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Affairs of State

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The President of the United States needs to kill the First Lady’s secret lover … and it’s not about sex.

Shock. Fear. Then determination.

When First Lady Elizabeth Caen overhears the President of the United States planning an assassination that will change history and threaten democracy itself, she knows she has to act. But with no hard evidence, her word won’t stand against her philandering, abusive husband and the powerful sect that is secretly pulling the strings of government. She’s forced to turn to the only man she can trust, her secret lover.

Owen Richter isn’t your ordinary computer criminal. By day, he hides in the guise of a respected computer scientist, known throughout Silicon Valley as the go-to man when others give up. But by night, he’s a hardened hacker extraordinaire, making millions breaking into corporate networks to expose dirty secrets, then riding the stock-price collapse all the way to the bank. He prefers his women hot and married – after an rollicking time in bed, married women give a sexy kiss and go home. No expectations. No commitment. And that’s what he wants. Owen gets the shock of his life at the first tryst with a new paramour when she reveals herself to be Elizabeth Caen, First Lady of the United States.

Determined to thwart the assassination, Elizabeth is forced to ask Owen for help. With Elizabeth’s complicity, he hacks into her husband’s private laptop computer looking for evidence of the assassination plot – and while he’s at it, of the president’s own philandering.

What they find is more shocking than they could have imagined.

Are Owen’s hacking skills a match for the President of the United States and his co-conspirators? When their hacking is discovered, Elizabeth and Owen flee to the high seas on Owen’s ocean-racing sailboat, hunted by warships, falling in love, and working feverishly to uncover the conspiracy before it’s too late.

347 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 15, 2024

423 people are currently reading
136 people want to read

About the author

C.A. James

4 books9 followers
Before embarking on a college career, C.A. James spent four years as a sailing instructor, boat builder, machinist, and carpenter, and had several deep-sea sailing adventures. These taught him the value of craftsmanship, the satisfaction that comes from quality work, and what it means to have real responsibilities. He also figured out that laboring in the hot sun can make college quite attractive.

Born and raised in California, James graduated from the University of California, Davis with a degree in electrical engineering, and some years later earned his master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, specializing in computational linguistics and artificial intelligence. It was while at Stanford studying artificial intelligence that James got his first inspiration to write a book.

In 2010, James' first book, The Religion Virus: Why We Believe in God was initially published by O-Books of London. James became a prolific blogger and wrote over five hundred articles about religion, morality, politics and related topics.

The Zarrabian Incident is James' first work of fiction.

In addition to his writing, James is an accomplished amateur guitarist, a tolerable clarinet player, a deep-sea sailor, and father of three. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking and bicycling the beautiful beaches and mountains Northern California.

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5 stars
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198 (28%)
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86 (12%)
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25 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
Profile Image for Matt.
4,860 reviews13.1k followers
January 23, 2025
After stumbling upon this book by C.A. James, I was quite intrigued. This is a well-crafted political thriller that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat as things progress. A power hungry President of the United States has a secret cabal helping to keep him in power and pushing a highly controversial agenda. POTUS relies on this group and is fueled by an odd view on religious guidance to ensure the American political system can be purified. A plotted assassination will not only turn America towards God, but also provide the country with a future that is sure to steer away from secular depravity. However, someone is aware of the plan and wants to shed light on all of it. That is, if they are not exterminated before all can be revealed. C.A. James does well weaving quite the tale in this story that is sure to keep the reader turning pages well into the night.

When the First Lady overhears her husband talking about a potential assassination, she is worried more than usual. While the US President has shown himself to be power hungry and unwilling to bend, this is a new level of concern. Under the plan, a sitting judge will be killed in order to make room for a judicial mind that will ensure the country is led down a better path, one that follows biblical tenets and keeps the secular views out. In order to stop this, the First Lady must make a calculated decision in hopes of stopping her husband and a far-reaching cabal from getting a stranglehold on the political system.

Owen Richter is a complex man. While he plays the role of a respectable computer scientist, he has a secret life as a hacker who is keen to take money from those who would take advantage of others and pad his own coffers. He feels that it is all an expense he has earned for uncovering the crimes of others. Richter has a proclivity for only sleeping with married women, in hopes of never getting too connected to him, which has worked well for him up to this point. However, he never expected that his latest conquest would end up being the American First Lady, Elizabeth Caen.

