State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

 I recently read State of Terror. It was written by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. 

When it first came out, I didn't plan on reading it. I thought, like may others, that it as a book about politics that Hillary Clinton wrote. I am not a person that spends alot of time on "politics." But several of the members of our Mystery Book Club read it and really liked it. 

It is very popular at our library. I put myself on the hold list and waited a couple of months. I finally got it a few weeks ago. 

About: " 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."

I loved this book. I didn't expect to. I thought it would be "about politics.". 

It is a political thriller. It reads like the T.V. show "24" to me. It is very fast paced and reads quick despite the number of pages. It is very intense and hard to put down. If you are a fan of Louise Penny's series, you will stand up and shout out loud (in a good way) at the last couple of chapters. 

Be sure to read the Acknowledgements at the end. Three of the characters are named after friends of Hillary Clinton. Ellen Adams. Katherine who is the real Ellen's daughter. Betsy Jameson who is named after Hillary's childhood friend and my high school Spanish teacher - Betsy Ebeling. Knowing Mrs. Ebeling, having gone to Spain with her in a high school group, this was a great tribute to her. She really was a wonderful person.  "Mrs. Ebeling" and Ellen that Ellen Adams is named for, have passed away. 

The Acknowledgements also talk about how H. Clinton and Louise Penny met and ended up writing this book. Even that part of the book was really good.

I really recommend it.

What else did I read on my blog hiatus?

 First, we had a very successful Mystery Book Club last week. Not on our usual day and kind of last minute, but we had a good turnout. The weather was not good so I was a bit worried. Cold, windy, drizzly early in the day. But the regulars persevered! Everyone was so glad to meet in person at the library again. It was exactly two years since we met there regularly, had one false start back in January and hoping this "sticks". I said we need a t-shirt. 

Everyone liked The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen and several plan to explore other books in the series. Everyone commented on Bump the dog and how he was their favorite. One person expressed her shock that everyone else was so concerned about the dog. lol

Everyone had the same thoughts about The Current that I talked about last time. A bit confusing in parts but interesting story. A lot of bad things happened to everyone in the book.

So what have I been reading to and/or listening too since December? A mix of traditional mysteries, cozies, and cozies with a paranormal twist. It was funny that authors that I am on their ARC lists and haven't heard from in quite awhile, all published a new book in February and March. So I got to read those. The timing was a bit tricky but I did it.

I finished listening to the Atlee Pine series. I really liked this series and highly recommend it. I believe that was the last book (4) in the series.

Books three and five  (Yep. I had read book four evidently but when I went to read book five, I realized I had three but never read it.) in the Madeline Brooks English cottage type traditional mysteries by Tannis Laidlaw. Madeline is a newly divorced, trying to be a realtor to support herself woman who keeps finding bodies in the houses she is showing.

There are five books in this series - The Grace Street Mysteries. 

"David Randall's perfect family life came derailed when his little daughter Lindsey died in a car crash. Thrown out by his second wife and wanting to leave a dead-end detective agency to start his own, he reluctantly accepts his psychic friend Camden's invitation to stay in Camden's boarding house in Parkland, North Carolina"

As the series goes, more people move into the house on Grace Street. They are a pretty quirky bunch. Humorous at times. Big Bang feeling group but one is a P.I., one is slightly psychic and the women who love them? They all hang around together, live together but don't always agree. And in Fatal Fantasy, David and Camden go to Extravaganzacon.I found the books entertaining.

This book two in the series. I also read the first one. I liked them. Scarlet and the Duke feel.

"Amateur sleuth Kitty Worthington once more jumps into the fray to nab the wily murderer of a high-ranking member of the nobility. Can she catch the killer before her sister's beloved pays the ultimate price?

London. 1923. Much to her consternation, Kitty Worthington's debut season is a resounding success, prompting marriage proposals from lords, rogues, scoundrels, and ne'er do wells. Even as she dodges them, a new intrigue arises, and at Westminster, no less. A high-ranking member of the nobility is murdered, and her sister's beau has been framed to take the fall."

This is a historical fiction book based on true events. Not going to sugar coat it. It was tough book to listen to.

"Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this debut novel reveals a story of love, redemption, and secrets that were hidden for decades.
 
New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.
 
An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
 
For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.
 
The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten. "

And after The Lilac Girls, I luckily got to read a couple of ARC''s that were lighter. I have read the first four books in this series also.

"On the private island of a wealthy banker, a young and talented stonemason falls from a cliff. A tragic accident? Or murder?

The dead man’s sister is obsessed with justice and will stop at nothing.
A glamorous French widow and her heart-throb son are certain they have been cheated of their legacy.
A daughter is bequeathed an island mansion beyond her means.
An enigmatic letter hints at a hidden fortune.

After the collapse of her theatrical tour, actress Derry O’Donnell must work to pay her way in a West of Ireland village. As Madam Tulip, she tells fortunes for a local charity only to be drawn into a maze of mystery and intrigue."

This is a fun, quick read cozy series. I have listened to the previous books in this series too.

"A touching gift. A shocking truth. Can this psychic sleuth solve a decade-old murder?
Mitzy Moon is happy to leave her painful past buried. But a thoughtful present turns her world upside down and forces her to abandon Ghost-ma and her fiendish feline to search for answers in the Southwest. Turns out her mom’s death was no accident, and proving it could be the last thing she does…"

Whew!

Currently listening to The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor and reading State of Terror by Hillary Clinton Rodham and Louise Penny. (pleasantly surprised)

The Vanishing Season, The Current

 Hi all,

I think I am back. Not sure if anything is more settled but the Covid Stage here is back down to three, from five all winter, masks requirements are coming down, it is warmer with a couple of cold fronts coming through again but with less frigid cold, thankfully. After a false start to March, as of today our Mystery Book Club can meet in the library again.

I thought I would start off with the books we read for February (our meeting had to be cancelled) and March (which should have been last week but will be this coming week.)

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen (Ellery Hathaway #1)

About: "Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only one who lived. When three people disappear from her town in three years―all around her birthday―Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer all those years ago. Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he's washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can’t help but wonder: sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery’s waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them...with a killer who can't let go."

I really liked this book. It was very suspenseful, creepy in parts and was definelty a page turner. The author was really good at redirecting your focus to potential suspects. I was sure the culprit were two different people and then they weren't.. Although there were clues, totally caught off guard with who the killer was. Loved Bump (the dog) and got worried. I liked  Ellery and Reed and glad to see he the Ellery is in the next book. 

There are five books in the series. https://www.joannaschaffhausen.com/

The Current by Tim Johnston

About: "Tim Johnston, whose 2015 national bestseller Descent was called “astonishing” by the Washington Post and “unforgettable” by the Miami Herald, returns with another tour de force about the indelible impact of a crime on the lives of innocent people.

When two young women leave their college campus in the dead of winter for a 700-mile drive north to Minnesota, they suddenly find themselves fighting for their lives in the icy waters of the Black Root River, just miles from home. One girl’s survival, and the other’s death—murder, actually—stun the citizens of a small Minnesota town, thawing memories of another young woman who lost her life in the same river ten years earlier, and whose killer may yet live among them. One father is forced to relive his agony while another’s greatest desire—to bring a killer to justice—is revitalized . . . and the girl who survived the icy plunge cannot escape the sense that she is connected to that earlier unsolved case by more than a river. Soon enough she’s caught up in an investigation of her own that will unearth long-hidden secrets, and stoke the violence that has long simmered just below the surface of the town. Souls frozen in time, ghosts and demons, the accused and the guilty, all stir to life in this cold northern place where memories, like treachery, run just beneath the ice, and where a young woman can come home but still not be safe "

I received this book as one of The Strand Book Hook Up books. I thought it was pretty good, very suspenseful, a good thriller. Lots of secrets being kept by the characters. I did have a little trouble getting into rhythm of the writing. I was a little confused at first because the story does flash back 10 years on and off. I can usually follow that ok, but maybe after reading some cozies, I had to get into a different mode. It is a stand alone. 

http://www.timjohnston.net/

The April Mystery Book Club selection is Brad Thor month - reader's choice. 

I will post some the ARC's and audio books I have read/listened too in the past few months, soon.