Jussi Adler-Olsen is a Danish author known for his translated police crime series Department Q. This is a different kind of book. It follows the newly elected president who after the assassination of his wife on election night becomes unhinged and tries to implement policies that take away citizens rights one after another. The story is extreme and long and probably has more characters than necessary.

Good, if far-fetched, political thriller. Great insight into American White House set-up from a European author.

I love Department Q series by Mr. Adler-Olsen, it has good well-developed main characters and then the crime stories are so rich of wonder and tragedy. This book, however, falls short of his talent. A president going rogue in 2008-09 (what many accuse Mr. Trump of being in 2019-20, though in a different manner and altitude) is a cool concept but the execution (no pun intended) is not as earth-shattering as it appears to this book's main cast of characters.

However, many thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Love the author's books! So thanks.

Well, I have loved Adler-Olsen's previous books, but I must say that this one just was too unbelievable. Oh well, can't win them all! Typical good guys vs bad guys storyline and there are lots of both! Some of the political parts of the book were sadly sounding possible, but overall it just didn't work for me. I thank NetGally for this copy of the book.

The writing just didn't do it for me. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxzxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I think The Washington Decree by Jussi Adler-Olsen is a fascinating and frightening book. The plot focuses on the United States government that is easily controlled by a dangerous group of people. They create a set of rules that give them total power of the country and make it a very dangerous place to live. They attempt to destroy all those who do not follow them. However several strong and determined people struggle to prevent more destruction and restore the orginial government which the weak presidednt had lost control of. I recommend this book.

This was a very disappointing and overly long read for me. It tells the story of the USA's descent into a police state following the assassination of the President's wife and unborn child. Firstly, the story could have felt prescient and cautionary if it was better told. Instead, it just struck me as ridiculous, given the speed at which everything happened. Secondly, the dialogue and characterisation were just awful. I know that this is a translated work, which sometimes has the knock-on effect of making the prose seem stilted, however, that doesn't explain the utterly one-dimensional characters with unbelievable motivations and actions. Overall, I just really didn't connect with this story and felt that it was entirely too long.
I received a free copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Jussi Adler-Olsen is a Danish author I was introduced to in 2013 with his translated police crime series Department Q. My local bookclub read the first in the series and we all loved it. Since then I have continued reading each installment as they have become available.

The Washington Decree is a stand-alone political suspense/thriller recently released in the US. Senator Bruce Jansen is elected to the US Presidency on the same evening of his wife’s assassination. The death of his wife changes him and all hell breaks loose with the US government in chaos. Soon we realize a plot is underway to take over the government by an ambitious and corrupt VP.

I found the plot to be unbelievable. The police state which US citizens have found themselves in is far fetched. Many of the events in the book were unlikely to ever happen. The 596 page novel should have been cut back to about 300 pages max.

I do recommend reading Adler-Olsen’s Department Q series for those that enjoy Scandi Nordic police mystery/thrillers.

Thanks goes to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Original Danish publication date - 2006
US publication date - August 6, 2019
Review posted to Goodreads on October 2, 2019

3 stars for a book that was bloated by about a third. 592 pages was too long by about 200 pages. I expected a murder mystery like the author's other books, but this book presented an apocalyptic version of the US government in chaos. He imagines a sinister plot to take over the government by one man, Thomas Sunderland, and indeed, points to a set of laws put in place setting up FEMA(Federal Emergency Management Agency). This agency usually handle natural disasters, i.e., hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, etc. But there are provisions in the event of a nuclear attack/ accident for FEMA to take drastic measures. So, while this is a possibility, the author spends way too long setting up his scenario. I almost didn't finish this book. I took 3 weeks to read it.
One quote from the White House: "This was the time of the year when life affirming signs of springtime were supposed to dispel the dark melancholy of winter, but it wasn't having any effect on him. Sitting in the world's busiest workplace, Wesley felt paralyzed, oppressed, and alone. Far from a new season of hope and renewal, this spring accentuated a feeling of self-hatred and despair that was in danger of engulfing him if he wasn't careful."
Thanks to Penguin Group for sending me this eARC through NetGalley. #TheWashingtonDecree #NetGalley

I'm crazy about this series! Right up there with Henning Mankel's Wallander (which is milder) and Jo Nesbo (more violent). Each entry is superbly suspenseful and the translation work is wonderful.

