Customer Reviews

Deadly Election

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This is a fantastic new additon to the political thriller genre, particularly since it feels so plausible in this election season. The several characters lives are deftly interwoven in a tightly crafted novel. Ms. Hartmann is a gifted writer who has a talent to present characters with complex personalities, thus making the plot so much richer. The frustrations of a divorced lawyer and mother, the struggles of a armed services veteran to reconnect emotionally, the desires of a brillant minority ivy-leaguer all find resonance with the reader. Ask for this book at your local book store. You will not be disappointed!

In our era of the Patriot Act and government eavesdropping--to say nothing of the very real possibility of White House-sanctioned torture--it's high time that the political thriller advanced beyond the high-tech fireworks and barely disguised cold-war scenarios a la Tom Clancy et al.

Betsy Hartmann's second effort, Deadly Election,supplies all the punch of the classic political thriller and all the intellectual excitement of John Le Carre's intricate shadow worlds. Hartmann deserves highest praise for the clarity she maintains while spinning so many compelling narrative strands and this is no small praise for the novelist at a time when many good thrillers, for all their genuinely exciting moments, are otherwise muddles of confusing action and stock episodes. Also held up for special commendation is Hartmann's characterization of the novel's central villain, whose motivations both political and personal as well as his self-admitted vulnerabilities, make him one of the most interesting antagonists to appear in many a year.

This is a gripping page-turner and therefore a quick read but it is also provocative. Hartmann explores a scenario in which the American democracy is undermined by a combination of factors, based on tendencies familiar to anyone who has been following the news -- it is especially scary and suspenseful because it is all too believable. The characters are well developed and the subject matter is timely. This book deserves a wide audience, and it would make a great movie. I recommend it not only to political junkies but also to anyone who enjoys action novels, dystopian fiction, or just a good read.

I'm an avid mystery/thriller fan. What makes this book so much fun is that is breaks away from the typical thriller script, at the same time the reader is knee deep in political, romantic and sexual intriuge. The plot is chilling because it is so seemingly everyday, even as it delves into the twisted and disturbing depths of these intrigues. Smart, dizzying and compassionate--a great read.

If you're looking for a fast-paced, exciting read, pick up Betsy Hartmann's Deadly Election. It's about a dangerous, desperate Administration facing electoral defeat, and it plays to every fear many of us have about just how far people in power will go to perpetuate themselves.

Hartmann has created a believable, relatable cast of characters who not only face life and death issues, they also fall into surprisingly warm and passionate relations. Her ability to get into the minds of both male and female characters is quite unusual and very welcome in a world of sexually balkanized literature.

But mostly, this is a thrilling book that will grab and hold you. This is a book you read with one eye on the page and one looking out for danger.

Deadly Election: A Novel

Betsy Hartman

(Vermont, USA: White River Press. Available from Amazon.com)

Betsy Hartman's book is a political thriller. It is utterly absorbing, inspiring, subtle, and frightening. I managed, but only just, not to stay up all night reading it.

Most of us know that, although US governments go round the world supposedly promoting democracy, when democracy produces the wrong results they crush it or suppress it or try to: Vietnam, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Palestine - the list is long. As Henry Kissinger put it, `I don't see why we should stand by and watch (Chile) go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people'. Nearer home, we have Thatcher's suppression of Livingstone's Greater London Council (which, like Chile's Allende, seemed likely to win some more elections).

Hartman's book is about threats to democracy in the USA itself. The book is full of unexpected twists and turns. Bush, predictably, plays a leading role (even though the frontispiece claims that `Any resemblance to real people and events is coincidental'). And one of the heroes is an elderly black woman who runs a fish shop and paddles in the sea. But the main villain is a clever black graduate of Princeton University. And another hero is a white Republican Supreme Court judge.

There is illuminating material on the functioning of the Supreme Court, there are extra-judicial killings, a lot of suspense and a love interest or two. The main theme - of the threat to civil liberties and human rights under the pretext of the `war against terrorism' - is all too horribly relevant to what is going on in this country.

Betsy Hartman's previous books include The Truth About Fire, a novel about violent anti-abortion Christian evangelicals with fascist links, and work that punctures myths about population increase, and migration (see www.BetsyHartman.com).

Teresa Hayter

(6 Boulter Street, Oxford OX4 1AX, tel: 01865 726804)

DEADLY ELECTION is by far one of the best political thrillers to come to our attention in a long time. The well-executed plot keeps the reader's attention from beginning to end. The convincing characterizations are not far from many of this country's leaders in government and politics.

Whether you are a political junkie who has been surveying the political landscape of this country or someone who simply enjoys a fast-paced suspense novel this book is for you.

DEADLY ELECTION is all too believable and will actually make the reader stop to think about the many areas of trouble our country is in, how we got there and how the current government is not handling them.

Despite the fact that this is a novel it is a dear-eyed appraisal of the realities of government as well as a plausible picture of the dire consequences that can result from the uses and abuses of power.

This is a well-written pageturner with well drawn and appealing persons leading thought-provoking lives. Plenty of excitement and innovative plotting. But what really impressed me was the logical progression to an outcome so horrifying, yet feasible that my hair literally stood on end. This could happen!! We could be on our way!

Betsy Hartmann's new novel, Deadly Election held my rapt attention from the moment I opened the first page. It weaves seamlessly together many memorable life stories in a fast moving plot that kept me on my toes. It also speaks to many of the political issues facing us at this critical time in United States history and provides a refreshing new voice and point of view. Highly recommended.

Betsy Hartmann has written a timely book, a must-read for the coming election. Deadly Election follows the story of a presidential election through the eyes of several different characters-- a president who has turned over his responsibilities to a questionable adviser, a Supreme Court Justice dealing with his own serious health issues as well as his daughter's upcoming wedding and a history-making decision about to be before him on the bench, a young congressional aid about to be tested and drawn into a deadly plot, and a grieving mother of a man who has died in a military prison of a so-called suicide. The book unfolds quickly with a fast-paced plot that also contains a wickedly delightful satire. In the end, the uncanny resemblances to the current world of politics make this book both believable and frightening. You'll have trouble putting it down.