The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government

by Barbara McQuade

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Former U.S. Attorney and author of Attack from Within Barbara McQuade offers a piercing, urgent, and deeply informed exposé on the escalating threat of far-right politics to American democracy and national security—and a clear roadmap for how to stop it.

In The Fix, Barbara McQuade draws on her decades of experience as a federal prosecutor to show us the detrimental effects of a government that uses corruption, cruelty, and chaos as tools of control. As a US Attorney, McQuade became all too familiar with corruption cases, prosecuting former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and Volkswagen, among others. Here, she exposes how rampant corruption and cruelty are being weaponized to manipulate every facet of American life. Weaving together courtroom stories, lessons from history, and real-time legal analysis, McQuade shows how each corrupt offense, each act of cruelty, is a step toward total authoritarianism.

Yet The Fix is not just a critique of power gone awry. McQuade offers clear strategies that ordinary Americans can utilize, from organizing teach-ins and protests to running for local office, to reclaim the rule of law and ensure that elected officials serve the public's interest, not their own.

Eye-opening and grounded in the author's abiding faith in the US Constitution to help restore power to the people, The Fix is essential reading for anyone concerned about the future of America and ready to work together to take it back.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Government, Law, American

432 pages, Hardcover

Published June 2, 2026

Reviews

[Larry Putnam]

Excellent

Solutions as well as describing the details of MAGA's existential threat to democracy. Backed by McQuaid's 200 pages of footnotes. Let's all get to work implementing her solutions.

[Avid]

If you want the “fix” part, start at chapter 11. Everything that comes before is also excellent, but it merely details what we all know about the current administration’s errors in providing a government of, by, and for the people. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author. No complaints at all. I want to buy the paperbound book to keep on my shelf as a beacon of hope. (And maybe evidence of the “before” times…)

[Ann]

Barbara McQuade really lays it out—all the grift, all the mob boss behavior. I have no doubt that her suggestions for “The Fix” would go a long way toward restoring our democracy. Is it all feasible? I just don’t know.

[Terri]

I’m about three chapters from the end, at the start of chapter 11. If I were to pick a title for this book it would be “What To Fix.” The author rehashes modern history. Or as Hillary called one of her books, “What Happened.”
Perhaps in ten to twenty years, this will make a good history book for high school students.
I will never again trust a book review from Rachel Maddow who lauded this book to the sky.
When I get to a part that offers a fix, I will finish this review.

But before I do that I have to comment on one statement the author made which changed my opinion of her. She was recounting something Trump was doing “while Palestinians were being slaughtered.” No where in this book did I see North Korea, Russia, China or any other dictatorship mentioned and what conditions these people live in under these despots. Why does most of the world ignore them? Think about how these despotic governments have slaughtered their own countrymen.

I will stop now. Perhaps I’ll make a list of the rest of the countries in which the leaders starve, imprison, poison, murder and restrict information from the citizens.
-----
I'm back to add that the book offered no fixes other than those we've all heard before. It was a waste of time to read.

[Jays]

I'm not going to lie, the first two thirds of this book can be hard to get through, not because of any deficit in McQuade's writing, but just because it's a thorough unpacking of all the damage that Donald Trump has done to the United States and all the crimes he has committed and all the ways the U.S. political system has let the country down. McQuade catalogs each norm violation, each moment of corruption, each episode of violence visited on U.S. citizens and people abroad. It's bracing and, read so closely to these events actually happening, can feel traumatizing. Future readers who will have the benefit of seeing Trump long since buried in the ground may feel differently and be able to approach this material more academically, but in the moment it can be difficult reading.

That all said, McQuade isn't just recounting these things for kicks - she's a prosecutor by profession and she's laying out her case. McQuade is establishing facts and presenting them to us, the reads, like we are her jury. Before she can get to the remedy, she has to establish that there was, in fact, harm done. The entire book can actually be read as one long closing argument in court case; if McQuade were tasked with prosecuting the criminals of the Trump family and his administration in a future Nuremberg-style court proceeding, you could easily imagine her just cribbing directly from this book.

