Review: By Force of Reason

Stanley Sauerwein, By Force of Reason: A John Mason Thriller (Kindle 2025)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237846497-by-force-of-reason

A Middle East cabal and an alliance of survivalists threaten the US power network

Terry Hilliker sneaks into the University of Montana computer lab, inserts a thumb drive into the network. Jamal Hourani, a spy for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, meets with representatives from Arab nations.
Canadian CSIS agent John Mason and Janice are off to Washington. Major Boyd, Pentagon tech guy, tells them there’s a virus ‘cute as a button’ posted on the Internet which could bring down the country’s networks.
Predrag is recruited by Hourani to head a new computer consultancy in Paris.
The Montana Military Militia is upping its ops. The Power Grid, missile silos and petroleum refineries are all targets. Unfortunately, the bad guys are just as clever as Mason, and they run him a nail-biting chase.
The conflict between the characters is vaguely set against a background of Middle Eastern political conflict. It’s well written, great pacing and suspense, full of set-backs and double-crosses. The ticking time bomb starts as early as chapter 45, hopping all over the globe. I love how the first strike is by low-tech weapons. I love the big stakes, and the government bigwigs seem realistic.
I enjoyed examining the structure. Typical of a thriller, it begins with chapters from different characters’ points of view, then in subsequent chapters we learn how those characters connect, while learning motivations and stakes. By chapter 26 we’re still meeting new POV characters, which I found confusing, and the fast-paced plot leaves little time for character development. The dialogue is full of military and computer jargon, which is sometimes hard for a layperson to follow, but it sounded fantastic.
I love the description of the Texas sunset as ‘stretching shadows long and mean’ and the metaphor ‘stir the pot and wait for the cook to come check the soup’. I love how the bad guys’ playing with ‘American paranoia’ and ‘the illusion of order’ is part of the scheme. Love the phrase ‘everything felt one button press away from wrong’—so Dragnet.