When Elizabeth shares her story with Owen, they both realise that this is not something that can simply be forgotten. Owen begins a plan that will not only reveal the truth, but could help bring down a sitting president and ensure his conservative backers are also left exposed and the country safe from political hijacking. The mission will be tough and the stakes higher than ever, using hacked information to prove the validity of the claims. Time will tell if Elizabeth and Owen can put their plan in action to ensure the country is safe, free from undue influence. C.A. James delivers a wonderful story that kept me guessing until the final pages.

I love a good political thriller, particularly one that is pulled from the headlines. C.A. James crafts this piece based on some of the more recent presidential shenanigans, though is able to separate truth from fiction. The narrative flows with ease, keeping the story moving along and providing the reader something well worth their time. Characters impact the story and find their way into the reader's mind throughout the reading journey. While this is a standalone novel, the reader can surely feel connected to each of those who play a role in the larger story. The plot is not only well-paced, but develops with each passing chapter, never letting up until all truths emerge and the final reveal ties things together nicely. C.A. James has a knack for writing and this political thriller has all the needed elements to make it impactful.

Kudos, Mr. James, for this fast-paced story that had me hooked from the outset.

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
1 review1 follower
January 17, 2024
Made me think of a gleeful insider's fantasy for employees overqualified and too-damn-smart-for-their-job, here taking on Wall Street, the software industry, and politics. And no friend of religious and legal hypocrisy. It's also a fast-moving genre mashup, a sexy thriller that's both cynical and romantic. A surprise and a fun read.

(Reviewed ARC copy; previously purchased a book by the author.)
45 reviews1 follower
August 21, 2025
Pacy plot

An increasingly right wing president owes his position to secretive Christian zealots who’ve been manipulating things for decades. This president has also become quite abusive to his beautiful Mexican wife Liz. Not long after hooking up with computer geek and hacker extraordinaire Owen, Liz overhears a conversation between her husband and another man that strongly implies that a liberal judge is about to be assassinated to make way for a more conservative judge. This sets the ball rolling on a plot that MAGA types will hate. It involves a broad association of high up people in the government, military, business and media worlds who are dedicated to making America a Christian theocracy and aren’t afraid of doing dirty deeds to achieve it.
Owen succeeds in hacking the president’s private computer and is astonished by what he finds. The problem becomes who to trust and how to get the information out into the world so justice can be done. Naturally, they’re in great danger. It’s well enough written to satisfy most of us and just about believable, but certainly not in the class of Jack Beaumont, David McCloskey or John Le Carre. My pet peeve with books like this is how often women cry. Women are actually pretty tough and female tears are often male projection or supposition, and not what the hard bitten female character in question would actually do. However, congrats to C A James for solid background in the fields of sailing and computing: excellent info there.
1,752 reviews13 followers
February 21, 2024
I received an ARC through "Booksprout" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This story begins with the introduction of Owen and Jordan. The two are involved in an operation where they plant information to make a company's stock price drop. As a result, they sell short and make a profit. Owen is divorced and has a habit of meeting married women on a dating site. His latest woman turns out to be Liz, "The First Lady". Owen eventually learns from Liz about a plot to murder a Supreme Court justice.

Liz convinces Owen that he needs to help her to prevent this assassination. He agrees and hacks into Warrick's, POTUS, laptop to find information that can be used to stop the killing. Owen discovers that there is more to what he can get from the laptop than what he expected. With the unexpected data that he discovered, he found that he needed Jordan's work to analyze the data. Because of what they discovered, Owen and Liz were in dangerous territory.

To find out what sort of information came from POTUS's laptop, how Owen's mother came into play, what events Owen faced and how it all ended, then you need to read this book. It is well worth itt.
Profile Image for Kevin Cannon (Monty's Book Reviews).
1,311 reviews24 followers
February 28, 2024
Affairs of State by C.A. James is set in the high profile world of American politics. When the President's wife Elizabeth Caen overhears her husband plotting an assassination, she knows that she needs to take action against the most powerful man in the world.

Computer hacker Owen Richter makes his money by using the dirty secrets that he and his partner in crime, Jordan Hawke, discover, to blackmail the undesirable elements of the business community. In his downtime he has sex with lonely married women.

