Final Finesse

Samantha Reid Mystery #1

by Karna Small Bodman

Samantha Reid, the White House Deputy Director for Homeland Security, deals with national security threats on a daily basis. When a natural-gas pipeline explodes in America’s heartland, she senses pending disaster and tries to convince reluctant officials to take action.

After several more explosions, Samantha teams up with Tripp Adams, Vice President of GeoGlobal Oil & Gas, owner of the pipelines, to investigate.

As they race to solve the mystery of the explosions and determine the motives of the shadowy group behind the havoc, Samantha and Tripp spend days . . . and nights . . . together, growing ever closer. Then Tripp is sent on a business trip to South America---and disappears.

Now Samantha must deal with political intrigue at the highest levels, finesse international plots, and break all the White House rules as she races to find Tripp and stop the team of foreign agents before they carry out their final deadly scheme.

Genres: Fiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Karna Small Bodman served in The White House for 6 years - last post: Senior Director of the National Security Council. She was also on the air for 15 years as a TV News Reporter and Anchor in S.F., L.A., and D.C. Now she's writing political thrillers based on her White House experiences. On tour, she has given over 80 speeches to groups nationwide."

Series:
* Cameron Talbot Mystery
* Samantha Reid Mystery

Reviews

[Melissa Bever · Rating 5 out of 5]

Final Finesse is an exciting thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable thriller set in political Washington, DC and internationally. Strong female protagonist. Probably didn't need the saved the world with a second to go ending.

[Chet Slonina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great easy reading with a good formula that makes it interesting and not boring. Got me interested even more with each new development presented.

[Ruth Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[KerryO · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timely political thriller about oil pipeline explosions in the U.S., written by a White House insider. This story could be the headlines of tomorrow’s major newspapers. What a great read!

[Amanda Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

White House Deputy Director for Homeland Security Samantha Reid has been quietly making her boss look good for a long time. When natural gas line explosions begin happening in America’s heartland, Samantha’s background in the oil industry makes her sit up and pay attention, even though the explosions are not deemed worthy of White House attention according to her boss, in “Final Finesse.”
When a vice president of the gas company in charge of the lines that exploded requests a meeting with Samantha, she readily accepts, wanting to dig deeper into this mystery and perhaps prevent more deaths and suffering. When the gas company vice president happens to be Tripp Adams, a gorgeous man whom she went to college with, all the better for Samantha!
Samantha and Tripp quickly mesh, both in their agenda to fix the gas line problem and in their personal lives. Then, only a week after being a couple, Tripp has to travel to South America for business negotiations, and Samantha troubles over what she’ll do without him at Christmastime.
Little does she know, her worries about Tripp are far worse than she thinks. Upon arriving in South America, Tripp is taken hostage for ransom by South American gunmen.
Samantha is torn between staying home and championing her cause to figure out the gas explosions, or to head to South America to help with the plan to extricate Tripp.
But heck, she’s a woman-hear her roar-so why can’t she do both?
A polictical/romance, former White House Senior Director Bodman’s third novel is interesting, but drags in places. A little tighter editing could have made the book a little more exciting.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was one of those quick picks from a library sale.

The author worked in the White House as deputy press secretary and was "the highest ranking woman on the White House Staff at the time of her departure." I can't help but wonder how on earth she held those positions with such weak writing skills. Or, perhaps it was writing too many press releases: it has been a long time since I read a novel with such flat, unimaginative prose. I lasted until page 80, then asked myself why I was reading a book that wasn't interesting, wasn't entertaining, and wasn't well written.

No reason to read on. . . .

[Eileen Unger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing to get excited about. Simple plot line, follows expected route to the typical happy ending. The behind the scenes at the White House could have been fleshed out but weren't. Definitely not a political thriller. Possibly better off in the romantic thriller team and even that had potential that never took off.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay book, but just didn't feel the characters were developed fully. Some situations were given a lot of attention, and others were just given a brief page or two which did not lend to the story at all.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok Book - Gas lines are being exploded by terrorists from Argentinia. Asst. to Homeland Security suspects terrorism. She meets with the company's person, who ends up getting kidnapped in Argentiania. She orchistrates a rescue and solves the crime.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

got to be more of a romance novel than the espionage I anticipated. Disturbing to think of the drug and terroristic threats that are out there and the political connections globally. Very quick read

[Awiley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay. What was interesting was that it was written nearly 4 years ago, and the technology/energy issues are still current.m

[Marisa Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Romance part of the book takes away from the thriller part which deals with very relevant threats to the USA. Still a good read.

[Susie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read to page 46. Didn't get into it. The writing style doesn't work for me.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy beach reading.