MR: 15-122 yrs.
Bruce Willis picking off terrorists one by one in Die Hard. Arnold Schwarzenegger rescuing his daughter as she dangles, one handed, from the top of a crane in True Lies. Sarah Connor firing round after round of ammunition under the looming threat of Judgement Day in The Terminator. All of the above qualify as great action thrillers, but none of them were as gripping as my latest read, First Family. I was glued to this story; it is solely responsible for the level of sleep deprivation I have suffered over the last few days. Filled with moments of terror, rising levels of adrenaline, and the thrill of the unknown, First Family is a must read for any fan of the genre.
The stakes could not be higher. The niece of the president has been kidnapped, her mother killed, and the rest of her family drugged or rendered unconscious. Immediately, the crime scene is awash with FBI, Secret Service, reporters... and the upcoming election looms ahead for the President and the First Lady. Untrusting of the federal agents, the First Lady calls in her own team, two former SS agents turned private investigators, Sean and Michelle. For Sean and Michelle, all that matters is the life of the kidnapped, but for everyone else, it seems, there are ulterior motives. One cannot jeopardize their public office for anything.
My favorite aspect of this novel was the way it was told. It jumped around, narrating each chapter from a different character's point of view. Because of this, the mystery was not who kidnapped the girl or how, but why they did it. As the story progresses, the reader faces a dilemma: to side with the kidnapper or the kidnapped? The choice is not as cut and dry as we would like it to be. As most public officials, the President had a life before he assumed the title and that life wasn't blemish-free.
My one problem with this book was it's subplot regarding the death of Michele's mother. I felt that it wasn't relevant to the rest of the story, and it frustrated me to have to endure long funeral scenes as the kidnapping plot was put on hold. In my opinion, both plot and subplot would have been better served had the author divided them into separate books, perhaps having the subplot as a companion novella to First Family. However, that is just my personal taste, and another reader might not find any problem with the juxtaposition of the two different stories.
Overall, First Family was an exciting, engaging read, and true to life and American politics. You can find it on Amazon in electronic, paperback, audio, and hardcover editions. As always, check your local independent bookstore first. You can find a bookstore near you here. And I apologize in advance for the sleep deprivation ahead.
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