I really enjoyed this book and it has made me go read the whole series. Excellent. ( )

This book was so dumb it was painful. It was a really not disguised at all opportunity for the author to rail against the Bush administration and talk about what he would do as president. Now I agree with him politically and have the same harsh words for Bush et al, but this was just boring. A ton of time was spent with speeches--the actual full speech! And with logistics about his days. Dullsville.

It was also WAY too simplistic. I don't think the author really grasped how hard it is to accomplish radical things in office and how much work the president does. This character slept way too much and had a weekend off in his first month. Yeah, sure. Plus, he thought pulling out of Iraq would start within hours of being ordered.

The promised thriller aspects just didn't surface. Something would suddenly happen and the danger would be over before there was any suspense. It was ridiculous. The way the relationship went was silly, too, being at first just fun, with the protagonist coveting other guys and then in the next breath in love. (Doubt I'm spoiling anything there. That much was obvious from the description.)

1.5 stars rounded up to two because I did finish it and because it was better than Twilight. ( )

This book was so dumb it was painful. It was a really not disguised at all opportunity for the author to rail against the Bush administration and talk about what he would do as president. Now I agree with him politically and have the same harsh words for Bush et al, but this was just boring. A ton of time was spent with speeches--the actual full speech! And with logistics about his days. Dullsville.

It was also WAY too simplistic. I don't think the author really grasped how hard it is to accomplish radical things in office and how much work the president does. This character slept way too much and had a weekend off in his first month. Yeah, sure. Plus, he thought pulling out of Iraq would start within hours of being ordered.

The promised thriller aspects just didn't surface. Something would suddenly happen and the danger would be over before there was any suspense. It was ridiculous. The way the relationship went was silly, too, being at first just fun, with the protagonist coveting other guys and then in the next breath in love. (Doubt I'm spoiling anything there. That much was obvious from the description.)

1.5 stars rounded up to two because I did finish it and because it was better than Twilight. ( )

I loved the plot more than the romantic or erotic element in this story. I could have done without the sex entirely, actually, as it left me a bit cold. It was Ikea sex and there wasn't much erotic about it. I struggled through a lot of the dialogue between the MCs as well. I know that the President and his bodyguard would speak to each other quite formally when they aren't in bed, but the dialogue took on an odd tone as the book went on: formally structured but with phrases like "take my rod".

I did adore the plot, though, and it was the reason I kept reading. It was suspenseful and dramatic and beautifully paced. The narrative was written well as was the dialogue between the other characters (it was just the dialogue between the MCs that I had trouble with). It had moments where I laughed out loud and others where I held my breath. Four stars for the plot alone!

Edit: Yay! Sequels! Forget the fact I've just spent a fortune on books, I must have them! ( )

Condor One is a fantapolitic novel. David Windsor, multimillionaire business man and far cousin of William V, the King of England, is not a democratic candidate to be the new USA President. His campaign goes very well since the american citizens are tired of years of Republican government, and he is the most probable winner. So his adversary lets drop the bomb during the last official speech: David is gay. Unexpected to everyone, David doesn't deny the news and au contraire, he embraces this new turn of his campaign, gaining even more consent from people who appreciate him for his honesty.

So David becomes the new President and his life takes an accelerate path; in all the whirlwind, his only stepping stone is Shane, his bodyguard. Shane is a late twenty very handsome man, with the look of an American movie star and the character of Gandhi. He is always quite and sure, always ready for 'his' President. At first David is a bit of a playboy, he plays with Shane but he is not against the idea to 'play' also with some other fine looking men who happen to be near him, even if he has never had the chance to conclude something, since the official duty and the lack of intimacy don't allow him any free time. But when the events turn mad and all around him seems to crash, again and again Shane will be his only safe shelter.

The story has a very strong suspense plot, with a lot of action. It's almost like reading a Tom Clancy gay novel. What I find really interesting is David's character, a man that should be upright and detached, and instead, when he can, he is always ogling the fine ass of his bodyguard. But despite the weakness of his body, his mind is very strong and ready and when he needs to take an important decision, he is up to the task. And even if he tries to be fair with everyone, he is also willing to use the iron hand with necessary, and sometime I understand that he is also gladly to do that, when the justice falls upon someone he doesn't like: even if David is a good man, he has a naughty and devil side that sometime surfaces.

Shane maybe is too perfect. He is handsome, clever, generous... I never read about some faults about him. Maybe to be the man of a so important figure, he needs to be so, but well, I would like for him to be a little more angry, above all when David lets his weak body to lead him astray.

The erotic part of the novel are pretty strong, graphic and detailed... these are two men who are making sex (before love) and it's very clear: not chocolate and flowers for them, they go directly to the core of the matter.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981737285/?tag=elimyrevandra-20