Allegiance by Tom Abrahams

Allegiance is the second novel by Tom Abrahams, the best feature being his protagonist Jackson Quick who works for the governor of Texas who happens to be in the midst of a losing battle for reelection. The story opened with an intense sniper shot, and the action continued nearly nonstop throughout. This was not a book to put down despite the fact that I had some problems with it. The authors device was to delay important background information about Quick until near the end of the book, and that finally pulled together how this man had the skills to master violent events which seemed to be well above his pay grade. Quick might have been a more believable character if I had known more about him earlier. Ultimately, this is a dirty politics story in which the two men running for governor will stop at nothing to win since by doing so, they will further enrich themselves and those who are loyal to them. It’s all about the money and power. There were great twists in the plot and subplots which included the oil business in Texas, nanotechnology, and a secessionist movement to make Texas as an independent republic. There was something missing in the dialogue, but like I wrote above, despite my not totally buying into the characters and the storyline, I also needed to know what was going to happen to Quick.