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A Novel
by Louise Penny
From the #1 bestselling authors Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny comes a novel of unsurpassed thrills and incomparable insider expertise—State of Terror.
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.
State of Terror is a unique and utterly compelling international thriller cowritten by Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 67th secretary of state, and Louise Penny, a multiple award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling novelist.
"A Page-Turner Part Sly, Part Sweet….Surprising...The plot is ambitious and apocalyptic…. [and] a high-speed diplomatic race... This is a romp. The authors have a great deal of fun throwing up red herrings…. Political junkies will relish the veiled insults to real-life people….The emotional cast to the writing, the tendency to dangle portents and wait some time before resolving them, the depiction of friendship, the short paragraphs, the philosophical aperçus — these are all marks of Penny's writing....If Clinton is slyly settling old political scores, she is also, sweetly, celebrating women's support of one another later in life." ―New York Times
"To say more would rob readers of the pleasures of discovery in this taut thriller, a story made all the more relevant by the U.S.'s recent withdrawal from Afghanistan. Possessed of both head and heart, 'State of Terror's' layering of ethical tradeoffs, political intrigue, high-level espionage and pure evil perfectly melds Clinton's intimate knowledge of the State Department and foreign policy with Penny's mastery of genre mechanics." ―Los Angeles Times
"Consistently entertaining….Penny and Clinton demonstrate a sure hand at international intrigue and narrative pacing….The real key to 'State of Terror,' though, is its secret weapon: female friendship." ―The Washington Post
"[W]hen a recent American presidential nominee writes a book with Canada's most beloved mystery author, attention is due....Combining insider knowledge with high-stakes action, this is a tale of global menace on par with the best books of its type." ―Wall Street Journal
This information about State of Terror was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Jean-Francois Bérubé
Louise Penny's first novel, Still Life, won the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards. Her second book, A Fatal Grace, won the 2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel, as did her third, The Cruelest Month. Her next, A Rule Against Murder, was a New York Times bestseller, followed by The Brutal Telling, which was a New York Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and National Indie bestseller. Louise lives in a small village south of Montreal.
Pronunciation Guide: Louise Penny's website provides a wealth of interesting information about her and her books including a pronunciation guide to the characters and places referenced in her books.
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