First Lady of the United States: the Pursuit of Power

Author Anthony Scott spins a tale of intrigue as the book opens with the former President of the United States Benjamin Baxter, dying in a terrorist attack on the campaign plane of his wife, Senator Belanie Baxter. The country is once again outraged at a terrorist attack on American soil. But was it a terrorist attack?

The FBI begins a public investigation into the terrorist attack, but at the same time conducts a parallel investigation into the possibility the attack was nothing more than murder. The trail of evidence leads from the crash site to Washington, DC to the nominating convention and directly to the White House.

Scott has taken character dialogue to a new level. You become enmeshed in the plot and feel you are a part of the investigation. Here is a brief sample:

“Mr. Director, you were a field agent. I remember you telling me the first two things you thought when assigned a case were cui bono and cherchez la femme. In this case, the answer to both of those questions very easily could be Senator Baxter. I am not saying she did it. I am just saying to not consider the possibility she benefited from this would be a mistake you may not be able to overcome in the future.”

“I agree.”

"What?" The Director looked at me with piercing eyes and a little mayo on his lip.

“Hammer if you are not considering her I am very disappointed in you, Agent Evans, SAC Trammel and SAC Pendleton. They told me you two were good at what you do. Now do it! Belanie Baxter’s poll numbers went up nine points the day after the plane went down. As soon as it is announced a missile brought down the plane, I expect she will gain a few more points. The fact her husband was killed in Texas all but assures she will win the state, which until Ben Baxter died was a tossup. Combined with the fact she is going to name Larry Riley, a very popular man in Ohio, as her running mate and she’ll be measuring the Oval Office for curtains by Monday.”

Did I misread something here? When I talked to the Director from the hotel, I was ready to go put on my bulletproof briefs for the chewing my tail was going to receive. Now he’s telling me I am to investigate a United States Senator for conspiring to shoot down a plane with the former President of the United States as a passenger. Maybe I need to go to remedial detective school.

“Is the Senator a suspect?”

“How should I know? You are the one conducting the investigation. Frankly, I don’t buy into the terrorist baloney. We have nothing and it’s been almost five days. No one has taken responsibility. If they do, I won’t believe it because they will have had time to judge the mood of the country as to the event itself. Right now the country is stunned, but not mad. When Mohammed Atta and friends flew their planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon the country was furious. We wanted to get revenge for the loss of life but more importantly the loss of our country’s dignity. I personally don’t believe Bin Laden was expecting the Towers to fall. I think he wanted to ram those planes into a symbol of our financial strength as a way of giving us the international sign language done with one finger. When the Towers fell, he knew we were going to be more than mad. There is a reason you are not hearing a lot from him much these days. He is trying to stay as low as he can. If you can convince me Al-Qaeda or Hezbollah or any other organized terror group benefits from shooting down and killing either the former President of the United States or a candidate for President, I’ll drop my drawers right here and run down the hall singing Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Sampson wiped the mayo from his lip and said, “Well?”

I couldn’t help myself. I do these things before I have a chance to think. If I thought before I spoke more often I would be so much better off. I don’t know why I do it, it just happens. I started humming Mary Had a Little Lamb!

What would someone do to win the Presidency? The answer to the year’s hottest political question can be found in First Lady of the United States:Pursuit of Power.

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