(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Secret Service agent Joseph Reeder should be a hero after taking a bullet for his neo—conservative commander-in-chief, but his outspoken criticism of the president he saved made him a pariah in the Service and short-circuited both his career and his marriage. After conservative Supreme Court Justice Henry Venter is killed in what appears to be a robbery gone wrong, Reeder – a body language expert whose skills have earned him the nickname “Peep” – earns a shot at redemption when he’s asked to join the task force investigating the murder.
Paired with FBI agent Patti Rogers, Reeder makes a startling discovery while reviewing security tapes of the incident: the shooting was premeditated. Soon, the pair discover that Venter might not be the only justice on the killers’ hit list, and that a criminal mastermind is mounting a coup aimed at changing the very face of the Supreme Court. To crack the conspiracy and stop the killings, Rogers and Reeder must push their skills to the limit before time runs out for the justices – and maybe for Reeder’s own family.

I was quite interested in this story when I read the blurb. Ended up being no more than "That was alright, I suppose..."

Let's look at the positives - quick and easy read, nothing to deep and substantial as far as plot or characters (actually felt a little like a novel based on a TV show with the short chapters and simple, linear plotlines); the characters - Patti, in particular - were serviceable and worked pretty well within the story. That was the good news...

Sadly, this story had a number of issues that disappointed me: the ending was just silly. After 300+ pages, to be given a finale like that felt like a copout, like "this is how it would end on an episode of CSI"...the plot itself was rather unimaginative - not badly written, just nothing new...but the final thing that annoyed me, almost to the point of closing the book, was the politics. I consider myself to be a left-leaning voter but this book was just a Republican bash-fest. So very unnecessary.

If you can get past the politics and the unoriginal story, then this is a reasonable story. Just the downsides far outweighed the positives here.


Paul
ARH