2.5 "politically astute but in the end hollywood banal " stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and St. Martin's Press for an e-copy. This was released in May 2021. I am providing my honest review.

Okie dokie ! I wanted to like this and admire this much more than I actually did.

This takes place in 2026 in the near future in a post-Biden America where an Independent President Wrightman and VP Hunter (also former Military leader) begin to use their Executive branch to take away constitutional rights in favor of safety. This is after three concurrent terrorist attacks in Hawaii, Louisiana and NYC. Who is responsible and why ?

Ollie Stone is a journalist (former Army vet utilizing a wheelchair with minor PTSD) who uses his wiles to uncover the truth and joining the growing resistance to Wrightman's increasingly militant hold on America. We are present with a very interesting history as how this was set in motion even before the election of Orange haired and Orange faced Trump.

The writing is pulp fiction solid and until the midway point the plot is logical and very interesting.
The characters are all sort of American stereotypes with limited depth although lots of intelligent understanding on how America functions !!

This book starts to lose me though with so much awful corny humor. This is in sharp contrast with the serious events that are occurring. From a most interesting and arresting beginning we move at the midway point to Hollywood histrionics, name dropping and increasing levels of ridiculousness. I would rate the first half a very good 3.5 stars and the second half a paltry 1.5 stars.

This was great intelligent premise that went awry and got out of hand.

If you're a trumpette or a far right conservative,you'll hate this book and give up when the failures of trump's administration are sorted out in the chapters following the initial terrorist attacks that open the book. You probably should not bother.

If that sort of factual relation doesn't mess with your worldview, this is a middling superguy/journalist story that's a fair read.

The book opens with attacks on the Lincoln Tunnel in NY, a dam in Louisiana, and the explosion of the USS Arizona in Hawaii. Deaths? Too many to count. The response of the 2024 President Ian Wrightman: in a nod to fighting terrorism, a rollback of some civil liberties. The slow erosion of rights continues to creep into the country until finally it's simply a fascist government, with the Constitution basically suspended and neighbors encouraged to spy and report on one another, a la 1984.

Rollie Stone, paraplegic former SpecOps and now journalist, is following all this, wondering what is happening to his country. He writes stories about the attacks and then about the targeting of a house in Detroit that is blasted to pieces and everyone inside killed. As it turns out, the people inside that house were innocent, and the government has just murdered a bunch of people on US soil.

The book proceeds to follow Rollie as he watches the tightening of the country, to the point where the electronic newspaper he works for is shut down, as all media now belongs to the government and reports only good news. Rollie then becomes a rebel, fighting to bring information about a cyber hijacking of an airliner to someone who will listen. The remainder of the book is about that quest and the dangers of a fascist state.

But for complete incompetence and greed, we could have been in the process of becoming that fascist country under the former guy's term. The term creeping fascism exists for a reason, and anyone who has studied WWII, or Germany's descent into fascism will recognize the steps outlined in this book. This may hit close to home for some people, so be advised that there is also a televised hanging of "traitors" described in this book.

As I read, I wondered if the author was putting in easter eggs on purpose, or just coincidentally. The current President is Ian Wrightman - I, Wrightman - I, right man, as in the right man for the job. I also wondered if the author is a Dick Francis fan, since Rollie calls the two Feds sent to round him up as Dick and Francis. There are other things along these same lines.

I wasn't bothered by a lot in this book, but one of the things that did bother me was Rollie not discovering who was actually behind this lockdown of the country earlier. It bugged me that we got a "It was so and so all along!" in the end, when it's clear as day earlier in the book who it is.

If you can handle the mix of fact and fiction, it's a good enough read.

Overall, three out of five stars.

Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the reading copy.

Loved this book! Unlike some of the other reviews not enjoying how critical the author is of Trump, I loved it and is spot on. This book goes through the aftermath of the Trump/Biden terms and describes a president trying to save America. If you enjoy political thrillers make sure to pick this one up at the end of May!

No thank you! I don’t appreciate the Trump references right away in the first chapter. Too bad really because it had started off great!

Set after President's Trump and Biden, comes a new president to save the day. But is he worse than those that have come before him. This was a difficult book to read. It was just too much real life thrown in for me to be able to enjoy.

A fast-paced political thriller with a frightening look at a fictional near-future. Rolly Stone is a wheelchair-bound veteran turned journalist, whose criticism of the federal administration puts his life in danger as the rules of democracy are gradually worn away.

Fans of the Trump administration will not be happy with this book, as it contains views extremely critical of that administration, though it's also not too kind to the administration that came after.

This was a fast paced political thriller.
The story takes place in the election after the realms of Trump and Biden. The next president is set to change the country for the better with promises and ideas. But what happens when politics come into play, and things are not at all what they seem to be. Are things really better, or is it all just an illusion?

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

In the near-future political thriller, “The Executive Order,” David Fisher tells of a reporter who races to uncover a conspiracy when he learns that the post-Trump/Biden president elected to heal the nation has more sinister plans.

The failures of the Trump and Biden administration are the catalyst for the 2024 election of an independent senator, Ian Wrightman, as President of the United States. Two years into the presidency, terrorists attacks kill thousands at the Pearl Harbour Memorial, New York’s Lincoln Tunnel and Louisiana’s Atchafalaya River. Just as the world adjusts, President Wrightman claims cyberterrorists have sent a wake-up call by hacking into a airplane system and, although the outcome ensures all land safely, harsher measures must be put in place to ensure the safety of Americans. Reporting on the chaos is digital journalist, Rollie Stone. He uncovers evidence about the origin of the coordinated attacks but is unable to get the information out safely. The president’s response to the terrorism is concerning. He rolls out and pushes through executive orders that minify U.S. citizens’ freedom of expression and civil liberties. Purported to protect his people, these initiatives actually chip away at their constitutional freedoms. Rollie Stone is racing to do whatever it takes to stop his country from trading democracy for dictatorship by blindly allowing those in power to go unchecked.

Offering plenty of food for thought, this thriller will have you considering ulterior motives of those in power. You’ll be thankful for our freedoms we currently have and conclude that a deeper appreciation of them is needed in our post-Covid world. I found myself laughing at the direction Uber takes in the future (you’ll have to read to find out) and then coming to the conclusion that, in five years, anything is possible! Originally titled “How It Happened Here” and published later than expected, this well-written and eye-opening political thriller is worthy of your time.

Thank you to David Fisher, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Prediction? Warning? Prophecy? What if, following Trump and Biden, a new president swoops in to save the day? And what if the cure is worse than the disease. That’s the premise of this story ripped from today’s media pages.