Primary Storm

The Lewis Cole series is very well writen and among my favorites. This one takes place during the presidential primaries amd with the exception of one highly unlikely circumstance is an excellent mystery. Lewis Cole is very capable and believable and he like the series moves up and down the small New Hampshire coast combining mystery and tourism and entertaining us every step of the way. If you haven't already fallen in love with the New Hampshire coast, read this and the other novels in the series and you will. My only complaint is the disguising of the names of the towns and beaches. As a former resident of New Castle, New Hampshire, I find this a little distracting. Hopefully, others will not.

Every fourth year New Hampshire becomes the Hollywood of politics, with every presidential wannabe flocking to the state to shake hands with the hoi palloi. This year ex-defense department analyst, turned magazine writer, Lewis Cole, is in his home town of Tyler Beach as the candidates come traipsing through, showing off their political acumen, so to speak, when somebody tries to kill State Senator Hale, who just happens to be the guy Cole's latest flame is volunteering for. Cole was at the rally during the attempt. The attempting, but failing assassin is not caught, but his gun is found. And it belongs to none other than Lewis Cole. Someone is trying to set him up. Then a dead body shows up on his doorstep. Somebody really wants Cole in it deep and now the Secret Service is very interested in him. Plus it doesn't help matters any that years ago he and an affair with the Senator's wife. There is action in this book. There is shooting, there is dying. But there is so much more. There are twists and turns galore in this excellent political thriller that will have you flipping through the pages like there is no tomorrow. Brandon DuBois knows the primary system inside out and you will too, after reading this book. You'll get a terrific education about the importance placed on the New Hampshire primary and you won't even know how it happened, so absorbed in the book you will be. I only wish I could have learned all of my PoliSci this way when I was back in college.

Magazine columnist Lewis Cole once worked for the Department of Defense and has signed a non-disclosure about his time there. It is now Presidential primary season in New Hampshire. Lewis' girlfriend, Annie Flynn, is working for candidate Senator Jackson Hale whose wife happens to be a former girlfriend of Lewis. The Senator is coming to town and a Secret Service Agent visits Lewis. While attending a rally, Lewis leave early to be sick outside, and someone attempts to shoot the Senator. It turns out the gun belongs to Lewis and the Agent wasn't with the Secret Service after all. Never one to leave things to others, Lewis is determined to find out who was behind the frame and the attempt. DuBois is one of the many authors I feel is under-recognized. I've enjoyed the Lewis Cole series from the beginning and this book is no exception. DuBois creates excellent sense of place. Louis is an interesting character with a past, as is his friend Felix. The story is gripping and action-packed and certainly doesn't doe anything to improve my view of the election process in this country but still makes the point that it is the best system there is. Primary Storm can stand on it's own, but I recommend reading the series from the beginning.

The road to the White House starts in New Hampshire where Shoreline Magazine columnist Lewis Cole, former Department of Defense research analyst, resides. Two days ago Secret Service Agent Spenser Harris visited Cole in his Tyler Beach home to gauge a threat one day before front-running Senator Jackson Hale, who last week won the Iowa caucus, speaks at the Tyler Conference center. Lewis is on the list of interesting people because of his former classified work, his odd monthly government compensation, and his dating of Hale volunteer Annie Wynn. During Hale's speech, someone fires shots at him, but no one is hurt. The Secret Service believes that Cole is the wannabe assassin. Lewis decides not to sit idly by as his reputation is destroyed while someone wants him dead too. However, when he starts actively seeking the culprit, those he care about are endangered as a threat to force him to back down and take the hit or else risk death to those he cares about. His only ally who he trusts is Felix Tinios, known for being on the wrong side of the law but the right side of major issues. The latest Cole thriller is a fabulous story that grips readers from the moment the Secret Service interrogates a reticent Lewis and never slows down until Felix takes the beleaguered hero to an airport so he can collect the only reward that matters. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action as the evidence mounts that Cole is the triggerman and he sets out to prove he is not even while his loved ones are threatened if he intercedes. Brendan DuBois uses the real primary mania as backdrop to a strong thriller that the audience will appreciate. Harriet Klausner