This was a good book, it was a relatively quick read, under 300 pages, though the author did pack a lot into those pages. Rafe Hendrix is ex military, he's been in Afghanistan and experienced and saw terrible acts. He also made friends with a black woman, Wyetta Johnson, which would lead him to the White House, her as President and him as her security detail. On a day when the President was supposed to entertain school children, Rafe recognizes two women who are suicide bombers and decides to take one out after being told to stand down. Although the saves the life of the President, several children perish when the other bomber sets off her vest. This act, though not apparent initially, it ties to the events that follow. Someone is killing people in similar manner to how Presidents in history had been either killed or an attempt was made. Rafe is now living in Texas and meets a veterinary who he takes a shine to, the meet up a few times and things are going well. She gets invited to a conference in Dallas and while out on a jog is shot and killed. Rafe figures out that the killing is similar to how JFK was shot and is able to find other killings that were based on the location or caliber of gun on other Presidential assassination attempts, successful or not. A lot happens and I found the pages turned quickly I was captivated by Rafe's persistence at tracking down the bad guys and the ending was very satisfactory. I look forward to the next in the series. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

I had received an advance copy of this novel from the fine folks at Net Galley, Frank Sennett, and the publisher Crooked Lane Books.

The story revolves around the a series of plots to assassinate the President of the United States that are based upon previous plots - both successful and unsuccessful- to assassinate the President of the United States. The details that are "borrowed" from these previous plots range from locations (ie; Dealey Plaza - JFK) to the calibre of the weapon (ie; .422 Webley - McKinley).

The protagonist of the story - Rafe Hendrix- is a former US Army Ranger and sniper who had served in Afghanistan that had become a member of the US Secret Service upon completion of his tour. His claim to fame from his time in the Secret Service is that he prevented the assassination of the current sitting President of the United States (who was also a former US Army Ranger, a member of Hendrix' unit) by Russian nationalists (by suicide bomb vest) when he disobeyed a direct order to not shoot one of the antagonists.

The very act of shooting one of the antagonists caused one of the co-conspirators (thus saving the President's life) to detonate their explosives in the school killing not only a number of other students, but his daughter as well. This not only resulted in increased scrutiny of Hernandez (by his chain of command) but also survivor's guilt by Hernandez.

This scrutiny of Hernandez by his chain of command and other members of the agencies isolates Hernandez as seemingly random murders begin to happen around the United States and he relies on some of his Secret Service training to tie these events together and to ultimately prevent the assassination of the current sitting United States President.

This book was a relatively quick read (approximately 280 pages) that would be enjoyed by any action or presidential history afficiendo. I would easily rate this novel a solid four stars out of five (as it definitely made me want to do some outside research).

As with all my literary ramblings, this is just my five cents worth.

Shadow State is an interesting novel involving a sniper, the First Family, and the sniper's own family. The Proud Boys are presented as the bad guys, but the really nefarious one is the grandfather of a girl who was killed in a bombing, one for which he holds the sniper responsible. Author Frank Bennett casts the President as a lesbian war vet who is married to another woman. Both of their lives are endangered. Kudos to Bennett for creating an intriguing plot with good characters and some real surprises.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

My favorite part is knowing that Rafe Hendrix will be back!
Rafe Hendrix is a hero that gave up and sacrificed too much in doing his job. A thing about being too good for the job, Rafe notices certain things and gets a big blow in the process. I do not think he or we saw it coming. But that leads him to see a pattern of reenactments of assassinations of Presidents. This leads him on a journey where he is being hunted by domestic terrorists, kidnapped, and tortured by the murderer who wants to crumple what's left of Rafe's life, lied to, and back to protect his friend President Wyetta Johnson.
Two times in this book, we see him caught between a rock and a hard place. The choices he has been given are heavy choices with ripple effects on the impacts they will have. That we see when we connect the dots to who is behind the scheme of reenactments.

Shadow State
By Frank Sennett

4 stars

A classic murder mystery with a few twists particularly towards the end.

The plot moves quickly, building tension, and pushing the reader to the climax of the story.

Ex-Army Ranger sniper Rafe Hendrix is rejected from the secret service after a split decision ends in tragedy. He is drawn back into the world of secrets when someone from the past is bent on revenge. With a plan as twisted as they come, involving grisly recreations of some of the most terrible events from the past, Rafe to learn from history to save the president.

This title has been reviewed by www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

This title was provided by Netgalley and the publisher in return for an open and honest review.

#ShadowState #NetGalley

When a sniper make a perfect shot in an imperfect situation, the action is just beginning. Murders begin which seem random at first, but soon the dots are connected and protagonist Rafe is on the chase. With the support of his ‘wingman’, who just happens to be the President of the United States, he narrows his focus, but twists and turns abound in his efforts to bring justice.