President Will Lee is having a rough week. His vice president just died during surgery. Confirmation hearings for the new vice president are under way, but the squeaky-clean governor whom Will has nominated may have a few previously unnoticed skeletons in his closet. And Teddy Fay, the rogue CIA agent last seen in Shoot Him If He Runs, is plotting his revenge on CIA director Kate Rule Lee—the president’s wife.
Plus there are some loose nukes in Pakistan that might just trigger World War III if Will’s diplomatic efforts fall short. It’s up to President Lee—with some help from Holly Barker, Lance Cabot, and a few other Stuart Woods series regulars—to save the world, and the upcoming election.
Will Lee, the Democratic incumbent president, is up for reelection and quickly discovers that he’s in for a bumpy ride. After his vice president dies unexpectedly, Will must find a new running mate who can immediately be sworn in. He settles on California governor Marty Stanton, who seems perfect on paper but is hiding a secret that could reflect badly on the ticket. The stakes are upped when the Republicans settle on a young, hot up-and-comer and a popular black minister enters the race as an independent, threatening to siphon off votes from Will. To make matters worse, Will is dealing with a huge international incident: terrorists have seized control of a nuclear missile site in Pakistan. Things are heating up behind the scenes as well: Teddy Fay, a deadly assassin the CIA has been tracking for years, has resurfaced in Panama and will soon head back to U.S. soil. There’s a lot going on in Woods’ latest thriller, but the plotlines dovetail nicely and the suspense never lets up. With publication set just after the 2008 presidential election, Mounting Fears is both timely and gripping and far superior to his most recent Stone Barrington book, Hot Mahogany (2008). --Kristine Huntley
Description:
President Will Lee is having a rough week. His vice president just died during surgery. Confirmation hearings for the new vice president are under way, but the squeaky-clean governor whom Will has nominated may have a few previously unnoticed skeletons in his closet. And Teddy Fay, the rogue CIA agent last seen in Shoot Him If He Runs, is plotting his revenge on CIA director Kate Rule Lee—the president’s wife.
Plus there are some loose nukes in Pakistan that might just trigger World War III if Will’s diplomatic efforts fall short. It’s up to President Lee—with some help from Holly Barker, Lance Cabot, and a few other Stuart Woods series regulars—to save the world, and the upcoming election.
From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Woodss uninspired sixth Will Lee thriller (after Capital Crimes), the incumbent U.S. president, William Jefferson Lee, faces a series of crises in an election year: his vice president has died during surgery; a nuclear warhead is missing in Pakistan and believed to be in the hands of a terrorist group possibly connected to al-Qaeda; and an independent presidential candidate, a charismatic minister, has erased Lees once significant lead in the polls. To make matters worse, Lees newly appointed vice president, the former governor of California, has got himself entangled in a messy divorce as well as a sordid love triangle that, if exposed, could become front-page fodder for the tabloids and all but destroy Lees re-election bid. While Woods exhibits his usual brilliant sense of pacing, two-dimensional characters, a mechanical plot and an improbable ending far from satisfy. (Jan.)
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From Booklist
Will Lee, the Democratic incumbent president, is up for reelection and quickly discovers that he’s in for a bumpy ride. After his vice president dies unexpectedly, Will must find a new running mate who can immediately be sworn in. He settles on California governor Marty Stanton, who seems perfect on paper but is hiding a secret that could reflect badly on the ticket. The stakes are upped when the Republicans settle on a young, hot up-and-comer and a popular black minister enters the race as an independent, threatening to siphon off votes from Will. To make matters worse, Will is dealing with a huge international incident: terrorists have seized control of a nuclear missile site in Pakistan. Things are heating up behind the scenes as well: Teddy Fay, a deadly assassin the CIA has been tracking for years, has resurfaced in Panama and will soon head back to U.S. soil. There’s a lot going on in Woods’ latest thriller, but the plotlines dovetail nicely and the suspense never lets up. With publication set just after the 2008 presidential election, Mounting Fears is both timely and gripping and far superior to his most recent Stone Barrington book, Hot Mahogany (2008). --Kristine Huntley