Because of that, the last third goes down a bit easier. This is where McQuade lays out her suggestions for how to remedy some of the damage and create stronger systems going forward to prevent another Donald Trump in the future. This also may be where some folk take additional issue with her. I can't say what her personal politics are, really, but much of what she lays out comes off as more centrist than progressive. I assume that's by design, either because she herself adheres to more centrist positions or because she things these are the solutions that will likely be the easiest to implement because they're aimed at the largest chunk of the electorate, which is the middle.

If you're someone who is closely following the unspooling disaster that is the United States right now, McQuade's solutions might not be anything you haven't heard before. If you're not fully read in, chapter and verse, you're likely to find some innovative ideas you hadn't considered, both for yourself and for your community. Personally, I took some relief in McQuade's prescriptions not for how far they do or don't go, but as a reminder that there are fixes out there that are achievable, so even in the bleakest moments we can remember that this doesn't have to be forever. We have ways to bring ourselves back, we just need to start implementing them. (And any politician or leader who says we can't doesn't deserve to be in that position.)

[Jan]

Highly recommend listening to this book as narrated by the author. If you've lived through the Trump era, most of the info in this book isn't new, but seeing it all through the words of a morally grounded prosecutor helps to understand the meaning and gravity of the actions of the corrupt Trump administration. My respect for the author only increased during my reading of her book.

[Bruce Katz]

Fairly or not, I can't bring myself to finish this book. Ms McQuade is a thoughtful, capable commentator on the many excesses of the Trump Administration and how they conform perfectly with, as the subtitle indicates, mob heads and authoritarians. She is absolutely convincing, but having gotten well more than halfway through the book I've heard nothing but a compilation of Trump's sins, all of which I'm familiar with. I probably should read further to see what steps she proposes to remedy the situation but I can't.

[Joe]

When Trump is gone, when the political mess he and his party have caused has ended – if it ends – if education and logic live to see another day, the first two parts of this excellently written and researched work would make the perfect textbook. With cool-headed logic and an arsenal of facts, McQuade explains how the president runs his administration like a mob boss, and how in the second term there is even less fealty to the rule of law and more to this would-be authoritarian toddler. If, like me, you turn to political podcasts and YouTube punditry for some sense of order in the chaos, definitely read this book: it’s not like snacking on potato chips until you making yourself sick, it’s a full meal.

In the final third, McQuade offers thoughts on how we fight our way out of this disaster. While it was good to be reminded that showing up to political protest is, in fact, worth one’s time, I’ll admit that several of the other pieces of advice felt like they were geared more toward congresspeople than everyday citizens. Still, I’m inclined to take her advice: pick your topic of choice, learn as much as you can, and do whatever you can to preserve that institution, because time has proven that the Trump administration does not care about anything other than their whiny, narcissistic leader.

“…we need not wait for Trump’s government to fail on its own. We have the ability to fix it ourselves, and to do it right now, before it’s too late. The key is to use our powers of litigation, organizing, education, campaigning, voting, and other tactics to help our fellow Americans understand that our country is better than the corruption, cruelty, and chaos that Trump has fueled.”

[Karen Rand]

This book from a former federal prosecutor makes a strong case for actions that can be taken to reclaim and set to rights the democracy that once was the United States of America. While acknowledging that we have never had a “perfect union”, she points out many areas where rights have been diminished or taken away. While the knowledge of most of them is not new, seeing the results of their erosion presents a compelling picture of all that has been lost. The author proposes changes to laws that could be made, but also calls on individuals to take action by voting for representatives that will enact reforms, by demonstrating and by engaging in boycotts. We must always remember that this is our country, and those we elect are supposed to serve the people, not themselves.

