Haley Chill is an exceptional member of the deeper state. She is the female version of Jack Reacher and
Jack Ryan. Quick, interesting reads. Love this series and enjoy seeing Haley's character developed. I recommend that you start with the first in the series for the most enjoyment.

An exciting tale but somewhat gruesome. Flawed characters but dedicated. Fast reading and a page Turner

Did you know that each Supreme Court Justice has a protection team (after the most recent confirmation hearings, we shouldn’t be surprised)? Round the clock. Justice Anthony Gibbons lives in Fairfax County, VA. The shift change of the guards has just been done. The day watch is Martin Barnes. Vet, but like all vets, he’s brought back memories better left in hell. He’s been threatened. His family will be tortured beyond comprehension unless he carries out a job. It’s simple.
Kill Justice Gibbons. Today.
He fights with his inner demons and loses. Strangles Justice Gibbons in the kitchen then turn his service weapon on himself. Media presents it as a cop gone seriously rogue.
Haley Chill’s demons are messing with her too. Back home in nowhere West Virginia for funeral of a school friend who OD’d on opioids. Drowning her misery in tequila shots, she tears up a bar after being hit on by a local. Next day, she awakens to see April Wu sitting in her motel room. Problem is April died (in an earlier book) and now haunts Haley as sort of a ghost of conscious present. And Haley has no recollection of the bar episode last night.
You may recall that Haley Chill is an operative for something called the Deeper State. These are the folks behind so many conspiracy theories. Their goal is to preserve the nation from (mostly) fuckups by elected official. But she’s a mess. In recent books she’s survived a miscarriage, April Wu’s death, the deaths of childhood friends – all instances that have send Haley into a tailspin that ends in the bottom of a bottle.
After the death of Justice Gibbons, the US Marshall’s service has ramped up the Supreme’s protective details. Her Deeper State controller sends Haley to Hawaii where Justice Anita Fisher is vacationing at her vacation home (she’s ‘old money’ wealthy). Haley must don her forged FBI credentials to be an unwelcomed addition to the USMS protective team. Not a bad gig if she’d been welcomed. Haley doesn’t know much about the most recent court appointee. Justice Fisher is not just new, she’s young (mid 40’s), single and due to get married to a best-selling author tomorrow. Small wedding at Justice Fisher’s home, and the USMS says they’ve vetted every invitee and each person working the wedding. It’ll be fine. Unknown to all, Deputy Shaw (the head of Justice Fisher’s USMS team) has received the same phone call Martin Barnes received.
Back up a week or so. A team of 5 Mexican’s has arrived at the Islands. A team leader, a pair of brothers, a guy who lives on killings, and the new addition with dyed blond hair and a history as a surfer. All are highly trained by the Mexican military and since discharged, have been recruited by a drug cartel to handle the messy stuff. Most of them are good family men, love their wives, adore their children. Veritable pillars of their communities . . . until the cartel calls with an assignment. Everything is compartmentalized. They don’t know the full story of why they find themselves in Paradise. They only know their job: kidnap a bus filled with school children and hold them hostage. When the time comes, they may have to kill them all (but the leader devises a plan to further enrichen the team: organ harvesting for the black market). They snatch a bus carrying kids, mostly around 7-14yo, and stash them in an abandoned bomb shelter.
Haley’s job is to help protect Justice Fisher, but she can’t just ignore those children despite what her Deeper State handler says. As you might guess, a number of things kind of coalesce for Haley: the wedding, her fuckup at the reception, the kidnapped kids, Deputy Shaw, Fisher’s husband, one very brave kid, the surfer/kidnapper, and even Justice Fisher. The last half of the book simply flies by.

Haley Chill #5 (somehow we missed Insurrection Day. We’ll get to it. Promise). Hauty again puts Haley Chill in some challenging, but also quite believable circumstances. And when you finally learn just why the two sitting Supreme Court justices are targeted will make you even less sympathetic to power brokers doing whatever is necessary to hold onto their power base.
This is the 4th Haley Chill book we’ve reviewed. And for good reason. See a new title by Chris Hauty? Get it. Get home. Clear your calendar. No need for coffee to help with late night reading. Just get comfortable. You’re gonna be there for quite a while.

Publication date: May 23, 2023.

Thanks to Emily Bestler Books (one of my 2 favorite publishers) and NetGalley for making an advance reviewer copy available.

Having read the others in the Hayley Chill series, I knew I wanted to request this when I saw it. As expected, this did not disappoint and continues the story of Hayley and her demons chasing her. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

I enjoyed Storm Rising so to be approved for another Hayley Chill Thriller was so exciting!

The Devil You Know by Chris Hauty was a great political thriller.
Hayley Chill is one amazing protagonist.
Her character is extremely likeable and well protrayed throughout.
Even enjoyed the secondary characters.
The story was utterly gripping, unpredictable and a riveting political read.
I could not wait to get to the next page.
All the characters were interesting and each chapter kept me wanting more.

Now I just need to read book one and two.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.