Power Play

November 14, 2011
Dr. Jake Ross is a handsome young adjunct astronomy professor going nowhere fast. Then he’s approached by Frank Tomlinson, a senatorial candidate looking for a photogenic science adviser. Tomlinson envisions himself as the next Kennedy and wants his own glamorous scientific cause to champion. Ross finds it in magnetohydrodynamics, a more efficient method of generating electricity. Along the way, Ross encounters two different love interests—the only major female characters in the book, both of whom sleep with their bosses—and makes a few enemies, including Tomlinson’s rival, Senator Leeds, and his thugs: deadly Ignacio “call me Nacho” Perez; and genial Benito “Monster” Falciglia. Leeds and company have all the finesse of comic-opera villains, blatantly offering Ross tenure if he sabotages Tomlinson’s campaign and threatening to murder him if he doesn’t. This is no more than an average political thriller with an advertisement for magnetohydrodynamics pasted on. Agent: Spectrum Literary Agency.

December 1, 2011
Present-day, science-based political thriller from the veteran author and editor (Leviathans of Jupiter, 2011, etc.). Assistant astronomy professor Jake Ross still grieves for his wife Louise, killed a year ago in an auto accident. He rubs along putting together science experiments for a new Mars rover, and hopes for tenure one day—until his mentor, wise old Lev Cardwell, persuades Jake to meet rich, ambitious Frank Tomlinson, whose goal is to oust incumbent senator Christopher Leeds in the upcoming election. Tomlinson needs an edge and offers Jake a job as his science advisor—if he can come up with an idea. At Cardwell's suggestion he recommends that Tomlinson back MHD, magnetohydrodynamics, a revolutionary, efficient and clean method of generating electricity. Jake becomes doubly motivated when it turns out that Tomlinson's assistant, attractive Amy Wexler, will sleep with him whenever he comes up with a good idea. The university's MHD researchers, irascible Tim Younger and easygoing Bob Rogers, are overjoyed at the prospect of money and support; curiously, however, the project's head, Professor Arlan Sinclair, refuses to support Jake and avoids meeting Tomlinson. Could there be sinister reasons why Sinclair refuses to push his own pet project? There could indeed, and when Sinclair and his wife turn up dead Jake finds himself in an ugly, dangerous battle for which he is totally unprepared. Bova deals with the issues and the politics with his usual workmanlike competence, and he explains the concepts behind the (real) technology clearly—though he tends to skate over the practical difficulties involved. His one real failure is candidate Tomlinson's motivation: Why would a wealthy playboy type think that, in an age when science is routinely derided or ignored, science could boost him into a Senate seat? Solid if unspectacular—Bova makes his point without belaboring it—and a huge improvement over his flabby previous outing.

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January 1, 2012

When astronomy professor Jake Ross is recruited as an adviser to aspiring senator Frank Tomlinson, he is asked to become an expert on MHD, or "magnetohydrodynamics," a new procedure intended to increase radically the generation of cheap and clean electricity. Its creator, Dr. Arlen Sinclair, is unwilling to expose this still-experimental technology to the political arena, especially since he has connections with the incumbent whose seat Tomlinson wants. Drawn further into the cutthroat world of political elections, Ross soon faces the prospect that he may not make it to Election Day alive. Bova's latest novel, set in the near future, features a strong, plot-driven story; snappy dialog; and characters, uncluttered by backstory drama, whose personalities still leap off the page. VERDICT The winner of multiple Hugos puts the science in sf; his large following will appreciate another rapid-fire sf thriller.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2011
Dr. Jake Ross survived his childhood by avoiding conflict. During a class trip, he fell in love with science and escaped the neighborhood bullies by visiting the planetarium incessantly. Dr. Cardwell, the planetarium's director, took Jake under his wing, eventually helping him win a scholarship to study astronomy in college. Now grown, Jake simply wants to live quietly as a researcher and professor of astronomy. Dr. Cardwell, however, envisions Jake as the next science advisor to Frank Tomlinson, a man with aspirations for the U.S. Senate. Unbeknownst to Jake, Jake happens to be sitting on the key to political victory, MHD power generation. MHD is a new and incredibly powerful form of energy. When Tomlinson's opponent learns of MHD's potential powers, Jake finds himself in the middle of a supercharged political fight. Will Jake choose the life he has always known or jump headfirst into designing cutting-edge scientific policy? Unpredictable at every turn, Bova's new novel is sexy, intriguing, and timely.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)