I did enjoy this, but it was to much like real life. I lost interest after getting so far after realizing it was taking on the story of what was happening in current events

As a thriller this wasn't too bad. One of my peeves with it was the over describing of the French electoral process and political background.

The characters were well fleshed out and the plot got you thinking about who did it, and kept me guessing to the end.

I was provide a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

In the shadows by Gilles Boyer; Edouard Philippe.
He thought the worst was behind them.
The primaries done and dusted. The Presidency within arm's reach.He couldn't have been more wrong.Not only were the primaries rigged; they had revealeda web of lies that was but the tip of a huge iceberg.
A good read with good characters. Likeable story. 3*.

A well executed thriller. It was nice to read such a story taking place outside the US. I enjoyed the writing style as well as the surprises in the plot. I look forward to the reading more by these authors. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

In the Shadows by Gilles Boyer and Edouard Philippe is a fast-paced, intellectual suspense/thriller about a French Presidential election candidate's inner team. The story is narrated by the campaign's seasoned strategist. The story is crisply written, yet still manages to dwell on the essence of French and Parisian life.

The candidate narrowly won the party's primary election, but shortly afterwards an anonymous tip-off is received by one the candidate's team that the party's primary vote may have been rigged. From whom the tip came is uncertain and the head strategist and his young protege, with the help of the protege's ex-Foreign Legion uncle, set out to find the source of the rumour and to determine its veracity. Their investigation quickly reveals a suspicious death associated with the tech firm that ran the primary vote. After the campaigns strategist and his protege are chased and then badly-beaten, another person (who turns out to be the source of the rumour) is killed. 

Also alert to the possibility of the primary being rigged, the losing primary candidate maneuvres for political advantage, including a promise to be given the prime minister position in return for her silence about the primary vote and her support in the Presidential election campaign. 

The stress of the campaign, plus the possibility of their Boss being involved in a rigged primary vote, (added to some personal history between team members) causes the inner team's cohesion to fracture. Suspicions within the team are rife and threaten to derail the campaign. To retrieve the campaign, the head strategist and his protege must chase down the primary vote scandal.

The already fast-paced story goes into overdrive as the campaign approaches election night and the candidate is backed into a corner regarding minor parties' promises and the prospect of his adversary being offered the prime minister post in return for her support and silence. The protege brings in three of his tech geek friends to complete rhe investigation before the candidate completes his laet speech before the election. And so as not to spoil the ending, let's stop right here.  

I enjoyed reading In the Shadows. It was extremely well-written. It captured the growing tension of an election campaign, it created authentic characters and wasn't padded with unnecessary or unrelated minor threads or setting descriptions. I did enjoy reading the essentially French/European elements of the story. The ending was exciting and well-constructed. It is everything I want in a book.

In the Shadows by Edouard Philippe and Gilles Boyer
I found this to be an excellent read as both a gripping story and informative about how an election works outside the US. Both of these gentlemen know about what they write. Mr. Philippe was PM under President Macron and is now Mayor of le Havre and Mr. Boyer ran Alan Juppe’s campaign and is now a Member of the European Parliament. I hope and have no reason to doubt this book was written by them and not ghost written as so many novels and biographies are by politicians in the US.
The story is about the campaign by a politician – called “The Boss” as told by his key man who goes by the name “Apparatchik” who is running for President of France. In the primary it is a tight campaign between the boss and a woman much younger than the boss who clearly is as ambitious. The Boss may have won or did he? These is a rumor that the vote counting was fixed. Interesting that unlike the US, the only people who can vote in the primary are members of the party and the party runs the election. It is not done by an independent group. So, the book is a “who done it?” And I will not spoil it by saying who but there are many candidates.
So the book works as a mystery as well as a window onto what makes a politician and politics. Two comments stand out to me. (1) “The heart of a man in the body of a woman, the ideal combination for politics” and (2) “Politics isn’t the art of solving problems, but silencing those who create them.”
I highly recommend this book as a different view of politics and as a mystery.