A 20-day electrical blackout in California results in 2,000 deaths and nationwide demand for a resolution to the energy crisis in this uneven near-future thriller from Washington, D.C., consultant Schechter, his second novel after Point of Entry. The Russians are secretly attempting to take over Latin America's natural gas fields, and at the same time are negotiating a gas pipeline to be built across the Bering Strait to Alaska. The point of these machinations? A complete stranglehold on America's energy resources. Numerous exhaustively drawn characters are part of the complicated proceedings, including Tony Ruiz, the U.S. president's "special advisor for domestic affairs," and assorted bad-guy Russian officials. Despite the ripped from the headlines premise, each time interest begins to build, clunky writing ("His bloodshot eyes spat fury") brings the reader crashing back to reality. A confusing ending points to a return for Tony Ruiz in a sequel. (Mar.)
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When the lights start going out in America, power brokers around the world start maneuvering to control the remaining energy sources. Life's a gas. For his sophomore outing, Washington political consultant Schechter (Point of Entry, 2006) digs deep into the details of American energy policies-too deep, judging by the sluggish pace and stiff dialogue that characterizes this contemporary polemic. In a plot ripped-almost literally-from T. Boone Pickens's real-life energy-policy proposals, the book finds America backed into a corner over its overconsumption and dependence on foreign energy sources. California is going dark due to a sudden natural gas shortage, and the White House is scrambling to find alternative sources from which to import more. "We can't pretend any longer," says President Gene Laurence. "There are Americans dying today because we can't get them electricity. We just can't keep hoping the market is going to take care of the problem." Schechter adequately portrays the urgency of the crisis but fails to fold the facts smoothly into the thriller mold. The plot pits Tony Ruiz, an ex-cop and presidential advisor prone to Jack Bauer-esque bursts of action-hero antics, and Blaise Ryan, a wildly improbable environmental activist, against the machinations of Viktor Zhironovsky, a Russian energy baron scheming to control America's sources of go-go juice. "History won't give a damn how we got there," boasts Zhironovsky. "What the books will write about is the audacity that suddenly put Russia in control of a huge percentage of the liquefied gas needs of the United States of America." Added in are the futuristic concept of a pipeline linking Russia and Alaska across the Bering Strait;a conspiracy to control the gas fields of Latin America; and the odd assassination. The thriller as position paper, with too much explication and not enough suspense. Washington, D.C., regional author appearances
Pipeline brings the wonderful talents of Peter Schechter together in a tour de force thriller about the intersection between politics and energy. Schechter’s ear for dialogue and creating characters who live and breathe is outstanding.” — Peter Bergen, New York Times bestselling author of Holy War Inc. and The Osama Bin Laden I Know
“Pipeline is a smart, scary thriller that shows why the U.S. energy crisis and the new Russian belligerence make for a toxic mix.” — Brian Kelly, Editor, U.S. News & World Report
“With a movie-maker’s sense of vision and pace, Peter Shechter has written a white-knuckle ride through a political and business crisis that threatens the world as we know it.” — Richard Wolffe, Newsweek
— …
“Thoroughly entertaining.” — Washington Post
“Peter Schechter’s new novel sniffs out a terrorist group’s Point of Entry (HarperCollins)...” — Vanity Fair
“ A frighteningly believable look at a possible near-future scenario. All the characters spring quickly to life, including an unlikely couple of heroes.” — Chicago Tribune
“What happens when you cross “The West Wing,” “Commander in Chief,” and “24”? You end up with a rip roaring novel about terrorists, nuclear plots and presidential dating.” — Newsweek
“Let’s hope Schecter has more thrillers to come. “Point of Entry” is a dandy start.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“A frighteningly believable look at a possible near-future scenario.” — Chicago Tribune
What happens when you cross “The West Wing,” “Commander in Chief,” and “24”? You end up with a rip roaring novel about terrorists, nuclear plots and presidential dating.
Peter Schechter’s new novel sniffs out a terrorist group’s Point of Entry (HarperCollins)...
Thoroughly entertaining.
With a movie-maker’s sense of vision and pace, Peter Shechter has written a white-knuckle ride through a political and business crisis that threatens the world as we know it.
Pipeline is a smart, scary thriller that shows why the U.S. energy crisis and the new Russian belligerence make for a toxic mix.
Pipeline brings the wonderful talents of Peter Schechter together in a tour de force thriller about the intersection between politics and energy. Schechter’s ear for dialogue and creating characters who live and breathe is outstanding.
Let’s hope Schecter has more thrillers to come. “Point of Entry” is a dandy start.
A frighteningly believable look at a possible near-future scenario. All the characters spring quickly to life, including an unlikely couple of heroes.
What happens when you cross “The West Wing,” “Commander in Chief,” and “24”? You end up with a rip roaring novel about terrorists, nuclear plots and presidential dating.
A frighteningly believable look at a possible near-future scenario.
Thoroughly entertaining.
