"State of Terror"

I tried to get a picture of the cover art for Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny's new book, State of Terror, but every website wouldn't let me steal it.  The link will have to do.  But the book itself is amazing!  I tried to stretch out my reading so I could savor it, as I do all of Louise Penny's books, but the story just kept me going to the end.  Paul read it in two days, but he reads a lot faster than me.  I get "distracted" by laundry, cooking, errands, quilting, knitting!  

The story centers around, Ellen Adams, the new US Secretary of State who takes over after the previous incompetent President is defeated.  She isn't wild about the new, liberal President and wonders why he appointed her.  Just weeks into the new regime, three buses are blown up in London, Paris, and Frankfurt, killing all the passengers and people in the area.  No group takes responsibility yet it has all the signs of international terrorism.  What's next?  The scene shifts among Ellen, her reporter son, her media director daughter, and the terrorists.  

Louise Penny's voice is very prominent in the writing style, so the suspense is as creepy as ever, building to an inevitable climax.  The characters are all very human although it is difficult, until the very end, to know who the good guys really are.  The former president, Eric Dunn (known to the press as Eric the Dumb), even makes a few appearances.  While the thriller genre is a bit of a departure for Penny, there are some bonus insider hints of  Inspector Gamache and the people of Three Pines, too.  It is a fast moving read, thought-provoking and highly recommended.  Best book of the year?