogue that concludes the stories for all those involved would have been nice. Instead, there are many plots (three at least) that the reader is left wondering how they worked out.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

James W. Huston's "Marine One" opens with a bang as the Marine One helicopter carrying the president goes down killing him during a heavy storm. What ensues thereafter is an exciting thriller/mystery that not only explains what caused the crash, but that also delves into the politics that even sometimes we the people aren't supposed to know about. Huston's story somewhat splits itself from the actual investigation of the crash to the Congressional hearings to eventually the courtroom during a trial against the manufacturer of the helicopter who has been implicated all along in this disaster. The characters & drama are as realistic as they come & the setting fits the modern era as well as any book dealing with politics in general. An enjoyable read from start to finish.

[Susanne Leist · Rating 5 out of 5]

During a bad storm, the President's helicopter goes down, killing him and everyone on board. Mike Nolan is hired by the insurance company to defend the French manufacturer of the helicopter. Mike is one of two partners in a small law firm. He has to take on a big law firm and its pompous leader. Soon he discovers that he can't trust most people around him, even in his own law firm. With attempts on his life, he seeks to find the truth behind the crash. Was it the fault of the manufacturer, the pilot who hated the President, or a cover-up by the government? This book held my interest to the very end.

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marine One is about the President's helicopter going down, and the lawsuit that follows.

There are parts in which the writer is a bit condescending toward his audience, unintentionally, I'm sure. I like for an author to assume that if I'm reading this book, I've read others or I find the subject matter interesting. I want to avoid excesses of exposition. The book is written in the first person, from the POV of the defendant's attorney, so it's possible that it's the character who's a little too talky rather than the author. Either way, there are more than a few places where he "tells" rather than "shows."

The Main main characters are fairly well fleshed-out, and some of the secondary characters are one-dimensional or two-dimensional. The attorney's wife, for example, is mentioned in passing half a dozen times, and then gets two spots toward the end of the book where she gets a whole paragraph. I didn't feel I knew her well enough for her to advance to a major minor role at the end.

The denouement in the courtroom virtually ended the book. It was a rather abrupt ending.

Let me be clear, I did enjoy this book, just not as much as I expected to do.

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marine One was an adrenaline filled read! It was very fast paced. This was the first book I have read from this author and it will not be my last for sure!! It was interesting to read that the author was in the Navy and actually served on the same ship (The Nimitz) which happens to be the one my husband is serving on too! (Sorry had to throw in that little side note.)

Many questions are left to be answered when the United States President Adams leaves on his Marine One helicopter on a stormy night to attend a secretive meeting at Camp David, when his plane goes down killing everyone aboard.

It is up to Mike Nolan a trial attorney to dig up what really happened and why the meeting the President was about to attend was so secretive......

As the reader reads on the story takes many turns that will have the reader at the edge of his or her seat. I highly recommend this one!

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It certainly makes me want to find more "legal thrillers"... One of the reasons I like television shows like 'The Good Wife' . It is interesting to see the way the law works and a case unfolds. The lawyer Hackett in this story however has to be one of the most unlikeable characters ever in a story... perhaps it was just the reader reading the story (listened as an audiobook on Overdrive) but I just despised him every time he spoke. He didn't have a single redeemable quality and just spewed bile everything he spoke. Had to vent about that!

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expecting a book about flying adventure and helicopters, I got a legal drama. Despite the book's wrapping in the banality of the legal process, the theme and exciting plot continued until the very end. I thought that a couple of the lawyers ought to be taken out back and shot, but that is the talent of the author coming through. Teased with innuendo and crammed with facts, the book is a winner. Read more Huston!

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The president is flying to Camp David in a storm for a secert meeting when the presidental helicopter crashes killing everyone aboard. The widows sue the French manufacturer for one billion dollars. Mike Nolan gets the case for the defense and thus begins this legal thriller. This was a really great read.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This political thriller really turns up after a slow and somewhat tedious start. You won’t want to stop once you get to the second half. 8 of 10 stars

[Bobbo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting enough idea with some great intriguing detail about a high profile flight accident investigation and ensuing litigation. Unfortunately, the idea got lost in some of the writing and printing aspects.

There seemed to be a number of misspellings throughout the text and at least two areas where it appeared that a phrase or more had been omitted. This made the story line either distracting or a little hard to follow.

One other negative... Perhaps it was the edition I read, but the paper choice was a cream-color which, combined with a lighter typeface, made the text hard to read.

