I hate it when authors invent a situation or a character that is used solely for convenience and then dropped. Woods does it a lot in this book. First, Woods invents Ed Rawls – former CIA bigwig now in prison for life because he was a double agent. He summons Kate (funny how wives are always stunningly or strikingly or achingly beautiful) to him in prison because he knows the secret about the Vice President. No one besides the doctors who discover the Alzheimer’s, Will, Kate, the VP and his wife are supposed to know. So Kate goes and gets called on the carpet for it. There is a scene that sets up some guy in the CIA as very hostile to the gorgeous Kate but she is vindicated in the 5-minute conversation. The nasty guy is never seen again. Ed Rawls on the other hand pops up one more time to keep an evil Senator from leaking a semi-nasty story about Will. You see, Ed wants a Presidential Pardon from Will. It’s the only thing that will get him out of jail. If Will isn’t elected – poof – up in smoke. After the threat is quelled (a truly nasty secret about the evil Senator is made public), Ed Rawls quietly disappears, apparently forgetting about his Presidential Pardon.

Another device used and then disposed of without adequate explanation is the President himself. He is found unconscious on the bathroom floor and taken to a hospital where he later dies having never woken from his coma. What actually killed him? Wouldn’t the FBI be crawling over everything in a search for conspirators, terrorists or whatever? Not in this Washington, DC.

Now there is one part that is rather sudden but I had a feeling it was coming. The right-wing wacko Zeke who is trying to kill Will has a kid. Each time he leaves his mountain cabin, he tells Danny that he might not be coming back. The first time he leaves, Danny is willing enough, but the second time Danny says something about maybe wanting a University education and perhaps joining the Navy. Looks like daddy’s brainwashing about the inherent evilness of the US government and similar establishments, has fallen on deaf ears. In the end when Zeke is discovered and tracked to his secret residence and Danny shoots him himself rather than risk his mom & siblings, I wasn’t overly surprised. I suppose less astute readers would classify this as coming from nowhere. Luckily it was enough for me even though I feel the ending was too pat.

If Woods had eliminated the annoying bit about the brief affair w/an up and coming Hollywood actress, and concentrated on making these plot elements work better, the book would have been much more interesting. But I suppose that would be too much for Woods to keep straight. The book is loosely tied to the Stone Barrington books – I recognized the name of the actor Vance Calder but couldn’t place it. Then his wife Arrington was introduced and I got it. It’s a continuation of Deep Lie from 15 years ago (see Book Journal 1). Katherine did not make Director at the end of that book and I think Ed Rawls was the guy feeding the Russians information about the subs.

Of course Will is elected as the Democratic Party nominee and of course he is elected president. To show how gracious he is, he selects his defeated rival to be his running mate. Sigh. And Kate is appointed head of the CIA with nary a whimper from the Senate or anyone else concerned. The nest of terrorists is destroyed without breeding more. And all of the potentially sticky people who were used as a means to an end are conveniently quiet. ( )

Enjoyed this book. Easy to read ... kept me turning the page! ( )