What is there not to like in a political thriller? They are packed full of action, double-dealings, power struggles, and secrets, which makes them perfect reading for the beach or just unwinding after a long day. They can involve national or international political scenarios and are often based on true facts ( though as we know, in the world of politics truth can be much stranger and complex than fiction)
Political power-plays, shady conspiracies, and power hungry presidents or senators are the order of the day in these high-octane reads from recent years, all available with your Livingston Library card.
The Big Lie by James Grippando
As the Electoral College battle for the White House lands in a Florida courtroom, Miami attorney Jack Swyteck has never felt farther from the truth, fighting for a “faithless elector,” caught between a corrupt president and his manipulative opponent–with each revelation more explosive than the next.
Deep State: a thriller by Chris Hauty
Recently elected President Richard Monroe–populist, controversial, and divisive–is at the center of an increasingly polarized Washington, DC. Never has the partisan drama been so tense or the paranoia so rampant. In the midst of contentious political turf wars, the White House chief of staff is found dead in his house. A tenacious intern discovers a single, ominous clue that suggests he died from something other than natural causes, and that a wide-ranging conspiracy is running beneath the surface of everyday events: powerful government figures are scheming to undermine the rule of law–and democracy itself.
Double Crossfire: a Jake Mahegan novel by Anthony J. Tata
“How do you overturn an election?” It’s a question that has obsessed presidential candidate Jamie Carter ever since her loss to businessman and political neophyte President Jack Smart. In spite of the election results, she’s determined to take what she sees as her rightful place in the White House–through any means possible.
Hour of the Assassin : a novel by Matthew Quirk
Framed and on the run for his life, a former Secret Service agent discovers how far some men will go to grasp the highest office in the land in this electrifying and propulsive thriller.
The Kremlin Conspiracy by Joel C. Rosenberg
With an American president distracted by growing tensions in North Korea and Iran, an ominous new threat is emerging in Moscow. A czar is rising in the Kremlin, a Russian president feverishly consolidating power, silencing his opposition, and plotting a brazen and lightning-fast military strike that could rupture the NATO alliance and bring Washington and Moscow to the brink of nuclear war. But in his blind spot is the former U.S. Secret Service agent, Marcus Ryker, trained to protect but ready to kill to save his country.
Liberty’s Last Stand by Stephen Coonts
CIA Director Jake Grafton and his right-hand man Tommy Carmellini suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of the law when a public act of violence throws the country into chaos just before a presidential election. After martial law is declared and rioting begins, Grafton and Carmellini must risk everything to unravel a massive conspiracy and help a new resistance movement rise up against an unimaginable enemy.
The Network: a novel by L.C.Shaw
Late one night in his New York apartment, investigative journalist Jack Logan receives a surprise visit from US Senator Malcolm Phillips. The senator swears he’s about to be murdered, and pleads that Jack protect his wife Taylor. When the senator is found dead, Jack and Taylor race to find the one man who knows the truth. Pursued by unknown assailants, their hunt leads them to the Institute, an immense facility shrouded in mystery that has indoctrinated a generation of America’s political and media power players
Oppo : a novel by Tom Rosenstiel
A breathless and highly charged political thriller: the story of a senator who is offered the VP slot by both parties’ presidential nominees and then gets ominous threats.
The President is Missing : a novel by Bill Clinton & James Patterson
The White House is the home of the President of the United States, the most guarded, monitored, closely watched person in the world. So how could a U.S. President vanish without a trace? And why would he choose to do so? An unprecedented collaboration between President Bill Clinton and the world’s bestselling novelist, James Patterson, this is a breathtaking story from the pinnacle of power.
The President’s Shadow by Brad Meltzer
Part of the bestselling Culper Ring series. Beecher White makes an alarming discovery on the White House grounds: there is a severed arm buried in the Rose Garden. As he investigates, he realizes it’s a message one that may have dire repercussions for the President. Even worse, the message turns Beecher’s personal life upside down, pointing him towards the dark truth about his father’s death.
Political Thrillers on Film
-Archana, Adult Services & Acquisitions Librarian