Chain of Command [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Caspar Weinberger and Peter Schweizer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2005

In this riveting novel by two of Washington's ultimate insiders, Secret Service Agent Michael Delaney has devoted his entire career to protecting America's highest ranking elected officials. But when his gun is found next to the bloody corpse of the President of the United States, he becomes the prime suspect in a brutal assassination that stuns the nation.

Available only in Mystery 3, 4 & 5.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Two term Reagan Secretary of Defense Weinberger collaborating with Schweizer (The Next War) turns in a debut political thriller crackling with a chilling authenticity and riveting dirty dealing. When Secret Service Special Agent Michael Delaney, a longtime member of the presidential security detail, awakes blearily one morning at Camp David, he discovers that someone's swapped guns with him—and within minutes, the president and vice president are shot with Delaney's own Beretta. Before the wounded VP is taken to surgery, he's sworn in as president; moments later, multiple cities get hit in small but lethal coordinated attacks. The new POTUS, who sees opportunity in disaster, declares a state of national emergency, putting the entire nation under martial law, then prepares to take out a right-wing militia on whom he has pinned the attacks. Before a highly skeptical Delaney can catch his breath, he finds himself accused of being complicit in hitting the president and VP. The novel tracks, over nine days, the particulars of the White House power grab and Delaney's desperate attempts to derail it, both in the District and in some tense encounters with the Appalachia-based right-wingers. Despite some stilted dialogue, Weiberger and Schweizer have delivered a superbly paced, tightly plotted winner. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Two presidents die in this D.C. political yarn. Authors Weinberger (defense secretary under Reagan) and Schweizer (a journalist) set their novel in the present and imagine a rubout of the president at Camp David. Vice-President Boyd assumes the office and swings into action, ostensibly to energize the war on terrorism. As the investigation into the assassination proceeds--and evidence points to the story's protagonist, fugitive Secret Service agent Michael Delaney--Boyd orders the army into the streets and tries to ram a suspension of civil liberties through Congress. Meanwhile, Delaney, who fortuitously finds friends, cars, cell phones, guns, and other thriller paraphernalia exactly when he needs them, books to Alabama to collar the boss of a fed-hating militia. Learning from him the crucial clue, the existence of a hard drive with the truth about the assassination, Delaney returns to D.C., pursued by a ruthless entity called "Unit P." Always outsmarting Unit P operatives, Delaney retrieves the disk, and--with a timeout for a crash-bang-boom shootout at the Capitol and on the Mall--confronts President Boyd with the despicable facts of his misdeeds. This formula boasts no literary pretensions, just entertaining suspense that will please action-seekers. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 632 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (November 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786280948
• ISBN-13: 978-0786280940
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,345,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good book, August 11, 2005

By 

Douglas Miller (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chain of Command (Hardcover)

It's nice having the former Secretary of Defense write a book as you really get the accuracy of inside the government. I really liked this book and couldn't put it down. It's on the order of the Baldacci books.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars See storylines above, July 19, 2005

By 

Konrad Kern (OFallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chain of Command (Hardcover)

Weinberger and Schweizer have put together a novel that is definitely fast and highly entertaining, with enough thrills to please most thriller fans. The only slight drawback was that the plot seemed just a little farfetched, though it was fun to read.

Recommended for the thrills

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, May 24, 2006

By 

PB (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chain of Command (Hardcover)

I loved the story from the first page. If you want a political thriller that starts on page one and carries through until the end, this is it. Having read other reviews, I believe Mr. Weinberger's past employment may be tainting people's perceptions of the book. People are different in their political stance so they may not like the book based on 'principle' but I truly believe that if you want an exciting read, this will be it. Sadly, it will also be the only as Mr. Weinberger has passed.