Stronger on plot than on character, Hamilton’s melodramatic political thriller focuses on the travails of U.S. president James Atwater. A widower whose wife died in a car crash and whose 19-month-old daughter died of leukemia, Atwater is hiding a secret that could end his administration: he’s sleeping with Robin Holdridge, a “full-blown, one-hundred percent, dyed-in-the-wool knockout” who just happens to be the vice president’s wife. As Washington Post reporter Henry Saperstein investigates rumors of the affair, a group of terrorists led by Musa Abu Tabou, whose “heavily haired body was as dark as his soul,” plot to assassinate Atwater. Hamilton maximizes suspense by alternating between the White House soap opera, which includes more shocking revelations, and the violent progress of Abu Tabou’s team. Several graphic sex scenes may be too explicit for some readers. Fans of TV series like Scandal and 24 will be intrigued. (BookLife)