I hope you had a chance to pick up Immersed in the View, Book #4 in the Parks Pat Mysteries series this weekend! If you didn’t, there may be some other books in my blog post that are still on sale. And, of course, the Parks Pat books are still available at the regular price.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I am currently reading State of Terror, by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. As you can well imagine, this power team draws on Clinton’s political knowledge and Penny’s experience in writing crime fiction to put together a political thriller that is both detail-rich and keeps the plot moving forward.
I am enjoying the backroom details, strong female characters, and believable plot. Vaguely reminiscent of Frederick Forsythe. I was surprised to realize how prolific the Clinton family is. Bill Clinton has written two political thrillers with James Patterson. Hillary Rodham Clinton has also published a number of memoirs and a couple of books with Chelsea Clinton about strong women. Chelsea Clinton has written a number of children’s books on women in various roles. That’s quite a range of work between the three of them!
Edited to add—Louise Penny fans will find some extra little Easter Eggs in this book!
He almost asked her to let him know when she was safely at her destination. But didn’t. He knew she could not contact him.
Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton, State of Terror
He also knew, as did she, that he would not survive the night.
After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in, and to everyone’s surprise the president chooses a political enemy for the vital position of secretary of state.
There is no love lost between the president of the United States and Ellen Adams, his new secretary of state. But it’s a canny move on the part of the president. With this appointment, he silences one of his harshest critics, since taking the job means Adams must step down as head of her multinational media conglomerate.
As the new president addresses Congress for the first time, with Secretary Adams in attendance, Anahita Dahir, a young foreign service officer (FSO) on the Pakistan desk at the State Department, receives a baffling text from an anonymous source.
Too late, she realizes the message was a hastily coded warning.
What begins as a series of apparent terrorist attacks is revealed to be the beginning of an international chess game involving the volatile and Byzantine politics of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran; the race to develop nuclear weapons in the region; the Russian mob; a burgeoning rogue terrorist organization; and an American government set back on its heels in the international arena.
As the horrifying scale of the threat becomes clear, Secretary Adams and her team realize it has been carefully planned to take advantage of four years of an American government out of touch with international affairs, out of practice with diplomacy, and out of power in the places where it counts the most.
To defeat such an intricate, carefully constructed conspiracy, it will take the skills of a unique team: a passionate young FSO; a dedicated journalist; and a smart, determined, but as yet untested new secretary of state.
