Collusion

March 25, 2019
This overwrought political thriller from bestsellers Gingrich and Earley (the Major Brook Grant series) addresses all kinds of issues dominating the headlines, from domestic terrorism and Antifa to campus protests and fake news, but it mainly focuses on the danger posed by Russia and its Putin-like president, Vyachesian Kalugin. When terrorists break into the foreign ministry building in Kiev and shoot the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Stanford Thorpe, the dying Thorpe instructs former Navy SEAL Brett Garrett, a member of the ambassador’s security detail, to remove a USB drive from his pocket and give it to U.S. president Randle Fitzgerald. Back in Washington, Garrett delivers the encrypted drive, which contains a message to Fitzgerald from a high-ranking Russian official who wants to defect. Meanwhile, FBI agent Valerie Mayberry goes undercover to get close to a person of interest, a wealthy 26-year-old American woman, who might have connections to the terrorist attack. Few characters rise above caricatures, and intrusive flashbacks and inside-the-Beltway information slow the plot. Fans of jingoistic action novels will best appreciate this one. Agents: Kathy G. Lubbers, Lubbers Agency and David Vigliano, AGI Vigliano Literary.

April 1, 2019
Faced with a dire threat from Russia, U.S. operatives attempt to sneak a disgruntled Kremlin official with knowledge of an impending attack out of Moscow. The official is Deputy Foreign Minister Yakov Pavel, whose political standing is being whittled down by Putin-like President Vyachesian Leninovich Kalugin's coldblooded henchman, Gen. Gromyko. Since the mysterious death of Pavel's daughter and son-in-law, scientists who were working on a secret project, he has been open to overtures from the West. The Americans assigned to get Pavel are Brett Garrett, a wrongly dishonored former Navy Seal working as a private contractor, and FBI agent Valerie Mayberry, a rich girl who has no problem acting like one. Garrett, who sounds like John Wayne ("Listen to me and listen good"), is hooked on opioids; Mayberry takes Adderall for her ADHD. Driving the action are the gunning down of the U.S. ambassador in Kiev and violence perpetuated by Antifa protesters who some American officials insist are working with the Russians. Considering there is nary a mention of Russian meddling in U.S. elections, the title of the book seems cynical and exploitative. President Randle Fitzgerald, a former NFL quarterback, has a marginal presence (as does Kalugin). It's left to CIA director Harold Harris to voice his contempt of Congress.. As one might expect, Gingrich (with co-author Earley) tilts to the right in portraying liberals as misguided or naïve. The results can be laughable. "How dare you objectify me!" Mayberry shouts at a conservative congressman. "You're exactly what's wrong with Republicans and our government." Even though Mayberry is play-acting in the scene, you have to wonder who would buy such fakery. For all its political posturing, Gingrich's first entry in a new contemporary series is a competent thriller. But in a crowded field of books inspired by current events, lacking top-drawer suspense, it fails to stand out.

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