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Legitimate Power Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

On the outskirts of Jerusalem, a person digs up two ossuaries and finds a strange yellow crystal the size of a smartphone able to repair itself when scratched, and turns into a perfect mirror under laser light. Needing money, he sells it to a local merchant, who puts it on the shadow gems market. Suspecting that it is not natural, Dr. Morrison, a part-time mineral collector, purchases the crystal and discovers that he has a quantum computer device that could revolutionize the information technology industry—if it could be made to work.

A Chinese official, also indulging a hobby in rare minerals, thwarted that his bid failed, realizing the crystal’s special nature, sends a Second Bureau operative to get the crystal from Dr. Morrison using whatever means necessary. A trail of murder leads Israeli authorities to the crystal…and they send a Mossad agent to retrieve a national treasure. Learning of the crystal’s existence and its potential, the American government becomes involved, resulting in a collision of conflicting interests, leaving Dr. Morrison to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. A political drama so real, it will make you wonder if it isn’t already happening.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Legitimate Power' by StefanVucak is a spellbinding story that combines history and technology with international intrigue to create an intelligent thriller sure to satisfy every hard core enthusiast of this genre. What makes Legitimate Power such a compelling thriller is that the author seamlessly combines the old and the new; the old being two old burial chests (ossuaries) that contain old bones and an unusual crystal with the new which, in this case, is the concept of solar energy and its various potential innovations, in the center of which is the unique crystal. Add murder and the patenting of intellectual property rights to this political intrigue and you've got one terrific story. The author is clearly well-read and has a wide scope of interests which play out rather nicely in this book. The best part is that the prose is engaging and crisp without being overly technical, making Legitimate Power an easy read. Highly recommended!

Readers' Favorite *****

From the Inside Flap

What happens when a personliving on the outskirts of Jerusalem digs up two ossuaries and finds a strangecrystal the size of a smartphone able to repair itself when scratched and turnsinto a perfect mirror under laser light? When the crystal is put on the shadowgem market, suspecting that it is not natural, an American collector buys it,wanting to tap into its hidden potential. When the Israelis learn what it is,they want it back...as do the Chinese...as does the American government, which setsoff a race to get it, no matter what the cost in shattered lives.

2017 Book Excellence Awards finalist!

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01J97RXWC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stefan Vucak (July 28, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 28, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2077 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

About the author

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Stefan Vucak
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Stefan Vucak has written eight Shadow Gods Saga sci-fi novels and six contemporary thrillers. He started writing science fiction while still in college, but didn’t get published until 2001. His Cry of Eagles won the coveted Readers’ Favorite silver medal award, and his All the Evils was the prestigious Eric Hoffer contest finalist and Readers’ Favorite silver medal winner. Strike for Honor won the gold medal.

Stefan leveraged a successful career in the Information Technology industry, which took him to the Middle East working on cellphone systems. He applied his IT discipline to create realistic storylines for his books. Writing has been a road of discovery, helping him broaden his horizons. He also spends time as an editor and book reviewer. Stefan lives in Melbourne, Australia.

To learn more about Stefan, visit his:

Website: www.stefanvucak.com

Facebpook: www.facebook.com/StefanVucakAuthor

Linkedin: http://au.linkedin.com/pub/stefan-vucak/60/723/655/

Twitter: @stefanvucak

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
6 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2016
    A henpecked husband digging up rocks in his wife's vegetable garden in Israel finds an ancient crypt with two stone "boxes." (When I read this I immediately thought of the similar stone box found a few years ago inscribed "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." Inside the stone boxes in the story are "long skulls" such as those found a few years ago in, Peru and I believe other places as well. A crystal is also found inside one of the boxes with many amazing properties, including the ability to heal itself if scratched.

    The crystal is sold and resold with many people, organizations and even countries interested in obtaining it.

    The story is fast paced and very believable. Once I began reading the book I did not want to stop reading it. I'd started reading in the afternoon and had I started in the morning I would have finished it by bed time.

    His story has me hooked, but then I'm "easy!"

