Madam President and the Admiral
by Carl Nelson
Published by New Century Press (May release)
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Reviewed by Stephanie Boyd
Imagine being a woman president, and Russia and China are poised to go to war, and China is threatening to disrupt the movement of oil through international shipping channels. President Abby Cass is facing just a crisis. President Cass doesn’t want to involve the Americans in a world war but China’s threat cannot be ignored.
President Cass isn’t sure she can trust her appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General “Bull” Mullin, but he is extremely popular with the public. Bull advises to attack China first, but that would ensure war. Can war be avoided? China has gone silent and there is almost no intelligence information coming from the area on what is really going on. Could China really want to start World War III or do they think President Cass will not respond because she is a woman?
President Cass does trust Admiral Blake Lawrence, her friend and confidant since her husband died, and lately her lover. President Cass decides to send ships to the area to “watch,” and puts Blake in charge. If China wants war, they will get it but President Cass won’t be the aggressor. Will her legacy be war? Has she just endangered the man she loves or will diplomacy work?
I love the premise of this story with the world poised for war and the U.S. has a woman President. The set-up for the situation and the drama are there, but sometimes I had a hard time relating to the main characters because of the number of side issues. It was like reading a news article, informational but not personal and I just didn’t always feel plugged into President Cass (Abby.
I would love to see us have a woman president someday, and I like stories about women Presidents but I need the woman character to be personable, well rounded, and likeable. There are places in the book that I like her and then in the next section she seems a bit remote.
The story as a whole is a good story and is worth reading, and I think with a little more depth to the main characters, it could have been an excellent story.
Armchair Interviews agrees. Read the Q&A with the author on our web site in The Reader’s Place and learn the backstory.
Author’s Web site: http://www.carl-a-nelson.com