More, More, More (Jack Powers Adventures 1) by Clint Arthur-review & interview

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 4, 2025

A High-Stakes Thriller of Money, Power, and Deception

From the gritty streets of Manhattan to the luxurious waters of the Mediterranean, More, More, More is an international thriller of espionage, power, and passion, set against the backdrop of one of the greatest financial weapons ever devised: inflation.

Meet Jack Powers.

Born into the shadows of Alphabet City, Jack clawed his way from the streets to Wharton Business School, destined for the world of high finance. But just as he’s set to conquer Wall Street, he’s recruited into a covert operation that could reshape the global economy—or destroy it.

As a Naval Intelligence officer and a covert CIA attaché, Jack is thrust into the deadly chess match of the Cold War, where money is the ultimate weapon. His mission? To cripple the Soviet Union by unleashing an economic firestorm more destructive than any missile—a financial thriller of global stakes, where power is bought, sold, and manipulated.

But the battlefield isn’t just in the shadows—it’s in the boardrooms of New York and Philadelphia, the opulent streets of Rome, Venice, and Paris, and aboard the most extravagant mega-yachts gliding across the waters of Spain. Jack must navigate ruthless billionaires, double agents, and merciless assassins—all while resisting the one woman who could be his greatest downfall.

Enter Svetlana.

A woman of impossible beauty, seductive intelligence, and dangerous ambition, Svetlana isn’t just a distraction—she’s the most lethal piece on the chessboard. As deception and desire collide, Jack is ensnared in a web of espionage, betrayal, and deadly secrets.

With billion-dollar fortunes at stake, secret missions unfolding across continents, and killers lurking in every shadow, Jack must decide:

🔹 How far will he go to win this war?

🔹 Who can he trust when everyone has a price?

🔹 And what is he willing to sacrifice—his mission, his country, or the woman he can’t let go?

••••••

REVIEW:MORE, MORE, MORE : A Novel About Love War and Inflation is the first instalment in Clint Arthur’s historical adult JACK POWERS ADVENTURES focusing on Naval Intelligence officer and covert CIA attaché Jack Powers.

Told from first person perspective (Jack Powers) covering several years beginning in the 1970s MORE, MORE, MORE follows the son of an immigrant father, and squatters, raised in an abandoned building in New York City. Jack Powers heard his father talk about ‘the American Dream’ and from a young age Jack Powers III knew he was going to escape the slums of New York, working hard to make it happen. Beginning at a young age, Jack worked small jobs including security sweeps and washing dishes, saving his money for the day he would be accepted into college. Intelligent and athletic, Jack excelled in wrestling and economics until the day he was recruited by the US military, working as a liaison between the Americans and Russia, with the ultimate end game of destroying the Russian economy.

The world building follows Jack Powers on his rise to power, a power that is ultimately out of his control. From double agents to espionage, high finance and assassins, Jack must navigate the globe in an effort to stay one step ahead.

MORE, MORE, MORE is an interesting story of power and control, betrayal and espionage nearing the end of the cold war between America and Russia. Ronald Reagan was president in the 1980s, two severe economic recessions in the face of rising inflation, and one man following orders in an effort to crash the Russian economic power but the story presentation floundered with too much telling and now enough showing. More of a written narrative, MORE, MORE, MORE reads like a journal; a flat recitation of events without the colorful details and credentials.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

TRC: Hi Clint and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the release of MORE, MORE, MORE

Clint: Thank you!

It’s been a long long long long road to publishing this debut novel. I don’t know why it took me so long, but I feel like I spend a lifetime getting ready to do this, and it has really paid off in the quality of the writing and storytelling.

TRC:We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Clint: I was born and raised in New York City, very near to where this novel begins. Much of the story is based on my own life experiences growing up, living and working in the big apple as a kid, and all the way through graduating from the Wharton business school.

TRC:Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Clint: As a kid in Stuyvesant High School I had the great good fortune to study creative writing with Frank McCourt, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his memoir about his impoverished childhood in Ireland, Angela‘s Ashes. Then when I was in college, my best friend’s father produced the movie Platoon and won the Academy award for Best Picture — he was a great inspiration in my life, and his many movies impacted my storytelling. Most recently I have been profoundly influenced by my mentor Oprah Winfrey, and her story.

TRC:What challenges or difficulties did you encounter writing and publishing this story?

Clint: Having written almost 40 non fiction books prior to this one, I was very surprised that I had so many insecurities and personal doubts about being able to write this book. When I was halfway through the first draft, I was lying on a couch in my hotel suite in Rome, Italy, thinking to myself “who am I to be writing a novel? Who’s going to want to read this?“All the great challenges in life seem to be within oneself.

TRC:Would you please tell us something about the premise of MORE,MORE, MORE?

Clint: The story is about a young patriot who gets recruited into a Cold War plot to destroy the Soviet Union by ruining their economy with inflation. Underneath that is the journey of a street urchin to become somebody special in the world, and his quest for love.

TRC:What kind of research/plotting did you do, and how long did you spend researching /plotting before beginning MORE, MORE, MORE?

Clint: I guess I developed the story over the course of 55 years of my life, as most of the early part of the book is autobiographical, and the latter part of the book is set in international locations that I love, including Venice, Paris, Rome, San Sebastian, Spain, New York City, Philadelphia, Milan, and Zürich Switzerland. All of these are places that I have enjoyed living in or visiting, and many of the restaurants, churches, hotels, and hotel suites where these scenes take place are my favorites in the world.

TRC:Is any of the premise based in reality or fact?

Clint: The big premise of the story was inspired by something I heard on a conspiracy theory podcast. The speaker said that he had been part of a three letter agency team that had is the Cold War by destroyingthe Soviet Union by killing their economy with inflation, and I found that to be fascinating. As a graduate of the Wharton business school, majoring in economics, I’ve always been fascinated by macro-economic concepts, and this seemed to be an ingenious way to wage and win a world war without firing a bullet.

