Abigail Cass Steele is the first woman president of the United States. She has enjoyed the company of a gentleman friend since the death of her beloved husband. Her constant companion, Admiral Blake Lawrence (retired) enters her private quarters unobserved but frets at his position. Abigail admits to herself that “being good at anything in this man’s world is difficult, let alone being a woman.”

Given frequently to such speculation about her role as first woman president, including the aggravation of patronizing remarks by cabinet members, Abigail is feminine and accessible after hours with her admiral. Is this the kind of president we would imagine to step into this critical role? I doubt it. A woman could never claim this office without the same aggression displayed by the men who dominate American politics.

Given frequently to such speculation about her role as first woman president, including the aggravation of patronizing remarks by cabinet members, Abigail is feminine and accessible after hours with her admiral. Is this the kind of president we would imagine to step into this critical role? I doubt it. A woman could never claim this office without the same aggression displayed by the men who dominate American politics.

Whatever is going on in China has been carefully obscured from the prying eyes of U.S. diplomacy. Steele’s challenge is to break through the wall of disinformation to learn what China is really planning. To that end, Admiral Lawrence becomes Steele’s unofficial ambassador to China and Russia.

As the situation escalates, conflict ensues, the admiral in the middle of a volatile stand-off with dire consequences. In the final analysis, Steele must step up to confront a threatening world and avoid a costly war that the planet may not survive. Meeting with the leader of China, Steele extends a diplomatic message with a hard threat behind it. Of course she prevails, earning a compliment from Wen Chen : “The next Buddha could be a woman, you know.”

The author, a senior naval officer with strategic and tactical war experience, uses his inside knowledge to predict a future scenario of an America facing the realities of emerging world powers and the increasing demand for oil resources, positing a China in desperate need to meet its growing energy demands. A likely scenario, if not one that will test the strengths of the first female president. The author may be a bit out of his depth with this character, Steele a little too fanciful to be realistic.

More to the point, this protagonist is not given an opportunity to step into the challenges of such an important role. In the end, Steele struggles with a decision whether to stay with her wounded soon-to-be-husband (of course, she must marry) and the demands of her country. In an effort to be complimentary, the story slips into the very stereotypes it would avoid.