The Book of Fate
by Brad Meltzer

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Eight years ago, presidential aide Wes Holloway survived the attack of a crazed assassin that killed the chief executive's oldest friend, Ron Boyle. Now permanently disfigured, Holloway receives a report that sounds impossible: Half a world away, Boyle has been spotted alive and well. Not surprisingly, Wes becomes almost unnaturally obsessed with the truth behind the sighting. Before his quest ends, it will lead him deep into Washington cover-ups, Masonic secrets, and an intricate code invented by Thomas Jefferson. Deciphering mysteries at a high-adrenaline pace.

Not bad - though it took me a lonnnng time (months) to finish listening to this in audio book format. Not so "National Treasure"-y conspira-tol as it had been sold, but an engaging enough story, and okay enough.

Red Lightning
by John Varley

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Publishers Weekly: Ray Garcia-Strickland is just another Martian teenager. Sure, his parents are two of the ultra-famous original Mars colonists (as detailed in Varley's rollicking Red Thunder), but who cares when he's got school, girls and airboard tricks to think about? Then an object traveling at the speed of light slams into Earth, causing a massive tsunami that swamps Atlantic islands and coasts, including Ray's grandmother's Florida home. When the Garcia-Stricklands return from wading through the horrifying aftermath in search of survivors, they find that Ray's eccentric uncle, Jubal, has developed a gizmo that stops time and used it to mail himself to Mars. Drawing unabashedly on current events from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, the author mixes space opera-esque adventure and merriment with uncensored images of disaster areas and teenage sex. At his Heinlein-channeling best, Varley preaches the gospel of individual responsibility with all the fervor of a space-age libertarian revival preacher. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Great story - and yes *very* Heinleinesque. I wish he'd go to a G or PG rating in the story - it doesn't really move the story, just lures in the teenage readers.