All in all, an interesting premise that was lost among a number of things which could have been corrected by better proofreading, better paper choice and a more readable type font.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book--about a trial lawyer representing a helicopter company who is being accused of murdering the President after Marine One goes down on a stormy night, killing all aboard. There's intrigue: meddling from the government, potentially unethical actions that need to be exposed, murders, chases, and above all a big question behind the crash that no one is asking (and it seems, Someone is working to prevent the answers from being found). I liked the legal thrill of it and it was an easy read, but the ending was so fast, without a lot of explanation. I would have liked more of a fleshing out of the real international politics that went into this, and more of a finality than what existed. Maybe a few more chapters actually spent answering questions instead of asking them would have been nice.

[Macjest · Rating 3 out of 5]

The president's helicopter goes down during a severe thunderstorm as he's on his way to Camp David. Why was he flying in a storm when he could have been driven? That's the key mystery that drives the story. The helicopter was manufactured by a French company and they are taken to court for the accident. An American attorney is hired to represent them. Quite a bit of the book dragged for me as the attorney tried to discover what was going on. It got very repetitious. It was until the court case began and secrets were revealed that things got exciting. It was at that point that I was riveted to the book and couldn't put it down. I did guess who one of the "bad guys" was right away.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little bit slow to start but I've been reading a lot of books lately that were "meh". This was a refreshing contrast and I found it quite interesting as a courtroom drama.

I wouldn't say that the author is a great writer in terms of the actual writing. Purists may not love his use of language and methods of descriptions, however in terms of a storyteller, he did very well. My immediate reaction on finishing the book was to review it and then go looking to see if he's written any other good books to buy and download.

Well done James thanks for a few hours of entertainment.

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book. As a lawyer, I love well-written, twisty legal thrillers. Here, Marine One goes down in a terrible storm on the way to Camp David with the President aboard. All passengers and crew are killed. No one will admit to knowing what the President was doing flying in that kind of weather and who he was meeting. So, what caused the accident and who is responsible? Political, legal, engineering and secret clearance issues all influence the outcome. I was fascinated and entertained.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading the book and haven't had the time to absorb it all.
AWESOME!
Combines my two favorite genres, military action/adventure and legal.
I detect the very firm hand of the editors of what might have been an immense book.
I am disappointed that the Iraq experience of Mike Nolan, Marine helicopter pilot (and now attorney) was mentioned with extremely negative connotations by one of the MIB from Intelligence and Research at the State Department.
Darn.

[Mark Giordano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story about investigating the crash of Marine One that killed the President and all the occupants of the helicopter. The plot kept you guessing right up to the very last page, but I did feel like the author left a few things unresolved at the end. This was the first James Huston book that I've read but Marine One has me looking for other books by the author. I definitely recommend this one.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Huston is capitalizing on a novel idea for his novels ... and I like it. He takes obscure phrases from national or international legal documents and develops a fairly believable story around them. In this case, he uses a line from the US Constitution that allows Congress to declare war when a weak US President refuses to do so. Another plus for this book? It's missing all the profanity that's so common in other novels.

[C J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book... Will most certainly be reading more from this author. Very high drama that is well plotted, cleverly written and very plausible. Makes you really question our legal and political systems.. and all the secret agendas that take place behind closed doors.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 of 5

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this in audio book form on a trip and it was perfect to pass the time. I liked the Marine Corps and lawyer details in the investigation of the crash of Marine One. If I could, I’d give it a 3 1/2. Too bad this author has passed away because his writing fits this genre.

[Marisol Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Was a thriller and pretty good, just a tiny bit slow at times but then would pick up again. I enjoyed it. Although very chauvinistic. Women all had to be very beautiful and shapely but men were fat old and balding but very intelligent . The only young guy that was attractive was a crook. Lol

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can say I found this book to read at our community drop off. This book was slow, but there was a great deal to understand about the workings of helicopters. I gave it 3 stars because it was slow until 3/4 through. Then everything came into place. A great end.

[Dr. Gary Straub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Savvy. Upbeat nail -biter !

So many labyrinthian and Corinthian twists in this ! I often guess the unraveling of the core riddle — not this! Kept me awake like nothing I’ve read lately! G

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. Being a Marine who worked int the ATC world and now being a federal employee I totally understand all the games of the mind being played in the story. I identify with a lot of the personalities being portrayed here.