March 19

To Kill The Truth – Sam Bourne

Someone is trying to destroy the evidence of history’s greatest crimes.

Academics and Holocaust survivors dead in mysterious circumstances. Museums and libraries burning. Digital records and irreplaceable proofs, lost for ever.

Former White House operative Maggie Costello has sworn off politics. But when the Governor of Virginia seeks her help to stop the lethal spiral of killings, she knows that this is bigger than any political game.

As Black Lives Matter protestors clash with slavery deniers, America is on a knife-edge and time is running out. This deadly conspiracy could ignite a new Civil War – but who stands to gain most from the chaos?

Taut, authoritative and explosive, To Kill the Truth takes us to the edge of anarchy, a world without truth in which history will be rewritten by those who live to shape it.

 

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley

Last year I found myself drawn to a book called To Kill the President.  It was my introduction to Maggie Costello – flame haired, American Irish force to be reckoned with. My review of To Kill The President is here and it’s a book I still recommend to fans of political thrillers.

Now Costello returns in To Kill The Truth.  It is a story which struck fear into my heart as libraries and books are being destroyed as someone tries to remove historical records, seemingly to allow sufficient doubt over recorded historical events.  Could slavery or the holocaust be denied if the historical records were removed and modern voices sought to re-establish “facts” or offer different interpretations on past events?

In a courthouse a case is playing out which has potential to ignite racial tensions across the world – the question at the heart of the trial is “did slavery happen?”  With the jury’s decision looming Maggie Costello is trying to establish if there could be any connection with the court case and the destruction of the libraries and museums which house the history of the world.

To Kill The Truth is a fast paced political thriller which and I really enjoyed it. The power players of Washington are trying to pull the strings and control any damage limitation. Journalists are digging for connections, academics are dying and Maggie is caught in the midst of it all.  She will become a target for forces unknown – her reputation and her credibility will be stripped from her and she must show resilience to make her voice heard.

Sam Bourne taps into the issues of the day and spins an exciting story which, at times, felt alarmingly uncomfortable to contemplate as just fiction. Well worth seeking this book out – it is currently available in all good bookshops.

 

To Kill the Truth is published by Quercus and is available in Hardback, Digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kill-Truth-Sam-Bourne/dp/1787474917/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=to+kill+the+truth&qid=1552758453&s=gateway&sr=8-1

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August 10

To Kill the President – Sam Bourne

A blockbuster thriller from No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sam Bourne, in which Maggie Costello uncovers an assassination plot to kill the tyrannical new president.

The unthinkable has happened…

The United States has elected a volatile demagogue as president, backed by his ruthless chief strategist, Crawford ‘Mac’ McNamara.

When a war of words with the North Korean regime spirals out of control and the President comes perilously close to launching a nuclear attack, it’s clear someone has to act, or the world will be reduced to ashes.

Soon Maggie Costello, a seasoned Washington operator and stubbornly principled, discovers an inside plot to kill the President – and faces the ultimate moral dilemma. Should she save the President and leave the free world at the mercy of an increasingly crazed would-be tyrant – or commit treason against her Commander in Chief and risk plunging the country into a civil war?

 

My thanks to Harper Collins for my review copy – received through Netgalley.

I don’t think there can ever have been a better timed political thriller. As I type we have President Trump threatening North Korea with “Fire and Fury”.  As the world waits to see if someone gets an itchy trigger finger (and people plan to beg George RR Martin to tweet who ends up on that Throne if the 15 minute warning sounds) we have a work of fiction which reads like the newspapers.

To Kill The President opens with a 3am situation in the…well it is in the Situation Room…as the unnamed president demands that his staff launch a nuclear attack on North Korea.  This fury has been prompted by a tweet the President has seen from the North Koreans which he believes to be a personal attack on his character.

The incident requires cool heads but that is not going to come from the Commander in Chief and someone will need to step up to save millions of lives.  I shouldn’t refer to this as an “explosive” opening but it certainly grabbed my attention. As you read To Kill The President you are left in no doubt that you are looking at a mirror on reality, perhaps some events are marginally blurred and not a true reflection on the last 8 months, but it is hard to convince yourself this could not happen.

As the title suggests – an extreme option appears the only course of action left to save USA and the World but who would step up to take the life of their democratically elected leader? Who can be trusted?  How could it be done quickly? What are the consequences of failure?

If you have even a passing interest in political thrillers then this is a great read. You don’t need to understand the inner workings of the US Political Machine to keep track of the players in this power game as the story flows with a surprisingly small central cast of characters.  Perfect summer reading and truly a thriller for our times.

 

To Kill The President is published by Harper Collins and is available in paperback and digital format.  Copies can be easily ordered through this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kill-President-most-explosive-thriller-ebook/dp/B0167NVGQ0/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

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