[Carlin]

Excellent overview of the first 18+ months of Donald Trump's 2nd term. I highly respect the author, a former Federal prosecutor, a law professor and an important legal analyst. I am a retired attorney and former social worker so have watch the chaos, corruption and cruelty of this administration from its beginning with legal knowledge and plus anger and sorrow for what he has done our Country. So I nodded my head as I read the first part of the book. She laid out in stark terms theany ways DT has been using the authoritarian playbook while undermining Democracy every day. The last section of the book is where the author lays out her vision of how we can begin to repair the damage already done with the understanding it may take years to do so. Speaking up, protesting, supporting litigation to fight the craziness, and voting for strong., committed candidates are a few of the ways we all need to do. I highly recommend this book.

[Donna Schwartz]

This book comes in two sections. The first parts (Sections I and II) present what has been happening to our country under the first term of Donald Trump and the period we are living through in the second term. If you are a person who keeps up with current events in politics, these decriptions of the way Trump went about operating as president will come as no surprise.

The third section talks about how various people have suggested we make adjustments to the way our government is run to head off how future presidents who do not have morals can be boxed in so they cannot destroy our democracy. For example, one suggestion was that there should be requirements for experience. If RFK Jr.'s position had required that the person taking the job was either a medical doctor or a degree in public health, he would have never gotten the job. Another job, for example, FEMA, might require that the person taking the job would have to have some experience with disaster relief.

Towards the end of the book, Barbara McQuade quoted Edmund Burke saying, "The only thingnecessary for evil to triumph is that good men (or women - my addition) do nothing."
I totally agree!

[Mike Reiff]

A solid book discussing Trump’s recent ethical crimes and misdemeanors, but I’ve like McQuaid’s specific legal world analysis for some time, and this is just very general, as though really anyone could have written it.

[Matthew Hanson]

I think that this is a good book for our times.

[David Provost]

The author, Barbara McQuade, uses the first 86 pages of "The Fix" to catalog Trumps' high crimes and misdemeanors, which she does with precision and accuracy. (It was a bit unsettling to see them all in one place at one time). The remainder of the book is used to detail what, in her view, we can, as a society do to take back our country. Unfortunately, the vast majority of her fixes are things such as constitutional amendments, enacting new laws, changing the tax code, etc. that are outside of the direct control of everyday Americans. Things that in my view will takes decades to accomplish, if at all.

The problem is Congress. Until the Democrats and non-MAGA moderate Republicans have filibuster and veto proof majority not much will change.

[Regan]

Incredible read. McQuade lays out in clear and readable language a roadmap for future lawsuits to bring justice to Trump and for the country. She compares his actions to cases she herself prosecuted to what Trump has done on a higher scale. While she approaches the actions Trump has committed to the detriment of our country as a prosecutor, her writing is easily readable by the average lay person. If in the future some ethical person or law firm wishes to bring suit against Trump and his enablers, McQuade has already done all the work of the briefing. She doesn't just lay out the myriad crimes, she offers concrete solutions that are easy to follow. We just need to take some personal responsibility and step up, even anonymously. Sadly the people who most need to read this book likely will not.

[Dorothy Rosenbaum]

It is a hard book to read, at least the first 2/3rds. It is even a harder book to have lived through. The first part of the book was a retelling of what has happened in the recent past to our government and the outcome we might experience. Definitely, political and scary. Some will agree, some will question, some will deny. I listened to the book, and have heard that the book has 200 pages of footnotes to validate her writing. The last third of the book has suggestions on what we can do. This is a book that goes into how we can impact change and not just a list of concerns.

I would encourage everyone to read with an open mind, and if it is a call to action for you. There are some suggestions of what to do.

[Matt]

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Barbara McQuade, and Tantor Media for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Barbara McQuade’s latest political analysis is not merely another anti-Trump publication rushing onto bookstore shelves to capitalise on outrage. It is a deeply researched, prosecutorial dismantling of the corruption, cruelty, and institutional decay that have come to define the Trump era. Drawing on her experience as a federal prosecutor, McQuade constructs a devastating case against both Trump Administrations and the machinery of opportunists, ideologues, and blind loyalists who have enabled them. The result is less a partisan rant than a chilling warning about the fragility of American democracy itself.

