*first published at Feathered Quill Book Reviews*

Kicked out of the CIA after somehow being framed by his girlfriend, Claudia, Agent Max Geller is looking for a new job. It all started with Claudia initiating an email exchange expressing Max’s negative bias towards the president. He’s now putting his best foot forward to possible future employers, but after the news of him dissing the POTUS has circulated, no one wants him on their side.

Three weeks later, a lawyer named Bill Bowen approaches Max while he’s having a drink at a bar. To say that Bowen’s got a big offer for him is an understatement. What he wants is for Max to verify the content and the sources of the infamous Ironside Dossier, in exchange for ten million dollars. This dossier is a set of incriminating evidence against Ted Walldrum, the winning Republican candidate for the next US election.

Bowen seems like the real deal as he provides everything Max might need for this dangerous operation. Immediately after this strange encounter, Rodney, his former boss at the CIA, calls him. Lo and behold, Rodney’s business invitation is not far from Bowen’s. Why is everyone after him and the dossier? Not that he’s complaining -- he needs the money. With the help of his long-time trusted friends and a surprise assistant from Bowen named Jill Rucker, he travels to England, Russia, Panama, and Switzerland to finish the job.

James A. Scott’s The President’s Dossier is a thrilling and chilling spy fiction. It’s fast-paced, action-packed, and detail-oriented. The story is excruciatingly complex; it’s hard to keep track of everything that’s happening. There’s also an unsettling tension that leads to something bigger and scandalous. In the end, it’s a splendid thing to see how all these entanglements loosen up and satisfyingly play out.

The overall tone is serious and intellectual. Scott sure knows his craft and his unquestionable background becomes evident as he relays the story. There’s good representation and balance among the characters. This is not like most espionage thrillers where the stage is dominated by men. Here, there are bad-ass women too who are up for the job.

The President’s Dossier tells a game of power, authority, and stealth that will keep everyone on the edge of their seats.

This was a great book from start to finish.. it deals with some interesting issues that resonate well in 2020.
1. Controversial President elected in the U.S in 2016.
2. The new President is strongly connected to Putin, affairs with Soviet prostitutes, and laundering money for his personal gain.
3. “Fake news” gets mentioned frequently.
Needless to say, there are some interesting parallels to present day U.S. the main character, Max Geller is fired from the CIA for his critical emails regarding the President. Max is hired to pursue the truth regarding the many allegations regarding the President, that have been exposed by a “whistleblower “.

The book takes us to
London, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Panama, and Mexico City. There are no dull moments in this book, it held my interest throughout and seemed to get better as numerous twists unfolded. Additionally, the book is well written and never drifts from the many issues. I hope to read more from James Scott.

Max Geller is a former member of CIA Russia who wants to redeem his reputation and earn some cash, so he took on an assignment to investigate the president’s ties to Moscow. He was partnered with Jill Rucker, who also has her incongruous motives. This is a fast-moving and electrifying story that involves tons of betrayal between the characters. It felt real, and I almost forgot that I am reading fiction. I mean, a president that is engaged in money laundering? And a former CIA tasked to investigate, Intriguing and a bit familiar, doesn't it? Anyway, this story brings many historical and dangerous facts and an enjoyable read. Just keep in mind that these are all fictional characters and plot because it is easy to relate in real life.

The President’s Dossier. James A. Scott

Fans of Ludlum, Demille, and David Baldacci, stop looking for the next to spy author, he’s here. If you love those authors for their full on international espionage thrillers this book is going to be right up your street.

Max Geller is a former CIA agent that left the Company when emails, disparaging to the US President, were found on his works account. If that sounds strangely familiar then the rest of the intrigue around President Walldrum is going to sound really familiar.

Gellar is sought out by a Lawyer representing a group that wants to discredit the President. There are rumours that a dossier has been put together which carries information on how Walldum is in President Putins pocket, and that he had help getting into office.

The Dossier allegedly contains information on how Wulldrum laundered money, took illegal payments, used hookers for rough and humiliating sex, and shows his connections to Putin through the Oligarch network.

So it’s not surprising the Lawyer is offering big money and a no limits expense account.

Gellar puts together a small but efficient team and the hunt for confirmation of the information contained in the Dossiers starts.

Following the trail from America to the U.K, on to Europe and Russia, and back across the Atlantic, Geller goes full Jason Bourne. The story plot thickens as the body count mounts.

Everybody appears to want the information the team are uncovering, MI6, The CIA and the FBI, Oligarchs, and The Russian Security Services are all after Max and his team, and none of them are friendly.

Nobody can be trusted. Even Max’s closest allies in his team come under suspicion as the various agencies get way too close to Max

This book races around the world at a frantic rate, and had me turning the pages at the same speed.

It’s a real throwback to the spy stories that were popular in the 70’s and 80’, and I loved those books.

I mentioned a few authors at the start of this review and James A. Scott will sit comfortably amongst that group with this book.

If, like me, you’ve been waiting for a book like this, don’t plan on doing anything once you’ve started it, because you won’t put it down till you’ve finished it.

It’s an absolute stunner of a read and hopefully the first of many

Pages: 320

The President's Dossier is an action-filled tale revolving around suggestions of Russian influence on an American president. I enjoyed the story, reading it almost straight through. But, in my opinion, author James A. Scott didn't know when to quit He kept adding dangerous situations and deception until it became less thrilling. Not that I don't recommend it, but be prepared to wait a while before things wrap up.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

What a Story! President Walldrum may be the President of of the United States, it does not prevent him from heading a money laundering business through his high-rise buildings and hotels, Supported by Putin who is using him like a puppet on the North and South Korea political and nuclear battle, Walldrum has no idea what is exactly going on. Max Enger, former CIA agent is hired for a big amount of money to discover Putin's machiavellian plan. James A. Scott keeps us on the edge of our seat. Is it fiction or reality? There are many reasons to believe that even if Max Enger is a fictional character, what happens to him is real. This is a great book.

Another example of the current trend to throw dirt at the American President, real or fictional, and this one is a spy novel with a good enough basic plot. The problem is the lack of suspense, as the story is written in a boring and even tone, like just following a procedure.

The story about Max Geller who was fired from the CIA is now being hired to prove the dossier on the president. He gets a crew together to help him with the assignment. The story will take him all over Europe, Russia and Panama to prove there was money laundering and bad behavior involving the president. Who wants the info to come out and who is trying to hide the info Max and his team with find. This is a work of fiction and has to be read with that in mind.

I received this book through NetGalley's program.

This story begins with Max thinking about his life since he was fired from the CIA. He meets an individual who hires him to look into verifying a dossier that paints the President in a bad light. He is looking for verification that the dossier was correct. In taking on this assignment, Max establishes a team which will work with him. In addition, he is forced to work with a person who is representing his employer. His assignment takes him to London 1st where he winds up in a dangerous situation. After gathering what facts he could he then goes to Russia, Panama and Switzerland to present his findings so that he can receive the funds he is due.

Things do not work out the way he expected and he has to take other measures. To find out what dangerous situations he runs into, who the makeup of his team is, who the individual representing his employer is, then you must read this book. You won't be disappointed.