Earlier this summer, NPR asked listeners to nominate and vote for their favorite thrillers. A few of you chose Falcon Seven, and your votes helped it make the list. Thanks for your support!
North County Times (San Diego, CA) review, by Jim Trageser
“James W. Huston’s latest offers up a tale that not only is satisfyingly taut (and disturbingly plausible), but contains an ending that strongly hints this isn’t the last we’ll hear from these characters.
“That last part should be considered a Good Thing by readers who enjoy Huston’s writing (and there are quite a few of you, to judge by his regular stays on the best-sellers lists). . . .
“‘Falcon Seven’ is a top-notch legal and action thriller, one tied (as are most of Huston’s novels) to real-world legal issues that give it a palpability that makes it even more resonant.”
Frontpage magazine review, by David Forsmark:
In Falcon 7, a thriller about two Navy fliers hauled before the International Criminal Court for dropping a bomb on the wrong target in Pakistan, Huston doesn’t bother creating pseudonyms or crafting a fictional president likely to genuflect before international institutions. Instead, he tackles the question of what would happen if U.S. fliers were to face a radical anti-American ICC prosecutor while their commander-in-chief is none other than Barack Hussein Obama. . . .
Huston, a former F-14 RIO himself and now a big-time trial lawyer, certainly knows his stuff, and Falcon 7 rings true at every turn, whether it’s a courtroom twist, an ambush on a Pakistani mountain road or, even worse, a political ambush by political appointees who just want the case to get out of the headlines. More importantly, Huston is a superb storyteller, and Falcon 7 rockets along at the speed of the F-18 in the opening sequence and hits its target with just as much power. The result is a perfect summer read—a terrific, thought-provoking, suspenseful and thoroughly entertaining and highly educational thriller.
Bookreporter.com review, by Joe Hartlaub:
James W. Huston combines a “been there, done that” perspective with a bright-eyed and clearheaded vision of how the world works—and the place of the United States in that world—to create uncanny and seemingly prescient visions not of what might happen, but what almost certainly will happen, and all too soon. . . .
Following 2009’s brilliant MARINE ONE, Huston returns with FALCON SEVEN, which is even better than its predecessor. The inspiration and the basis for the book is one of the most important pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress, yet has received little fanfare. That would be the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, which authorizes the President of the United States to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any United States or allied personnel imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court. . . .
Huston’s books demand to be read in one sitting, and FALCON SEVEN is no exception. Not that you’ll notice. You’ll read the novel (especially the last 100 pages) so quickly that you’ll have scorch marks on your corneas. Huston doesn’t just straddle the territory where military, espionage, and legal thrillers meet: with FALCON SEVEN, he owns it.
