More political thriller than science fiction, for which Bova is famous. This reprint involves a character, Jake, who's trying to save the world with a very large energy plan. Jake refuses to compromise and runs afoul of the Senate power structure. The violence that ensued wasn't really believable, except unless one puts it in context of Vince Foster during Clinton's presidency. It was a short listen and a reprint--but dragged a little and some parts that didn't connect well. ( )

Power Surge is a thriller showcasing the convoluted politics in Washington, where the rich and powerful have a disproportionate influence on the government. If something hurts their profits they try to quash it, if it will help, they will bribe and threaten to get their way.

Our protagonist Jake arrives in Washington D.C. as the science adviser to a freshman Senator from Montana. Both Jake and Senator Tomlinson want to propose a comprehensive energy plan for the country. Tomlinson primarily because it would look good on his record and Jake because he truly sees a need and a possible way to do it.

Unfortunately for both of them, just by trying to do this, they are perceived as stepping on a lot of toes. And big oil and coal have a lot to say. The big problem is that the big powerful companies tend to like to keep the status quo, on everything, since that way there are no surprises and the profits keep rolling in.

Jake happens to get a secret mentor willing to help him navigate the quagmire that is D.C. He keeps Jake from making any unrecoverable mistakes and advises him on some key issues for his bill to have any chance of success. Jake thinks his mentor is a little paranoid about their clandestine style meetings, until his mentor gets ‘promoted’ to a position in Ohio after being in his job for 20+ years. It smells a little fishy.

All this time Jake is working on making his plan as useful, palatable and accurate as possible so it can truly make a difference in how the US produces its energy. Along the way he finds out that politics in the big city is more dangerous than back room deals to get one blackballed. When you have a chance to make real change where powerful people don’t want any, they might go to great lengths to prevent it from coming about.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit and it's a good book and will definitely try another one of Ben Bova’s book again in the future. ( )