Authors and publishers are welcome to tell us about their books ONLY if they are honest and reveal their relationship to the book and/or author. If you are here to promote a book you MUST state that you are the author, publisher or some other relation to the author or publisher or campaign to promote the book. Nothing short of complete disclosure will be tolerated.
All attempts to deceive BookTalk.org visitors and members with fake book reviews or endorsements make you, the author and the book appear unworthy of legitimate praise and will result in instant banning of all accounts, email addresses and IP addresses associated with the deception.
We take book suggestions, endorsement and reviews seriously on BookTalk.org and if you insult our intelligence with fake suggestions, endorsements and reviews we don't want you here and we won't consider your book as being worthy of our time. Efforts will be made to see that you and the book or books you're promoting are permanently banned from BookTalk.org.
If you would like to advertise your book click on the ADVERTISE link in the top green navigation bar and purchase and ad.
Joined: Jun 2009 Posts: 33 Location: TX
Thanks: 0 Thanked: 5 times in 4 posts
Gender: Country:
The Usurper, a thriller by Cliff Ball
I wanted to introduce my newest and third novel, The Usurper, which was published last month.
Here's what its about:
Gary Jackson is raised to hate. Hate the United States, and everything it has ever stood for. His mission is to destroy the country from within, allying himself with America's enemies, and one very powerful and malevolent billionaire, to accomplish the deed. Once elected to the highest position in the land, Gary puts his lifelong goals to work, and puts the USA onto the path of ultimate destruction. He stops at nothing to rid the USA of his political and spiritual enemies, until a small group decide they've had enough, and they want to stop him. Will they succeed or will the United States be relegated to the dustbin of history?
Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: CreateSpace (July 14, 2010) $5 off this title with coupon code JKJLG2YW Language: English ISBN-10: 1453702725 ISBN-13: 978-1453702727
“A cold-blooded, Clancy-esque political thriller; The Usurper is sure to entertain.”
As decades of meticulous scheming and planning finally come together, the KGB, an under-appreciated threat, takes the final steps towards the ultimate coup. The terrorist faction exploits idealistic volunteers to do some of the dirty work and utilizes educated individuals, in positions of power, who are more than willing to die for their belief in ultimate control by the government. When a mixed group of terrorists and extremists spend years training for the eventual downfall of the western world, collateral damage and the loss of life isn’t given consideration.
The Usurper starts off slowly, but quickly picks up momentum as the plot thickens and the story unfolds. There are multiple themes in this fictional novel, not the least of which is terrorism, persecution and indoctrinated loyalties; this story painstakingly illustrates a plan for world domination that requires countless willing and blackmailed participants. The main characters are written with the most depth, while supporting characters have very little in the way of a back story. More internal dialog would enhance the reader’s ability to connect with the characters and pull them deeper into the story itself. Some structure and grammatical errors, while few and far between, need to be addressed to ensure a smoothly-flowing story that every reader will be able to enjoy.
Despite the minor issues mentioned, The Usurper is a very fast-paced, political thriller that will keep readers on their toes and offer some thought-provoking twists on historic and future possibilities in the political arena.
Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 1453 Images: 0 Location: Hampton, Ga Highscores:14 Thanks: 188 Thanked: 245 times in 182 posts
Gender: Country:
Re: The Usurper by Cliff Ball
You should have had the Bush family backing Al Qaeda - ensuring that military spending increased, Haliburton made zillions, and a second term was insured through the use of fear. That would have made a great book!
This is the first Cliff Ball book I’ve read…and I’d have to say that if he writes another political thriller … I’m in! “The Usurper” is a fast-paced fictional story that has non-fictional elements in it of events that really happened. Cliff makes you think ‘could this really happen?’ He makes it all seem possible…which is a scary thought! This book had lots of twists and turns that kept the reader on the edge of her seat throughout the book. I gave this book to my dad to read since he likes the same kind of books that I do. I’m sure he’ll have a good review as well. Thank you Cliff for writing this book!
I agree with the other reviewer’s statement that it is Clancy like. The characters don’t have as much depth as Clancy’s, but Clancy has developed his over many books. This book was very similar to current events, with a frightening back story created. This back story was, unfortunately, plausible – at least in the goal if not the execution. It builds off of the fears of the cold war and moves into the role and power of government in our lives, as well as the battle of capitalism vs. socialism. This was filled with lots of symbolism and relations to actual current events. In summary, a very good read and I look forward to reading more by this author.
Plus, a review for Shattered Earth from a reader on Goodreads who won a copy of the paperback:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/149311972 Just finished this book. It was not at all what I thought it would be. The story line was was so imaginatively written, very interesting. I haven’t read a sci-fi, fantasy book written in such a way to be so interesting. I really liked it. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but it is obvious that a lot of thought went into the writing of this book. The story line and the history aspect of the story kept me involved in the story from the beginning and had some really fun and interesting twists. I really enjoyed this book and hope to read more from Mr. Ball.