    Stew
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2018
    This slightly SF thriller posits that in Israel, which is described at street level, a man digging his wife's vegetable garden unearths yet another ancient burial and in it, something unique. A slab of crystal which refracts and reflects laser light oddly, so that jewellers and antiquarians pass on the issue to industrial physics experts. Everyone wants to profit from the find, and an auction attracts the attention of Chinese spies, after which the matter goes downhill fast.

    A previous book seems to have dealt with China's attempt to trigger a landslide at La Palma and harm the eastern seaboard of America. I read another book on this theme recently and would like a look at that one. However, the Chinese seem to be the convenient bad guys in the series. I don't think the Chinese would be trying to get their hands on the crystal, quantum computer or not; more likely they would allow the West to get it and puzzle out its secrets, on the expectation that they could hack the documentation at a later date. But here the Chinese are shooting gem dealers on the streets.

    For no real reason to advance the plot, we are shown an American warship manouvering off Israel's coast, firing Evolved Sea Sparrows, Tomahawks etc. This is part of the author's geopolitical speculations that China would like a foothold on the Med coast, which either Turkey or Israel might give them. The Arab countries are threatening to shut off oil supplies to China if this occurs. This is an interesting line of thought, and I like the proposal to put cheap solar power paint on every home and road.

    The main reason I am giving only three stars is that almost every character, and every character of any importance, is a man, apart from the unpleasant wife at the start. Many times a woman walks onto the page in order to pour a man's coffee or put through his phone calls. The only thing a man can do for himself is to pour whisky. Women are kidnapped for ransom, and we never see their point of view, nor can they help themselves.

    This is an adult read. Strong language, violence and death occur.
    I was sent an e-ARC by the author. I chose to read and review. This is an unbiased review.
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2016
    Title – Legitimate Power 64
    Author – Stefan Vucak
    Genre – Political Drama
    281 Amazon Pages
    Rating 4 stars out of 5 Posted 9/25/16

    This story has a great plot and the action is plentiful and intense. I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it in spite of its faults.

    Imagine a football field with three teams playing. The American team is owned by Sam Walters. The Israeli team is owned by Sharron Ibraham, and the Chinese team is owned by Dzhang Qistan.
    The action is brutal and intense as the massive team players fight to possess the orange pigskin. During the game each team gains possession at least once, only to fumble and have it stolen from their grasp by another team.
    The action is violent and many players are injured; several are DOA at the sidelines.

    The actual plot originates in Israel. A husband uncovers an old burial vault in his back yard. Down inside the cavern he discovers two small stone burial vaults. The ancient ossuaries were used to hide and protect the bones of deceased loved ones. Inside one of the ossuaries is a small wood box. Wrapped in a strange cloth inside the box is an orange crystal like article the size of a small cell phone. The finder simply wants to be rid of the bizarre find and sells the lot which travel through a series of middle men.
    The ossuaries and the box have symbols carved in them that antiquity experts have never seen before. When scratched, the orange object immediately repairs itself.

    Eventually the crystal is placed in a closed auction where it is purchased by Dr. Kevin Morrison. He is a scientist and the CEO of Solaris, a company that found a way to extract huge amounts of power from solar panels. His panels will make conventional power generation obsolete. He is intrigued by the object and wants to learn how it was made. That would put his company at the forefront of computer technology for decades to come. Then one of the crystal bidders who bid low decides to take possession of the crystal by any means necessary.
    On an international scale, politics rears its ugly head and nations almost go to war to possess the crystal which by now has been identified as a complex quantum computer.

    The editing is flawed with missing, extra, misspelled and wrong words. Some of the sentence structures are clumsy and character's internal thoughts need to be italicized. Then there is some mingling of past and present tense in the same sentences.

    It was noted that the bones in the ossuaries were not attributable to any human lineage and that carbon dating placed the quantum computer at an early time when it could not possibly have been created by humans. Then this information was dropped and not mentioned again. It left a large hole in the plot. My supposition was that aliens left it.

    This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
    Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.

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