When the First Lady turns to Owen for help in foiling her husbands plot it plunges both of them into a deadly race against time.

It is an interesting idea to have a hero with such obvious unethical tendencies, but as the story unfolds and he uses his skills for the right reasons, you find yourself easily forgiving him and really rooting for him and Elizabeth to succeed.

The main characters are well rounded and the relationships between them, particularly Owen and Elizabeth, are nicely handled. Portraying the President of the United States as a villain is also a nice twist that gives the novel a different feel.

The plot is nicely paced to keep the reader engrossed throughout and the characters each have their role to play to push it along.

In summary, I found this to be an excellently plotted thriller that stays focused on telling the story without getting sidetracked. The characters fit nicely together and the potential romantic sub-plot is well handled.

There is plenty of peril to keep the reader's heart pumping as Elizabeth and Owen seek to foil the plot before it is too late

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys political thrillers, action and adventure novels or just loves a well plotted story.

https://montysbookreviews.blogspot.com/
Profile Image for Louise.
1,495 reviews20 followers
February 16, 2024
First Lady Liz overhears a possible scheme the President wants to do and she seeks help from her driver, Brian, who recommends Owen. Liz wants computer criminal Owen to find the proof and stop her husband from committing the assassination. More characters on Owen's side are brought into the investigation. The story takes time to establish the characters featured, switching between perspectives. Readers can follow all three characters and gain insight into their motivations and how their lives intermix. However, only Owen is written in first-person while the rest are written in third-person. This makes for an unusual read. The story is descriptive and dialogue-driven.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Hidden Gems Books and author.
1 review
February 9, 2024
Affairs of State is pure and simple a good story, but it's not a simple story, rather an intricate adventure involving politics, religion, crime, sex, and love, with rich and detailed side dishes of cybersecurity, trimaran yacht sailing, and cycling, throughout the hills, beaches, and waters of the Bay Area of California. The main characters face dangers and difficult personal issues, which reflect larger issues in this layered narrative. I enjoyed reading this book and looked forward to each chapter. Bravo!
7 reviews
January 16, 2024
I found it hard to put this one down. It starts off interesting, building the background and characters, but before long I was really hooked. Very interesting characters. Dialog is a bit weak, but the descriptions of nature (sailing, biking in the mountains) are great writing, and the background details about politics in America are enlightening. I wish we'd seen more of the protagonist's mother, she's a real character. Disclaimer: I received an advanced-reader copy (ARC) prior to publication.
4 reviews
March 23, 2024
Really good techie geek, political read

If you want a fast read and interesting political thriller, this book will more than suffice. The techie descriptions of the hacker and the methods used are highly accurate and the story nice weaved current political trends with the story. Nicely done! (And how many “thrillers” do you read these days without gratuitous violence and/or unnecessary shots fired?)
Profile Image for Anne OK.
4,114 reviews555 followers
July 25, 2024


C. A. James is a new-to-me author. His writing is straightforward and uncomplicated. Interesting characters and plot twists that kept me involved, and on the edge-of-my-seat with the pages flipping start to finish.

Some may find the storyline too politically motivated and some may say it’s one-sided. I read it as a bit of “satire” and overall found the book to be well pulled together, entertaining and an exciting political thriller.


Profile Image for Julie .
687 reviews15 followers
November 1, 2024
Affairs of the Sea

Great story.
Owen is a hacker of the highest order and is having an affair with the First Lady.
The First Lady over hears the President talking about an assassination that he will
be in line with and she turns to Owen to get the info she needs from his private
computer.
The story takes off with suspense and riveting action interspersed with very interesting
details on the rudiments of sailing.
Terrific political thriller.
Profile Image for Debbie Lanthorn.
29 reviews2 followers
November 3, 2024
This is a well written political thriller. The main characters are well rounded, and it’s interesting that the villain is the president of the United States. It moves right along keeping your interest; even more so with our own election this month. This is my first book by this author, and I was certainly impressed. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys intrigue and political action thrillers.
538 reviews4 followers
December 3, 2024
Good and Awful

