What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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By Order of the President
SOLVED: Adult Fiction
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SOLVED. Book from the 1980's about attempted assassination of U.S. President [s]
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Patnel
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Aug 13, 2012 05:49PM
This is a book that I read in the mid 1990's, and I believe that it came out sometime in the 1980's. It's a political thriller, where the US president is the victim of an assassination attempt. The protagonist is an agent trying to figure out what happened, and the chief of staff appears to be villain who maintains the illusion that the President is still alive so he can keep power. SPOILER:Turns out, the President IS alive, but badly injured by the attempt,and he doesn't want to step down because he doesn't trust his VP? The President is depicted as a former military man,and there's mention made that the US has been involved in a war in Central America (though I'm pretty sure that the book came out after Grenada and before Panama). Little help? Thanks.
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"After giving a speech at Gettysburg, President Henry Hampton is shot in an assassination attempt and rushed to Camp David by his fiercely protective White House chief-of-staff and friend, Irving Ambrose. News reports of the President's condition are vague, and Vice-President Laurence Atherton finds that he can get no more information than what is shown on television. In California, a down-and-out TV adman named Charlie Dresden is convinced that the President is dead and thatan elaborate hoax is being put over on the public. With the help of a former lover, now the wife of a senator, Dresden makes his way across the country, avoiding murder attempts in the process, to give the Vice-President enhanced videotapes that support his suspicions. Meanwhile, the President's recovery at Camp David stretches into months, European powers juggle their positions, the Central American situation deteriorates drastically, and the questions of who has control and who's after it remain open. Kilian, Washington columnist for the Chicago Tribune and author of The Valkyrie Project has constructed a complicated plot out of political and technological complexities, spicing the action with violence and adventureincluding a de rigueur amusement park sceneand even providing a happy ending."
I"m about 99 percent sure that this is it. Will have to wait till I can get hold of a copy to verify. Thanks so much!
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It was. I bought a used copy online. The book was just as forgettable the second time around, but I had to scratch that itch.