TRC:How many books do you have planned for the series?

Clint: I have at least two more books already envisioned for this series, but I’m a big fan of John D McDonald and Lee Childs, so I would love to have Jack Powers gallivanting around the globe in a long series of adventures, occupying my endeavors for the next 10 years.

TRC:Will there be a new ‘love interest’ for Jack Powers in each successive book?

Clint: That is a fascinating question. There will always be a powerful female leading lady in every book, but unlike the cyphers of the James Bond series, these women will have depth and driving motivations of their own, which are central to the story.

TRC:Believability is an important factor in writing story lines especially stories of mystery and suspense. How do you keep the story line believable?Where do you think some author’s fail?

Clint: I believe that life is about moments, and stories are about moments, so I try to stay in the moment. I put myself inside each of these moments in the story. If it feels real to me, then it should feel real to the reader.

TRC:Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

Clint: Book covers have always inspired my imagination and have often impacted my vision of the characters and locations in the stories so I definitely believe that they are a big part of a readers decision to invest their time in a series. In addition to the cover art, I really enjoyed the illustrations inside the hobbit and Lord of the rings books, so I have included quite a few illustrations inside my novel to inspire and tickle the readers imagination.

TRC:When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Clint: My characters came alive and took on a life of their own. The characters determine the whole story. This is something that I’ve been teaching in my writing seminars for many years. When you think of the Wizard of Oz, you think of Dorothy. When you think of gone with the wind, you think of Scarlet O’Hara. When you think of Star Wars, you think of Luke Skywalker. When you think of Casablanca, you think of Rick. The character is the story.

TRC:The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

Clint: I believe the key to getting inside a character is getting inside their head — so I focus on expressing the thoughts the character is thinking, the internal monologue. The actual thoughts that the person is thinking while they are going through these experiences. It took me many decades to uncover this secret superpower in storytelling.

TRC:Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction?

Clint: Characters? I wrote the novel More, More, More in two different locations in Italy. The first place was the courtyard of a Franciscan monastery in Venice. Every morning I would go there from about 8:30 until 1030 or 11 AM and walk around the courtyard Square, a very peaceful and quiet environment, and I spoke the action and the dialogue and the descriptions and everything into my iPhone. That’s how I write by dictating and then transcribing. The second half of the novel was written primarily in the grand ballroom of the St Regis hotel in Rome. This hotel used to be called the Grand Hotel, and it was very inspirational for me in my life because I actually went there in 1987, when I was a senior in college, with my best friend and his parents, when his dad accepted the Italian Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for his movie Platoon. I’m a very intense and focused person and when I work, I like to focus on the work, so mostly I’m looking for a beautiful, inspirational, and quiet place where I can speak into my phone without distracting noises or sounds. The grand ballroom of this hotel in Rome was elegant and beautiful with amazing chandeliers and incredible artwork hanging on the walls, gorgeous marble columns and floors and large enough for me to get 10,000 steps a day walking a circuit around the perimeter. There’s nothing I love more than getting my daily steps workout accomplished while I’m actually doing my work of writing.

TRC:What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

Clint: Question reminds me of a joke I heard during the 13 years that I was driving a taxi in Los Angeles while I Chased the Hollywood dream, writing30 Screenplays for feature films and TV series: “did you hear about the Polish actress? She slept with the writer.“ I don’t really think the general public thinks about writers at all. Most people don’t read, won’t read, and certainly could not name an author if you put a gun to their head. That’s why it’s such a privilege to find someone who is a writer, such as yourself, who cares enough about Books and literature to actually study and review and help to get the good word out about great works. That’s also why I am so appreciative of my readers, I really do appreciate every single person who buys one of my books, and especially those who take the time and effort to review my books. 🙏🏻

TRC:What is something that few, if anyone, know about you?

Clint: I attended and graduated from the #1 math & science high school in America, if not the world, Stuyvesant High School in New York City. 99% of all the students in my graduating class went to college, and like me, more than a third of the kids went to Ivy League universities. One of the things that helped me to get into the Ivy League was my membership on the varsity wrestling team. Despite the fact that our team was comprised of mostly white and Asian kids, and we were competing in the mostly black and Puerto Rican, Manhattan-Bronx Division of the Public School Athletic League, going up against the toughest gang-bangers and terrorists in New York City, we were undefeated New York City Champions, and actually started a dynasty of Stuyvesant High School New York City Champion wrestling teams that lasted for many years.

TRC:On what are you currently working?

Clint: I keep a list of book ideas, so I probably have 30 that are simmering in my subconscious right now, but mostly I’m focused on getting the word out about this novel. The marketing of the book is the hardest part, it takes the most time. Over the last 10 years I have made 151 television appearances on ABC NBC CBS at Fox and have had the great privilege to share my message on the same stage as Martha Stewart and Dr Oz and Dog The Bounty Hunter, Caitlin Jenner and Cesar Millan, even with five presidents of the United States, at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, The New York Academy of Medicine, the Royal Society of Medicine, the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and even at Carnegie Hall. All of this Publicity work that I have been doing myself and with my clients at my Instant Celebrity Tansformation events has hopefully prepared me for this most monumental task of promoting More, More, More.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food – pizza

Favorite Dessert – : Moca chip ice cream

Favorite TV Show –: The 100

Last Movie You Saw –: Equalizer 3

Dark or Milk Chocolate –: Dark

Secret Celebrity Crush – : Sophia Vergara

Last Vacation Destination –  Rome

Do you have any pets?  Dog & Cat

Last book you read – CLINT: You Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

Thank you Clint for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of MORE, MORE, MORE. We wish you all the best.