Talk about a fun project!…the 67th Secretary of State and one of Canada’s most prominent authors team up to give us all a thrill in this timely international page turner!
A politician and an author walked into a bar…. (sorry, inside joke, you’ll have to read the book to figure that one out)
Ellen Adams, a novice Secretary of State, has just joined the administration of her rival, a president inaugurated after four years of American leadership that shrank from the world stage. A series of terrorist attacks throws the global order into disarray and the secretary is tasked with assembling a team to unravel the deadly conspiracy, a scheme carefully designed to take advantage of an American government dangerously out of touch and out of power in the places where it counts the most. This high-stakes thriller of international intrigue features behind-the-scenes global drama informed by details only an insider could provide.
Two smart women, who happen also to be personal friends (and are both wildly famous worldwide), bring tremendous skills to this book: Clinton brings insider knowledge of international diplomacy and Penny brings mystery/suspense writing but also some humour. And if you know Penny’s Gamache series, there are some cameo appearances from Three Pines thrown in too. Clinton and Penny speak fondly of their collaboration and both say they were grateful for the chance they had to work together.
I did not find this to be either a die-hard thriller or a literary masterpiece, but just an entertaining and intriguing plot-driven read, even though the book deals with serious and scary topics. The pleasure that this dynamic duo had in writing the story clearly shines through.
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