This author is a very talented writer with good instincts to keep the reader interested. Now the, however, I like political intrigue that doesn't single out a party. I don't want an author that sounds like only news ingested is MSNBC. I think most readers have a diverse selection of news sources and would cringe at the one sided approach to this novel. Thanks for introducing me to a new author.
1 review
April 18, 2025
The story started off very interesting, but the book was hard to read because number of adjectives and adverbs throughout. Every sentence had multiple descriptors for things that didn’t need them. The sentences would’ve been much less wordy and easier to process.
I wouldn’t have kept reading if the storyline was so good. By the middle though, I was left wanting for more than a cliche love story. The ending also left me wanting for more as well.
Profile Image for Cherie Melbourne.
1,377 reviews15 followers
February 16, 2024
A first C.A. James story for me and being an Aussie, US politics confuses me, yet, it helped to make this story even more riveting for me. I loved the pace of the story, it kept me turning the pages and the characters were very interesting.
I'll gladly read more from this author.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.
241 reviews3 followers
June 15, 2024
State of Distress

The “plot” of this book is an excuse for the author’s rant against all things conservative — politicians, religion, values. It’s also his opportunity to go on at length about how to hack a computer — a level of detail which is not necessary & is in fact both distracting & tedious. You will achieve a state of more satisfaction from the average Lifetime movie.
1 review
August 27, 2024
Lack of cohesion.

It starts with the main character using an online hookup site that connects him to the president's wife and deteriorates from there. The plot is ludicrous. Not remotely believable. Way too much time.spent on justifications for the poor actions of the main characters, woke dissertations and lectures.
Profile Image for Mike Bajorek.
34 reviews
July 5, 2025
Well written and interesting story line. The author’s descriptions of sailing in the San Francisco Bay area and cyber security/the art of hacking into computer systems were eye opening and super interesting.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to get past the author’s ultra-liberal, anti-Christian preaching throughout the story. I won’t be reading any more of CA James’ novels.
Profile Image for David Wilson .
31 reviews
August 15, 2025
I was going to go with three stars, but the author did fairly well. It's not exactly a thriller. A LOT of scenery descriptions and computer jargon. Less of a thriller than a 1968 made-for-TV movie. Only spoiler is that the end is warm and fuzzy.
It's modestly entertaining, but I think I'll look elsewhere for my thriller.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
24 reviews
July 14, 2024
Real good book. Sounds like it could have come out of the current political situation. This may be offputting to some, but it is JUST a book. Story moves right along and keeps your interest. Characters are complex but well developed. Worth a read/listen.
6 reviews
December 5, 2024
Gross piece of crap.

Author must one of the 7 MCNBC viewers left as well as a bible hating crazy.
Every progressive anti-GOP conspiracy was thrown together to write a pile of crap.
Profile Image for Ann Wright.
330 reviews5 followers
July 15, 2025
An Interesting Storyline

The First Lady overhears a conversation between her husband and an unknown conspirator that leads her and her lover on a search for answers. There's lots of technical sailing terms but the story moves quickly to a satisfying conclusion.
30 reviews
October 12, 2025
Intriguing

This was a very intriguing story because I found it to be to believable and close to the truth we have in our country today. I will be recommending this book to my family and friends to read.
Profile Image for Mik Wasiak.
390 reviews3 followers
February 17, 2024
A good Political thriller a good story that feels like a movie script the characters are well written this book was great written story and fun book to read
7 reviews
February 24, 2024
Good Read

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Some twists and suspense to hold my interest until the end. I’m happy I chose this one.
5 reviews
April 21, 2024
Great story!

This book kept me interested the whole time and read in a few days. Now searching for my next read
9 reviews
June 10, 2024
This book just makes the mind wonder what can actually happen in the government. A lot!!! Not too far from reality in my opinion.
35 reviews
November 18, 2024
Excellent read

I couldn't put this book down. I enjoyed how it kept my interest and guessing at each move. Hope you all can enjoy it too.
2 reviews1 follower
November 19, 2024
Bias at its worst

I read about 40 pages and got so tired of the bias against Republicans that I stooped reading.
What a waste of time.
Profile Image for Francine Aron.
82 reviews
April 3, 2025
interesting story

This was a very interesting story. Even though it was written a couple of years ago it seemed more up to date this year! Good job C.A. James
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews

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