Wow. I'm stunned stupid. This book is eerily prophetic. Living in the present political climate, where violence is encouraged and praised, makes me feel like Lisa Brackmann might have seen all this in her crystal ball. This book knows how to ratchet up the tension, and keep the pages turning. We all have our secrets, and how far we would go to protect them is never known. Any fast paced thriller fan will enjoy Black Swan Rising.
3 stars

This thriller is told for the most part from three points of view: Sarah, a young campaign staffer with a secret past working for a congressman running for re-election; Casey, an ambitious young tv newscaster; andLindsay, the congressman’s wife - interspersed with social media posts and descriptions of tv segments. All 3 women get caught up in a world of a creepy internet sub-group of misogynist and racist “true men,” some of whom go from just being vicious trolls on the internet to crossing over into real life violence. There is a lot going on in this book, some of which felt a bit over-broad, and the ending felt a tad abrupt though realistic that not everything would be resolved with a neat bow, but boy was this a suspenseful read.

A topical book about the anger and tension that can and is arising in our fractured political culture. When a politician drives someone to take things one step too far, suspicion falls on a young intern in his office. Really enjoyed this.

Full review to come.
I deeply apologize, but life is a handful lately and I'm using all my free time to read, not review. I hope everybody understands.

“Black Swan Rising” by Lisa Brackmann sets the tone in the opening lines.
“They’d found her new email address. No one here knew who she used to be, she told herself. But she knows I deserved that money, she thought.” Thus, readers embark on a journey of intrigue, deception, and revenge filled with unpredictable events that have massive impacts.
Congress is always a demanding workplace, but working in communications in the office of Representative Matthew Cason is especially stressful during his first reelection campaign. The campaign is volatile and hectic. The team needs to create a message specifically for the campaign, something that would pop, get people excited. They needed a consistent style and voice across all social platforms. Then the phone call came.
“I know some things about your opponents that you might find interesting. I can help you, Sarah. If I give you information, that makes you valuable. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Being valuable?”
Brackmann intertwines several complex stories that converge and depart throughout the book. Across town, a TV reporter, the victim of a shooting, decides that she will exploit her assault and advance her career by investigating the shooter.
“What do you think about a special report? A series about the long-term repercussions of a tragedy like this?” Jordan crossed his arms over his belly. Thinking it through. “So the angle is … you?” She smiled. “Who better?”
The plot is complex and packed with contemporary topics. The storyline is driven by personal conversations, social media comments, Twitter feeds, press releases, and news post. The examples lend realism and contemporary authenticity, but they also interrupt the flow of the story.
There is just too much going on in this book. The overabundance of “current-event topics” (me too, domestic terrorism, political corruption, gun control, mass shootings) seems to overshadow and confuse the underlying plot. Many of the “posts” are just about unrelated violent incidents and do nothing to advance the plot. It makes the book appear to be a vehicle for promoting gun control through concocting stories in a book. A leaner story with more action and less lobbying and exploiting would have made a compelling thriller.
I was given a copy of “Black Swan Rising” by Lisa Brackmann, Midnight Ink, and NetGalley. Ignoring the abundance of “news” posts, it was an interesting and current book. Brackman is certainly on the correct writing path with this contemporary storyline. It could have been pulled from today’s pages of any big city newspaper. I absolutely will read her next book, and I just hope it will be a little leaner.

Black Swan Rising is an unsettling thriller that’s literally “ripped from the headlines” involving political campaigns, mass shootings, videos going viral, and a conspiracy fueled by twitter.

Casey Cheng is a TV reporter who is shot in the first mass shooting in the book. Sarah Price is a campaign worker with a big secret. Matt Cason is a Congressman and veteran running for re-election. George Drake is the author of True Men Will Rise, a graphic novel the author describes as “social realism” and “a cautionary tale”. And then there’s conversation about a conspiracy where people are doing violent things and using the hashtag “TrueMen” to brag about them.

Lisa Brackmann writes a compelling story, complex and believable. The characters are well developed, the dialogue realistic, the tweets convincing, and the outcome thought provoking. Warning: this book is hard to put down once started.

Brackmann's Black Swan Rising is a superb and riveting thriller with good plot and character development.

This novel is pretty true to life. I recommend it for those who like thrillers. It left room enough for a sequel.