A perfectly serviceable political thriller, State of Terror felt like reading a season of the tv show 24 - straightforward good vs. evil without a ton of nuance, lots of terrorists (again, without much nuance), a dash of Islamophobia, and some good old fashioned patriotism. The fact that HRC is the co-author here makes a lot of sense: ask any recent high ranking intelligence official and they’ll tell you that one of their biggest fears is unsecured nuclear material, sold on the world market to the highest bidder. And that’s ultimately what’s at the heart of this book, as we jump from Europe to Oman to Pakistan to Russia and back again: a web of mercenaries, terrorists and corrupt world leaders without much allegiance and for sale in the destruction of others. It’s not unrealistic, but also paints a rather bleak picture of what’s happening around the world at any given moment.

The web here is woven well, I’ll give Penny and Clinton that. There are plenty of red herrings and the book is fast paced enough to keep your attention as our main characters rush to save the country from nuclear annihilation. The action builds in a predictable crescendo, and the final reveal is done well.

One thing that I don’t love is when an author doesn’t trust their audience enough to understand nuanced references. Here, Penny and Clinton make every point with a hammer when a scalpel would have worked perfectly well. The overt references to actual past presidents and historical figures only caused me to roll my eyes a bit. I love and respect HRC as much as the next Democratic woman, but some of it was just a bit much and felt blatant and obvious. 

I ended up enjoying the story of the supporting characters more than I did the two at the forefront of the action. Penny and Clinton infused life, humor, and a palpable sense of fear into the advisor to the Secretary and the junior FSO, whereas the Secretary herself and the President read a bit flat - going through the motions of the story without bringing much depth to it.

Overall, there were some highlights and lowlights for me to this book. I’ve read better political thrillers and I’ve certainly read worse, too. It’s intriguing if you work outside of the political space and are looking for a pulse pounding story with a female Kiefer Sutherland, but I don’t think this one will stick with me for long, either. 

This was an amazing thriller and I was not expecting to become attached to so many characters (once I was able to actually follow who everyone was, thanks to looking at a guide online and rewinding the audiobook a few times). I ended up enjoying many of the characters I at first did not care for and that honestly makes sense given a large theme of this novel is surrounding judgement and perception of character. 

I also know this is fiction and the portrayal of the government would obviously be bias but nonetheless I learned a lot about international relationships and diplomacy and also just how what we see and hear is nowhere near what is all going down at a given point in time. 

The only issue I had with the book was especially in the first third, there were way too many repeated mentions of “the mess of the previous administration” which regardless of  political views just did not always fit into the narrative flow.

This is one of those books that you just can’t put down. I’m in awe of an author (or two) who can create something that completely consumes the reader. I couldn’t think of anything else while I was reading it. 

I loved all the snarky references to our previous president, his character, and his behavior. However, this book shows just how close to disaster we could have (did?) come with someone so malleable. I can certainly see how some of the actions in the book could have really happened. 

My quibbles are minor: the terms “state of terror” and “great silence” are repeated far too often. The identity of the HLI was clear to even me which means it was too obvious. 

The strengths were the strong female main characters, the friendship between Ellen and Betsy, and the clear love Ellen had for her kids. Most (all?) spy thrillers are about men with women in minor roles - this was a refreshing difference. And for the heroines to be middle-aged women was, for this older woman, a delight.