Starting a book partway through a series can feel a little like being the new person at school, you hear names and reputations but nothing has any real substance, That's how I felt reading this. I wasn't familiar with the main characters and their intricacies, and most importantly, their experiences in the earlier books.

While not ideal, I don't think it took that much from my experience of reading the book. I really enjoyed it- it was paced very well, gripping and exciting from start to finished. Knowing the background of the characters would've given me more investment in their ultimate outcomes, and more knowledge of their motivations, but we moved around at such a pace that it wasn't essential. Now to locate the earlier novels in the series- I look forward to cementing the characters' driving factors and confirming my own suspicions.

This is a novel that could be a very real contemporary political situation. A powerful person, impatient with government and the limited power of democratically elected officials, has been planning for years. He has cultivated a dark network of men who will do anything for the promised power. They have been sowing disinformation, making false accusations, and dividing people by creating enmity. He has even infiltrated some in the FBI.

McCrone has done another excellent job of portraying a political horror that seems all too possible. Part of the plot is installing an Attorney General who will delay or suppress investigations into their nefarious deeds. Aspects of the plot like that one are all too real. Like the two previous novels in this series, Imogen is a well drawn heroine. I really like how she and others work to uncover the clandestine attack on the U.S. political system.

I am impressed with McCrone's ability to craft an excellent and such a realistic plot, engaging characters, and the sense that this novel could be all too real. I highly recommend it.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Emergency powers by James McCrone is clever, twisty and disturbing. A bit hard to follow all the “players” and nuances when you’re outside the US political system but by making a few notes I was able to identify and recognise the characters and what they were involved in. Great pace and believable characters, this is a gripping political read with plenty of action and intrigue. Three string female leads was also a very refreshing element of the book. I look forward to more from Imogen Trager with Amanda Vega (and hopefully Nettie too.) Four star read

I started this book and read a solid 20% of it before I gave up in frustration. I have not read the first two books in the series and reading this one made me feel like I'm a new kid in school who just jumped into a group that shares years of history and inside jokes and stories. I had no clue who everybody was and what they were talking about.

I'm intrigued enough to maybe read the first book in the series, but overall I am a bit surprised that this book was allowed.release without some editing to at least better clue in the new reader. It just became too damn frustrating to continue.

Hadn't read the previous two books in this series and in no way did it spoil my enjoyment of an extremely well written and entertaining read which kept me gripped from start to finish.
Now to search out it's predecessors.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I received this book through the Read Now program on NetGalley.

This is the 3rd book in the series and continues from where the 2nd one left off. I have not read the other two, but this is a great standalone by itself. The story leads off with the death of the President wo won a hotly contested contest. The FBI team who worked on the case previously are following up on leads trying to locate Frank Reed who was instrumental in establishing a team that work to elect a specific individual as President. The election ultimately wound up going to Congress to select who won.

The death of the newly elected President meant that the Vice President who was chosen by the Senate become the newest President even though he was from a different party. The changes behind the scene identified that an attempted takeover was in progress. The FBI team following information that they had developed went forward trying to thwart the coup.

The main leads that broke the case wide open was from an unexpected party. If you want to find out who was behind the effort and who the main figures were associated with the coup, then you must read this book which I highly recommend

I have not read the previous book in the series but the premise and description caught my attention. Pleased to say the book can be read as a stand-alone, as everything you need is self-contained I was gripped and love every moment of the book. It was gripping but a journey that I enjoyed something I didn't want to race through but something I wanted to take my time and enjoy.

The characters are great and well fleshed out. They are not bit parts to hold the plot together but the proper characters and players in the story. The plot is very real and of this current time, but also believable. The pace is just right and gives a wonderful slow burn.

How much did I enjoyed .. well I am off to buy the previous book in the series. A good 4.5 Stars. Completely recommended.

Emergency Powers is the third installment in James McCrone’s Imogen Trager series. A shadow network has been working for years to arrange and move the pieces on the board to ensure an ideologically-bound America comes to fruition. The game is afoot, the players set in motion, and the fate of the country hangs in the balance.

The novel picks up soon after the close of the previous story. Imogen has been deemed the FBI’s problem child and relegated to the sidelines in the guise of a promotion. The Faithless Elector investigation has been curtailed, but as the President’s death—a death that is certainly a murder—is the opening segue of the story, Imogen and her cohorts know the dark network they have been scrambling to unmask is still at work.

McCrone has written a large cast, but each character’s role is tightly woven into the momentum of the story. The characters are familiar from the previous books, and the events and tragedies that have occurred have left their mark. The emotions are authentic: Imogen struggles with bitterness and resentment, FBI Agent Amanda Vega worries about her friend, Professor Duncan Calder grapples with the malleable nature of justice, Frank Reed knows his time is running out before the very organization he helped build decides he is a liability.

The writing style is crisp and straightforward, keeping the pace moving swiftly. The mystery is tautly plotted, and from the first page to the last, the reader is gripped by the layered unfolding of events. The corruption of politics, the machinations of those behind the scenes, the movement of money, and the far-reaching impact of a select few players makes for a read that feels ripped from the headlines.

McCrone’s writing is insightful and astute. The bureaucratic coup he details on the page is disturbingly timely and prescient. Brilliantly executed and eerily plausible, Emergency Powers is a chess match of a political thriller.

Highly recommended for fans of intelligent thrillers revolving around politics