I did not enjoy this novel at all. Too many unbelievable acts, complete lack of reality in what Congress, the Secret Service, and the country would do to stop an out-of-control Presidential administration. One example: in what world would an administration allow the daughter of the man suspected of ordering the killing the President's wife continue to work closely with the President in the White House? And that's just one example. The book is full of them. And the ending is so obvious! I rarely say that I regret reading a book, but in this case, it's true.

This is now here near as good as his previous books and not written as well. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. But his others? Definitely.

This book started out almost as a chilling look at next week in the USA. It later plummeted into a silly adventure of the heroine saving the world from a deranged President. Author expands book to great boring lengths of useless "filler". Disappointed in how this book took a turn towards the ridiculous.

Politics, greed, and corruption seem to go together in most political thrillers. Throw in the murder of the first lady, and you get an entertaining read.

Chilling a Presidential election the First Lady killled the turmoil that ensues in the country.This is a stand alone thriller so well written so involving.#netgalley #penguindutton.

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC. I love all the department Q books and had high hopes for this book, but it was a little bit of a struggle. The premise is a presidential election in which the future first lady is killed and the subsequent presidency becomes chaos for the nation.. I liked the idea.

This standalone by Jussi Adler-Olsen is not as fully developed as previous writings. Would pass on this one!

The Washington Decree is a political thriller by Jussi Adler-Olsen (author of the Department Q novels - though this one is a standalone, not related to that series). Originally released in Danish in 2006, the English translation was released 6th Aug 2019 by Penguin on their Dutton imprint. This edition is 592 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

I read the book at a difficult time. As an American who spends a lot of time in Scandinavia, I feel as though I have a different perspective from a lot of Americans who live in the USA full time. Outside the USA, the media coverage is very different, especially regarding political coverage and culture. It often feels quite surreal to see the things which are happening inside the USA and reading this book was often difficult and distressing for me personally. It is a very long book, which wouldn't normally be a problem (I like big books and I cannot lie), but this one did drag for me in places. I think my major problem was that, when I'm reading Lee Child, Barry Eisler, Brian Haig, and that crew, my suspension of disbelief allows me to read and process the fiction without being constantly yanked out of the narrative because it's too real. There also seemed to be somewhat more filler here than for a lot of political thrillers which tend to be more action and less cerebration.

There were some British idioms which made it into my eARC, but not many and I don't think they would present any problems in context for readers. They included 'sacked' for 'fired' and possibly one or two others, which I couldn't find again from my notes. There are several references to alt-right organizations (KKK, moral minority, hell's angels, and finally 'White-Headed Eagles', which I believe is fictive, but all too believable - I do -not- believe that it was a mistranslation). Otherwise, the translation (by Steve Schein) was, for me, seamless. I did read the original at release in Danish, and am shocked and dismayed by the current political landscape and the eerie prescient reflections ripped from the headlines today. I think it's brave (?) of Penguin and the author to release the book into the current climate. The language is R rated and I would say typical for the genre. There is murder, assassination, discussion of sexual assault and rape, miscarriage of justice, and the depressing inevitable tectonic grind of political extremism.

I was left with a feeling of inevitability and sadness and despair reading this book. Despite a solid denouement in the book, I just can't help feeling we aren't going to get anything remotely resembling a neat resolution in real life. Everything is changed and it certainly won't be much improved in my lifetime at least.

Three stars for depressing content, four stars for writing, rounded up for relevance.

This book shows what can happen when greed and corruption are at the center of the Presidency. It was a great read, however, it would have been nice to see a more realistic ending. I thought that would have been better than the unrealistic one the author provided.

The Washington Decree is a political novel that shows what corruption and ambition can do to the country. The new President is grieving for his dead wife while his chief of staff is planning to take over the Presidency by helping to turn the country into a police state at war with militias. The pace of the story is hectic as a continue game of cat and mouse is played out. My only quarrel with the book is the two incidences at the end of the book that are very unlikely.