Huston, James W. 1953–

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Huston, James W. 1953–

(James Webb Huston)

PERSONAL: Born October 26, 1953, in Lafayette, IN; son of James Alvin and Florence (Webb) Huston; married Dianna Suzanne Henry, February 2, 1980; children: Stephanie, Paul, Shannon, Colleen, Scott. Education: Attended University of Warwick, Coventry, England; University of South Carolina, B.A., 1975; University of Virginia, J.D., 1984. Politics: Republican. Religion: Presbyterian.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—P.O. Box 270072, San Diego, CA 92198-2071. Office—Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich LLP, 401 B St., Ste. 1700, San Diego, CA 92101. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Attorney and writer. Admitted to the California Bar, 1984; Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye (now Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich LLP), San Diego, CA, attorney, 1984–90, partner, 1990–. Military service: U.S. Navy, lieutenant, 1975–81; U.S. Naval Reserve, commander, 1981–.

MEMBER: American Bar Association, Americans United for Life, San Diego USO (member of board of directors).

AWARDS, HONORS: Warwick Scholar, 1974.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Balance of Power: A Novel, William Morrow (New York, NY), 1998.

The Price of Power (sequel to Balance of Power: A Novel), William Morrow (New York, NY), 1999.

Flash Point: A Novel, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2001.

Fallout: A Novel, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2001.

The Shadows of Power: A Novel, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

Secret Justice: A Novel, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2003.

ADAPTATIONS: Author's works have been made into audiobooks, including Balance of Power: A Novel, Blackstone, 2001; The Shadows of Power: A Novel, Sound Library, BBC Audiobooks America, 2002; and Secret Justice, Blackstone, 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: James W. Huston is an attorney practicing in San Diego, California, who specializes in litigation, specifically product liability, insurance bad faith and coverage, aviation, and contracts. He applies his experience in law and the military to the fiction realm in his first novel, Balance of Power: A Novel, a work called "a heart-stopping story of military action combined with Washington politics and law" by Katherine E.A. Sorci in the Library Journal. The protagonist is Jim Dillon, aide to Speaker of the House John Stanbridge, a hawkish Republican serving during the administration of President Edward Manchester, a "dove" who opposes military aggression. The action of the novel begins when an American cargo vessel is attacked by Indonesian pirates in the South China Sea. The torture of the crew is captured on videotape and released for television viewing, the ship is destroyed, and the captain is taken hostage to an Indonesian island. When the president refuses to act, Stanbridge begins impeachment proceedings. Molly Vaughan, the president's aide and love interest of Dillon, tells Dillon that the Constitution allows Congress to issue a letter of reprisal to authorize military action by a private vessel on behalf of the United States. Dillon passes this information on to Stanbridge and soon finds himself taking the order to the U.S.S. Constitution and Admiral Billings, who commands a battle group. Billings has two sets of orders, the one from the president to leave the area, and the Congressional order to attack.

Lev Raphael wrote in the Detroit Free Press that "Huston's battle scenes do work." "Not a bad debut performance, not bad at all," wrote Gilbert Taylor in Booklist. A Kirkus Reviews contributor deemed the book "a debut military thriller that delivers the requisite guts and glory while making a meaningful statement about the ambiguous role of violence in America."

In The Price of Power, the author brings back Dillon, who is involved in the court martial of an admiral who disregarded an order from the President of the United States. Meanwhile, the president himself faces impeachment for dereliction of duty. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that readers "should be impressed … by the authenticity of the author's procedural details." Flash Point: A Novel is a military thriller that focuses on the terrorist murder of a Navy pilot in training on the aircraft carrier George Washington. The pilot's roommate, Sean Woods, seeks revenge. During a flight, Woods joins an Israeli air attack designed to kill the terrorist group's leader. Although the attack fails, Woods goes on to convince the higher-ups in Washington to make another attempt to kill the leader with Woods flying the plane that will drop the bomb on a hideout in Iran. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author "does craft a well-conceived subplot about Arab-Israeli relations in the American spy community and a hair-raising finale." Jane Jorgenson, writing in the Library Journal, noted that in the description of flying and law "the details are all there—and they are nicely handled."

In Fallout: A Novel, Huston tells the story of Luke Henry, a Navy pilot, who is forced to leave the Navy after being wrongly accused of being responsible for a fatal aircraft accident. Henry decides to start his own private "Top Gun" school and soon has a secret contract with the government to train pilots. Henry, however, finds himself in trouble once again when he realizes that he has been set up by terrorists. Gilbert Taylor, writing in Booklist, noted: "The action culminates in a well-sketched aerial battle." A Publishers Weekly contributor noted: "The aviation scenes are best."

The Shadows of Power: A Novel introduces Navy SEAL Kent Rathman, known as Rat. Rathman finds himself seeking out Algerian terrorists after one of them vows revenge on a former colleague who shot down the terrorist's brother. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the book has "plenty of action." Rathman returns in Secret Justice: A Novel and captures a stand-in for Osama bin Laden named Wahamed Duar but is in trouble after a terrorist he was interrogating dies. Rathman eventually faces a court battle while trying to stop a terrorist plot involving a freighter rigged to blow up Washington, DC. A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote, "The plot is ripped from the pages of tomorrow's newspapers, the military action is authentic, the [l]egal scenes believable."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 1998, Gilbert Taylor, review of Balance of Power: A Novel, p. 1180; June 1, 2000, Gilbert Taylor, review of Fallout: A Novel, p. 1842.

Detroit Free Press, August 9, 1998, Lev Raphael, review of Balance of Power, p. 7F.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 1998, review of Balance of Power, p. 604; May 15, 2001, review of Fallout, p. 686; May 15, 2003, review of Secret Justice: A Novel, p. 703.

Library Journal, April 15, 1998, Katherine E. A. Sorci, review of Balance of Power, p. 112; May 15, 2000, Jane Jorgenson, review of Flash Point: A Novel, p. 125.

Publishers Weekly, April 27, 1998, review of Balance of Power, p. 44; May 10, 1999, review of The Price of Power, p. 57; May 15, 2000, review of Flash Point, p. 87; July 2, 2001, review of Fallout, p. 53; June 3, 2002, review of The Shadows of Power: A Novel, p. 66; May 15, 2003, review of Secret Justice, p. 199.