Book Review – State of Terror by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny – Well Written Thriller
Table of Contents
My Rating – 3.5 out of 5
Plot Summary (Storyline) – State of Terror
After Bill Clinton teamed up with bestselling author James Patterson for a couple of thrillers involving the President of the United States, it’s time for Bill’s wife and ex-Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton to team up with friend and bestselling author Louise Penny, to pen her own version of a political thriller. Only at the very end does Armand Gamache and Three Pines (from Penny’s award-winning series) make an appearance with a middling contribution to the story, but that’s more for a touch of familiarity than any credible input, it could have been anybody, anywhere. This one is heavy on the political aspect, understandably so, with a lot of insider angles to how the machinations work.
The political agenda, though, grates a bit sometimes. The characters alluded to, especially as the previous administration and its figurehead, leaves no doubt in the readers’ mind as to who it is and though actual real life incidents are not far from what finds mention here, sometimes it does feel like a bit personal and over the top. That aside, this novel is a chilling reminder what we have brought our World to, and the deadly aftereffects we are leaving for our future generations. The story takes off with a new administration under President David Williams, who has chosen Ellen Adams as his Secretary of State. Ellen is a political novice, having headed a media empire before this.
She’s also been President Williams’ biggest critic, having run a vocal campaign through her media outlets against him, but the disenchantment with the previous regime, under President Ed Dunne, carried the day through. Though why would he select his arch-enemy for such a critical cabinet position, is beyond Ellen’s understanding initially but later it becomes clear why. In the inital days, as Secretary Adams returns from a disastrous South Korea tour, a global crisis faces her. Almost simultaneously, three bombs go off in three buses in London, Paris and Frankfurt, killing hundreds. All three buses had one Pakistani Nuclear physicist in them, who had the knowledge of making dirty bombs!
Also, in the Frankfurt bus, Ellen’s son, Gil Bahar, was also travelling and despite a last minute warning, he is injured but survives. The warning had come through to one FSO in Ellen’s office, but it was decoded too late to prevent the explosions. No organisation has come forward to take responsibility, and none of the intelligence agencies have a clue as to who is behind these dastardly attacks. Under intense investigation, spearheaded by Secretary Adams, it comes to light that disgraced Pakistani arms dealer Basir Shah is behind it all and these attacks are just the beginning, US cities are next in line. So it becomes imperative to find Basir Shah and the planned bombs before disaster strikes.
The action jets between Washington, Teheran, Islamabad and Moscow and a few other locations in-between. All along, Ellen takes along her daughter Katherine, her advisor Betsy and the FSO, Anahita Dahir – who was the source of the only clue that they have till now. As the action jets across continents, the clock is ticking down towards disaster and the body count is rising. Will the novice Secretary and her non-trusting Boss manage to put their differences aside and be able to avert the impending disaster in time? Read State of Terror to know!
Conclusion – Book Review of State of Terror
The pace vacillates between frenetic and sluggish at times, and certain situations do defy logic but overall makes for a decent read. It also begs a massive question – knowing the rogue states playing a part in fomenting Global terrorism, why does countries like the US and UK still go to bed with them? There is no greater good coming off it, no long term benefits only misery and destruction. The sooner the world powers come to terms with it, the better it is for humanity as a whole. One remians in hope…..
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