What makes this book especially effective is McQuade’s refusal to rely on hysterics or empty sloganeering. Unlike the propaganda-style outrage machine that dominates much of modern political media, she grounds her arguments in documented events, direct quotations, legal analysis, and historical parallels. Every accusation is supported. Every warning is contextualised. Readers looking to dismiss the book as merely another emotional attack piece will quickly discover that McQuade has done the homework many of Trump’s defenders routinely avoid.

Her central thesis is blunt: America is being transformed by a political movement that treats democratic institutions as obstacles rather than safeguards. McQuade argues that Trump and those surrounding him have normalised corruption, weaponised chaos, and embraced cruelty as governance tools. She methodically explores how fear, misinformation, loyalty tests, and institutional intimidation have become defining characteristics of modern MAGA politics. Whether discussing cabinet dysfunction, the performative obedience of Republican leadership, or the increasingly ideological posture of the conservative Supreme Court, McQuade paints a portrait of a nation drifting toward authoritarianism while millions either cheer the decline or refuse to acknowledge it.

What gives the book its power is McQuade’s ability to connect seemingly isolated events into a broader pattern of democratic erosion. She does not ask readers to panic, but to pay attention. Through courtroom anecdotes, political analysis, and comparisons to democratic backsliding abroad, she demonstrates how nations rarely collapse all at once. Instead, they decay incrementally while citizens normalise behavior that would once have been politically disqualifying. The book’s most frightening argument is not that Trump represents an anomaly, but that a substantial portion of the American political system has adapted itself to accommodate him.

McQuade also deserves credit for refusing to sanitise the role of Trump’s enablers. The book repeatedly highlights the cowardice and opportunism of politicians, media figures, and public personalities who continue to defend conduct they would have condemned without hesitation under any other president. Her criticism is unsparing, particularly toward those who wrap authoritarian impulses in the language of patriotism while undermining constitutional norms in practice. She correctly identifies sycophancy—not merely extremism—as one of the great dangers facing modern America.

Importantly, this is not a book driven by hatred, but by alarm. McQuade is not interested in theatrical outrage or self-righteous moral performance. She is attempting to document what she sees as a systematic assault on accountability, truth, and democratic restraint before the damage becomes irreversible. Even readers who disagree with her conclusions should be forced to grapple with the evidence she presents rather than retreating into tribal slogans or reflexive dismissal.

By the book’s conclusion, McQuade offers more than condemnation; she offers a call to civic responsibility. She argues that democratic institutions survive only when citizens are willing to defend them actively rather than assuming they are indestructible. Some readers will undoubtedly label the book “anti-Trump garbage” simply because it is critical of the Commander-in-Chief. That reflexive devotion, however, is precisely the phenomenon McQuade warns against: a culture where political loyalty overrides reason, evidence, and constitutional principle.

This is an uncomfortable book, and it is meant to be. McQuade is sounding an alarm, not whispering a concern. Whether one agrees with every argument or not, the book succeeds because it forces readers to confront an unsettling question: what happens when a democracy stops recognizing the difference between strength and authoritarianism?

Kudos, Madam McQuade, for a sobering look at the way America is headed.

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at: http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[David]

A follow-up to her previous book Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America, which was written shortly before the 2024 election. This one starts by documenting some of the many abuses of the second trump administration, laying out the case that trump is running the government as a mob boss. Hence attributes like fealty are more important than competence, the endless self-serving grift, the focus on style over substance, etc. It's all stuff we know and have recently lived through, but McQuade lays it all it unquestionable detail. It does get a bit tedious after a while as she's obviously preaching to the choir, but with so much going on every week it's important to not lose track of the potential crimes and abuses of power lest they be normalized.

As a former federal prosecutor, she spends a lot of time on the DOJ, and the ways the trump turned it from an independent agency into his private legal force. She explains clearly why this is especially unprecedented and extremely dangerous, as it erodes the entire concept of "rule of law". Especially since the republican congress and supreme court have so far given all but his most egregious exuberances a rubber stamp of approval.

