Blowback
A Thriller
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4.3 • 76 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From the world's #1 bestselling author, America has elected its most brilliant president ever, but he’s also a psychopath—and about to start a world war with our most dangerous enemy.
US President Keegan Barrett has swept into office on his success as Director of the CIA. Six months into his first term, he devises a clandestine power grab with deadly consequences.
Barrett personally orders CIA agents Liam Grey and Noa Himel to execute his plan, but their loyalties are divided. The CIA serves at the pleasure of the president, yet they’ve sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
When the threat comes directly from the Oval Office, that’s where the blowback begins.
“Pure Patterson … Blowback asks us to imagine what would happen if a narcissistic psychopath were elected to the White House [and] to experience the terror of the world hanging in the balance at a moment when only a handful of determined patriots can save us.” —Ron Charles, Washington Post
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this fast-paced political action thriller, a pair of CIA agents deal with the frightening reality that their leader is going insane. Liam Grey and Noa Himel are elite espionage officers recruited by President Keegan Barrett for a special assignment—instead of waiting for enemy assets to strike, they’re going to start taking down foreign spies in the United States, despite the fact that this violates the law and the CIA charter. Soon, the agents realize the POTUS has become deeply paranoid and is using them to settle his own scores. James Patterson and Brendan DuBois are as skilled at capturing the behind-the-scenes details of American politics as they are at delivering killer action. Blowback will keep you guessing from the first page to the last. Spy stories don’t get better than this.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Early in this fast-moving thriller from bestseller Patterson (the Alex Cross series) and DuBois (the Lewis Cole series), President Keegan Barrett, a former CIA director, tells CIA officers Liam Grey and Noa Himel that he's tired of America being "the world's punching bag." He's setting up two CIA teams, one domestic and one foreign, with authorization to "break things, kill bad guys, and bring back our enemies' heads in a cooler." Despite it being illegal for the CIA to operate on American soil, Liam and Noa carry out a series of successful missions on Keegan's behalf. Eventually, the two begin to have doubts about what they're doing, and it becomes clear that Keegan—who has expanded his personal kill list—is sounding more than a little delusional. The president is soon acting totally paranoid, good people start to die, and war with China looms. The authors offer nothing new, but they throw in some historical anecdotes of interest, deliver tense action scenes, and tie up all the loose ends. Those who haven't already encountered the insane president plot will have fun.
