This is a book of two parts: the first part is a reasonable story of plot and intrigue about a US President innocently embroiled in treason; the second part is that it's all a load of nonsense.
On the one hand, there is the supposedly credible story of how the President is being stitched up by four of his most senior foreign policy advisers, including his Vice President. The story moves between Washington DC, Baku in Azerbaijan and St Petersburg, Russia and it does so at a good pace. There is nothing difficult in the story. The characters are reasonable and the plot is clearly laid out in a chapter by chapter.
If you read the book on this level then it's fine. By the way, the book has Tom Clancy emblazoned all over the over the front cover; and the back cover tells us that it's "From the world's No 1 bestselling author" Well it isn't. The book was written by Jeff Rovin.
If you read the book on the level of questioning the credibility of the President being taken down by a few lunatics aiming at just one part of the President's working life then you should agree that it's nonsense. Asking us to believe that four people cooking up a plot like this whilst every other aspect of the President's life is fine will force the President to resign, be labelled a mental defective and so on, is too much.
This book occupied a couple of otherwise idle hours but I recommend borrowing rather than buying if you feel the need to read it.

Duncan Williamson
25 August 2001