cover image Marine One

Marine One

James W. Huston, . . St. Martin's, $24.95 (323pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36431-1

Bestseller Huston (Secret Justice ) grabs the reader by the lapels with the opening sentence of the first chapter of this outstanding thriller: “If my radio alarm had gone off, I would have known the president was dead.” During a violent thunderstorm, President James Adams takes off in Marine One from the White House for a supersecret meeting at Camp David. A few miles out, the helicopter begins to disintegrate and plunges to the ground, killing everyone aboard. The helicopter's French company, WorldCopter, hires Annapolis attorney Mike Nolan to defend it against charges of criminal responsibility. Mike soon finds there are a number of possible culprits to pin the crash on, including the rabidly conservative Marine Corps pilot and the mysterious men who were awaiting the president at Camp David. Mike powers the case forward, even though the government warns him away and assassins attempt to kill him. This is nonstop legal suspense at its best. (May)