The usurper, Gary Jackson, is a hateful soul. His entire life was planned by the Soviet Union before he was even conceived by a volunteer KGB agent. Gary was raised to hate the USA and all of its citizens and ultimately be the man of the countries undoing.
In The Usurper, we follow Gary’s mother for a short time but the star in the novel is undeniably Gary. He is trained and educated with the sole purpose of ending the USA during his middle aged years. The Usurper is filled to the brim with conspiracies and some elaborated history lessons. This is a terrific thriller but I would advise the reader to be open minded when reading due to Gary’s and the Soviet’s cold-heartedness. It would be relatively easy for a conspiracy theorist to become enthralled with this novel and the intricacies of Gary’s life. I did notice there are some points in the novel when the storytelling is very brief and dry, which I am not a huge fan of. However, there are many more other parts of this novel that are gripping and make up for that dry style of writing. Overall, The Usurper is an attention-grabbing story and an eye opener on many levels. Although The Usurper is a work of fiction, many instances could be comparable to some going-ons in our world today. Ball indeed did a terrific job with his imagination.
and for the rest of this month, The Usurper is $.99 on Amazon, Smashwords, and B&N
Users browsing this forum: Majestic-12 [Bot] and 2 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum
Love to talk about books but don't have time for our book discussion forums? For casual book talk join us on Facebook.
Support BookTalk.org
BookTalk.org is being upgraded to a totally new design. This upgrade is expensive. Any support would be VERY helpful! See who supports us.
Make a donation
PEOPLE PAYING FOR OUR UPGRADE:
• afv - $10 May
• LevV - $50 March
• Dexter - $10 March
• supernova38 - $25 March
• Oblivion - $20 March
• jheimlich - $20 February
• Robert Tulip - $50 February
• giselle - $50 January
Children here need worming
regularly, and I think I
need to buy more worming
tablets, so while my friends
sit on the beach, I have to
catch bush taxis up to the… more
The children have a long way
to walk to the nearest primary
school. At the moment they are
in temporary accommodation,
with volunteer teachers. There
is community land available,
a… more
The price of The 12th Disciple
has been updated to $3.99 for
Kindle readers. The book is
still available for free to
borrow for Amazon Prime
members. To be
competitive, and s… more
The 12th Disciple has been
reviewed by two different
people on Amazon. They
purchased the Kindle edition;
one in the US, one in the
UK. One review was
5-stars (US) and the oth… more
I'd like to say I've
been reading Harry Potter
since the day the world renown
series appeared on the
scene. Unfortunately,
the truth is I began reading
Harry Potter… more
Easter teaches many of us the
importance of redemption and
resurrection. Regardless of
what faith people follow, the
story of Jesus Christ has been
told in many languages in many
c… more
Our Book Talk will begin on
Wednesday, May 2nd. I look
forward to hearing about your
learning and classroom
experiences with Number Talks
as it all unfolds...
NONOPPOSITIONAL NONVIOLENCE
The minute you conquer the
fear of death, at that moment
you are free. I submit to you
that if a man hasnt
discovered something that he
will die f… more
Yesterday, when I went to feed
Jeni the donkey, I noticed
swarms of bees entering
Ebrimas house through the
cracks in the door. We both
had a look, but he didnt
open his door… more
Whether you want to implement
number talks but are unsure of
how to begin or have
experience but want more
guidance in crafting
purposeful problems, this
dynamic multimedia resourc… more
Do you feel entitled? For
years I have listened to and,
in some instances, complained
that some people in America
feel entitled. For years I
have watched as these people
are portra… more
On Fat Tuesday and Ash
Wednesday of 2012, The 12th
Disciple was free to Kindle
users on both days. In all,
about 550 worldwide Kindle
users downloaded a copy of the
book.
Sacred Are the Brave a
collection of short stories
about the nonviolent
revolutions 1986-1989 is now
available in Kindle. Each of
the nine stories has
characters who are just
… more
The Weekend Trippers is the
true story of Rfn Ted Taylor
and his part in the heroic
last stand in Calais May 1940.
The Weekend Trippers is based
on Teds diaries written at
the… more
Tell your friends when to meet you in the BookTalk.org Chat Room.
If you enjoy business bestsellers and would like to expand your business knowledge check out the quality book summaries offered by the world's leading book summary company.
BookTalk.org is a free book discussion group or online reading group or book club. We read and talk about both fiction and non-fiction books as a group. We host live author chats where booktalk members can interact with and interview authors. We give away free books to our members in book giveaway contests. Our booktalks are open to everybody who enjoys talking about books. Our book forums include book reviews, author interviews and book resources for readers and book lovers. Discussing books is our passion. We're a literature forum, or reading forum. Register a free book club account today! Suggest nonfiction and fiction books. Authors and publishers are welcome to advertise their books or ask for an author chat or author interview.
Tweet This Topic
