The First Lady by Ed Gorman 

This highly suspenseful thriller features justice and vengeance. It’s Ed Gorman at his best. This one was first published in 1995 but is still available. You’ve probably heard books and movies described as roller coaster rides. This one is part of a roller coaster ride. In the edition I have the first two-hundred and thirty pages are the roller coaster going up the first big hill. The last one-hundred and forty pages is the roller coaster screaming down the big hill, going faster and faster and faster. The last part of this book is intense. I read those last one-hundred and forty pages in two sittings, staying up later than I intended. I haven’t read something that intense in some time.

The book is set in the early nineties. The featured family is the president of the United States and his first lady. They also have a twelve-year-old daughter who is an essential character. Deidre, the daughter, seemed more mature than her age, but having been in the White House for nearly three years might make a child grow up quickly.

Claire Hutton, the first lady, is accused of murdering a friend of hers, one who she’s been paying clandestine visits to. One of her visits happens immediately. The murder happens about a third of the way into the book, but the book jacket mentions the murder, so that’s why I’m mentioning it as well. The first third of the book is set up. We get to know the characters involved. Ironically, especially given today’s political climate, the first family is a good, decent family, trying to do their best. They make mistakes both in the present time and in their past, but overall are good people. Gorman made them Republican centrists, under attack by both the left and the conservative right. Re-election primaries are approaching. Their arch enemy in this story is also a former friend of theirs, Knox Stansfield, who has a conservative radio show. He spends many of his shows bashing the president, trying to get a more conservative candidate elected in the upcoming primary.

As mentioned, Gorman does an amazing job of fleshing out the main characters. There is quite a variety of people involved in this story. Also, there are many points of view, but I didn’t have any trouble keeping them sorted. This isn’t a mystery. We know who the murderer is. Therefore, Gorman has to build intensity in other ways than via mystery. And he does an excellent job of that. To build on the roller coaster metaphor, there are some sharp curves in the downhill descent as well. One I didn’t see coming, though there were some hints.

The only downside of this book for me was the crudity. A lot of references to sex and a few on page sex scenes. The profanity is sparse. No real violence or gore. The interesting thing about the cruder sex scenes was that they involved the less savory characters. With the first family, it was always a cut away when things got started, and was more tender, more about love than about sex.

I’ll rank this one number two for the year so far. Rooms still holds the top spot. This book is on Kindle Unlimited, if you have that, or you can pick it up reasonably from Amazon.

1. Rooms by James L. Rubart
2. The First Lady by Ed Gorman
3. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
4. Several Deaths Later by Ed Gorman
5. Citadel (Palladium Wars Book 3) by Marko Kloos
6. The Little Grave by Carolyn Arnold
7. Barrier Island by John D. MacDonald
8. Jake of All Trades by A.T. Mahon
9. Fireplay by Steve P. Vincent
10. Wrong Place Wrong Time by David P. Perlmutter
11. Nowhere Safe by Kate Bold
12. Run for Your Life by C.M. Sutter

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