The Enemy

by Larry Bograd

A red-hot political thriller from a blue state author.

Buried among the thousands of financial transactions he reviews each day, analyst Randy Duncan finds a secret web of laundered money financing the assassination of the President, which, in turn, will lead the country into war. Can Randy and his law-student daughter Clare follow the money and stop the enemy in time? In a political thriller worthy of Dan Brown, Richard Condon, and Allen Drury, award-winning novelist Larry Bograd charts a political thriller sure to keep you reading and leave you sleepless wondering and worried about who really controls America.

393 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2013

About the author

Larry Bograd has published more than two dozen books, primary for children and young adults--and now his first eBook original, "The Enemy."

He is also a playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is president of Roundtable Media Group, which produces documentary films, Web shows, and events.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended for suspense fans! I received a copy of the eBook to review from Hipso Media. The story links a death on a college campus to complicated money laundering, international terrorism, and political intrigue in Washington DC. That is a lot of ground to cover, but Bograd manages to keep it all pretty simple and keep you interested as the plot unfolds. Or rather than unfolding, the plot tangles into a knotted web of intrigue.

I enjoyed the main part of the first half being set in Colorado. I grew up in Denver and went to college in Boulder, so the setting was familiar. But more than that personal connection, it is just a fresh setting from many other books. That is where you meet the Duncan family, father Randy and daughter Allison get swept up in the search for a friend's killer that is tied to a money laundering scheme. Which in turn is tied to an international assassin and turmoil surrounding the President of the U.S.

This is probably best described as a political thriller since the President and his advisors do play a large part especially in the last half of the book.

There are several great scenes. One of my favorites was a car chase scene in Denver. It was a believable, suspenseful, well written scene that stood out in my mind.

Two 'negative' elements for me:
First, I found some of the dialogue unbelievable. There are many instances with several different characters verbally referencing quotes (like Churchill or some historical person) or long lines from Shakespeare. That is distracting and not believable, at least I don't know anyone that uses quotes/references that often when speaking casually.

Second issue is hard for me to explain. The action was often told to the reader rather than described and experienced. The aforementioned car chase scene was an exception to this which is part of why that stands out to me.

A neat feature in this eBook is the use of charts and visuals to illustrate a scene, such as a newspaper clipping or financial spreadsheet.

Overall I enjoyed the plot and characters. Would like to see more stories with the father-daughter team maybe.

Thanks to Hipso Media for the chance to read this suspense thriller!

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Enemy' is the first I've read of Larry Bograd's books. An unusual partnership is formed between a daughter and her father as they endeavour to solve the mystery behind the suspected murder of a good friend. The novel took me from the disrupted lives of a normal everyday family and into the halls of the White House, banks, terrorist activity and cyberspace. I enjoyed this book and couldn't wait to finish it, although I do admit to being a bit confused with the characters initially. I'm quick to place people as the 'good guys' and 'bad guys' and with this novel, I couldn't do that quite so definitively. I enjoyed the computer side of the mystery, although wonder how a computer illiterate reader would cope with the amount of information that is presented like that. Information was often presented as a table, or in a newspaper article format, which added to the authentic feeling of the novel. The diagrams and tables helped to put the confusing elements into perspective for me in relation to the banks' level of involvement. The relationships between the Duncan family was enjoyable to read, especially the other daughter Marcie, who had integral input into the solving of the mystery. The author cleverly portrayed different aspects in the book which I found refreshing, for example approaching and walking through a revolving door, was expressed as 'Taking baby steps, Randy moved
forward as the door slowly revolved. After a half turn he was birthed into a lobby...' Phrases such as these helped you to really 'be' there with the characters. An enjoyable novel and I will definitely look for his others to read too.

[Kyle Wendy Skultety (gimmethatbook.com) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank the publisher, Hipso Media, for providing me with this free review copy. It was touted as a book in the vein of Lee Child, et al.

This book was written well, switching between scenes at the White House to a girl struggling to comprehend her friend's sudden death, to her father's job (where everyone may not seem to be who they appear), to terrorists plotting heinous deeds.

There was a great deal of politicking, which is not my thing. Unfortunately, I skipped over parts of these scenes because they were hard for me to understand, which was my issue entirely, not a problem with the book. I will say that there was suspense, and it was not immediately evident who the bad guys were, which makes any book better, as the reader can figure it out along the way.

I would definitely read another book by this author if he wrote one with less politics in it. The character development was good and the description of each locale was detailed without being annoying. My aunt is a big fan of political thrillers and I"ll pass this book on to her to see how she enjoys it.

[Jeri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book free in return for my honest review. I am sorry to say that it was quite frankly annoying. The story was touted to be for Lee Child fans. Umm. No. Lee Child books are action. This book was ...political. There was a death of a character we barely knew. Then some girl leaves law school to investigate the death while her father helps. He has got to be the most over-worked person on the planet. There were many instances of long quotes (Shakespeare! John Adams!) which all of the characters recognized. Seriously? The smartest character in the book is the autistic younger sister, who the older sister keeps yelling at. She solves all the puzzles. Many typos, too, which I hope will be fixed by decent editing. I could not believe this was not his first book. In short, painful.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this e-book for review, from Hipso Media.

I enjoyed the chance to read this book.

As a frequent reader of thrillers and mysteries, I like the fact this books main setting was Denver not LA or New York. I thought that I would like to have "seen" more than being told what was happening, but then was "showed" all the bank transfers and felt like it bogged down the flow a bit.

The characters seemed human enough, but most novels I've picked up lately have a token gay character, as well as an Aspergers /Autistic character; this one was not the exception.

I look forward to finding out if the author will continue in series with the father/ daughter investigative team.