Stefan Vučak

28th Amendment
By Stefan Vucak
2022
Reviewed by Angie Mangino
Rating: 5 stars

“‘Talk to me, XO,’ Captain Vasily Bandera growled, his steely eyes fixed on the radar masts of the Chinese Type 052D Luyang III guided-missile destroyer and its heavier Type 055 Renhai-class consort heaving themselves over the horizon, bearing down on him on a reciprocal course.”

With this start thrusting readers into the action on the South China Sea, the stage is set for the struggle between China and the United States. China President Zhou Yedong and U.S. President Samuel Walters are set firm against each other.

“According to White House statements, the 7th Fleet continues to exercise its right of free passage through these waters, daring China to do something about it.
The Chinese president had done something about it by sending hundreds of armed trawlers, part of China’s Maritime Militia, to fish in Exclusive Economic Zones of all South China Sea countries in blatant disregard of numerous protests.”

Will this lead to war?

President Walters takes a stand on this, as well as introducing the 28th Constitutional Amendment to set Congressional term limits. With the proposed Amendment elections for all of Congress will coincide with the four-year election of president. Rather than constant campaigning, the Congress will have to act for the benefit of the citizens.

Additionally, Walters urges the Supreme Court to reverse its 2010 decision to restrict the influence of Big Money and Super PACs in the nation’s political process and to stop kickbacks overseas he wanted the Justice Department to unbendingly implement the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Will the secretive Omicron Group succeed in the assassination of this president who is challenging their comfortable status quo?

This political novel brings readers into the underbelly of corporate and political greed, international economic and military conflicts, and assassins, keeping them intrigued along the way to the satisfying conclusion.

https://amzn.to/3NlY0h8

Angie Mangino currently works as a freelance journalist and book reviewer, as well as author of 17th Century Tottenville History Comes Alive, first in a series of Tottenville History books. www.AngieMangino.com… (more)

FX 26
By Steven Vucak
2022
Reviewed by Angie Mangino
Rating: 4 stars

At the beginning readers meet Ogdan Kostan.

“A former Air Force major, he had what other men called command presence. With his tall, trim frame, he dominated everybody around him, expecting deference and usually getting it. He did not have to work at it. That’s how he was: driven, ambitious, and ruthless. Only the survivors ruled. The rest followed in his jet wash. During his abridged career as an advanced fighter test pilot, they’d taught him well how to survive… at every level. To him, a customer was simply a bag of money, and a competitor someone to destroy because they took money he felt rightfully belonged to him. …He held high hopes for his F/ X-26 Wasp sixth generation fighter concept prototype.”

His ambition brings readers into the inner world of his civilian aviation business Rebus, and his interactions with the Air Force, the US Department of Defense at the Pentagon, the Secretary of State, and the US Congress, as week as with his employees and competition.

The cutthroat industry, with sabotage, bribes, unloyalty, and fierce competition, governs the initial chapters, making getting to know or like Ogdan Kostan difficult. This complicated world of his at first provides readers only a one-sided look at the man.

For readers interested in the process to produce such a protype, they will find the details.

For readers interested in sabotage and competition, they will have their appetite satisfied.

For readers interested in the government workings to attain fighter planes, they will find an inside look.

For readers more interested in people, rather than specifications, antagonism, or politics, the beginning is a bit slow moving, but some patient reading further into the book will provide what they seek. They will get to know more of the enigma that is Ogdan Kostan, along with the people in his work and private life.

https://amzn.to/3fjs1Qi

Angie Mangino currently works as a freelance journalist and book reviewer, as well as author of 17th Century Tottenville History Comes Alive, first in a series of Tottenville History books. www.AngieMangino.com… (more)