Prompt: A fiction or non-fiction book about a world leader

I was going to final get around to reading Becoming by Michelle Obama for this prompt, but it fits into a number of prompts I have left so I put it off for a bit longer and fitted insomething different instead. I was lucky enough to be gifted a copy of Power Play by Tony Kent by The Tandem Collective so have used that instead.

What it’s about?

From Goodreads:

When a plane explodes over the Atlantic Ocean, killing hundreds of passengers, including controversial US presidential candidate Dale Victor, it appears to be a clear-cut case of terrorism. The suspect has even confessed to the bombing. But as criminal barrister Michael Devlin is about to discover, everything is not as it seems.

Also suspecting there are other forces at work, intelligence agent Joe Dempsey is driven to investigate. Who would have wanted Victor out of the way – and would commit mass murder to do it? As the evidence begins to mount, everything seems to point to the US government itself, all the way to the top. And now someone is determined to stop Dempsey and Devlin from discovering the truth. At any cost.

With countless more lives on the line, Dempsey must find a way to prove who’s pulling the strings, and free the White House from the deadly grip that has taken hold of power.

What I think:

This is a complex action thriller. There are lots of different angles to the story that all come together as the plot is unveiled.

The world leader in question in this book is John Knowles, the American President. He is a war veteran with a good reputation and high approval rating. Potential rival, Dale Victor, hints that there is something more sinister in Knowles’ past in a television interview, and this sets of a chain of events that involve, terrorism, assassinations and international espionage.

It’s very hard to review this book without giving away details which will spoil the plot.

The character are multi-dimensional and the protagonist Joe Dempsey has a complex moral code. Having obeyed orders for most of his career he is now focusing on doing what is right. And sometimes the line between right and wrong is a fine on. He teams up with Presidential security agent Eden Grace who is also questioning some of the orders she has been given.

The book also looks at the people who wield power behind the president. Who is actually making the decisions that shape America and therefore the world.

The readalong was really good fun. Tony Kent posed a series of questions on his Instagram stories to consider at different points in the book. It was really interesting to see what other people were thinking.

Thank you Tandem Collective for the copy of the book. I really enjoyed it and will add the other Joe Dempsey books to my ever growing TBR pile. If you like action packed, fast paced political thrillers this is the book for you.

Order a copy of Power Play from:

Waterstones: click here

Amazon.co.uk: click here