Finally in the third section she gets to the point, i.e. what to do about it. She proposes many changes to laws and regulations to shore up things that were traditionally followed by everyone but not always enshrined in actual legislation. As well as closing loopholes, tightening up language to prevent abuse, and installing other guardrails to keep the powers of the president in check and balanced with the other two branches of government. For instance, she proposes transferring the marshal service from the executive to the judicial branch, so that justices would have the physical power to enforce their rulings by arresting those held in contempt of court, and not rely on the vagaries of a president who might overrule those orders.

[Nancy]

Not typically a book I would read, but given to me as a gift and so I read it. I don't disagree with anything in this book, in fact it frames my view as a Canadian of the American government as it is practiced under Trump and MAGA. Despicable.

Barbara McQuade I respect and have seen her weigh in on MSN NOW over the years.

I understand the nature of the writing of this book - as an exposure of all the ways that Trump and company have disgraced the American Constitution by breaking laws outright and seeking holes to inflate themselves, their power and their wealth - and as credible exposure from McQuade from her position as a federal prosecutor in Michigan, dealing with mobsters.

The book gives hope in the last section outlining not just ways but reasons why citizens need to act now.

You can get a good take on the messages in the book from the organization and chapter titles. Within each chapter there are subheadings that break up the text and in fact make me feel like I am taking notes in a lecture. I would set out my notes just like the organization of this book!

Introduction: The Fix Was In

PART I: The Playbook of Power - The New Authoritarianism
1. Carrots and Sticks
2. Invincibility Theater
3. Disinformation Warfare
4. Above the Law

PART: II
5. Silencing Critics
6. Doing Injustice
7. Enter the Broligarchs
8. Scapegoats and Pawns
9. Separation of Parties
10. Strongmen and Soft Power

PART: III
11. Lessons from History
12. Building Guardrails
13. Vision for the Future
14. Civic Awakening

Hard to read the first two Parts because they outline the agenda of Trump and how he operates like a mob-boss. Nothing new but well researched and pulled together into a cohesive picture of the greed, selfishness, brutality, corruption and harmfulness of Trump and those who support him. It is reality but hard to read through.

Part 3 is more positive in terms of hopeful actions the American public can take to counter this greed and lust for power. I really liked the Lessons from History chapter and the Building Guardrails chapter.

Well written. Easy to read.

[Nancy]

5-
Barbara McQuade has provided a concise, accurate account of Trump's autocratic presidential behavior from the perspective of a lawyer who served for 7 years as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. She left that position in 2017 with Trump's dismissal of U.S. attorneys at the beginning of his first term.

McQuade received her undergraduate degree as well as her J.D. from the University of Michigan, and presentlyserves as a law professor at that institution. I will note that the University of Michigan is my alma mater as well, although I was in Ann Arbor when she was born and did not go to law school. Barbara McQuade and the University of Michigan make me proud!

Most of this book is devoted to a clear concise description of Trump's time in office, especially of his second term. It coincides with what I have observed as a private citizen but is improved by her knowledge and explanation of applicable law. It will serve as excellent contemporaneous documentation of this period of our presidential history. It also reminded me of all that has transpired in my country over the last decade.

The author devotes the final sections of her book to possible legal solutions for the damage that has been done to American democracy and the rule of law. I have so admired and valued both throughout my life, and their erosion saddens me. McQuade offers a variety of suggestions that are practical and possible for nearly any citizen to choose from and implement.

It is our civic responsibility to engage with our nation's policies and to help improve conditions in whatever legal and peaceful ways we are able. As McQuade reminds us, we are obligated to consider the needs and beliefs of others we disagree with. We must not surrender our values, but are required to strive for solutions that will give everyone something, but probably not all, of what we collectively most value.

[Dan]

The firehose of actions taken in 4 years and another 2 (till now) gets an easy-to-follow review in this thoroughly documented book by former federal prosecutor and U of Michigan law school professor Barbara McQuade.

It tells us things we've experienced at length but have maybe forgotten in the rush of the daily or hourly news cycle. It's important documentation of a retributive, mob-style approach to dealing with one's perceived enemies, rather than governing through compromise and consensus. Standing up for the historical rule of law can make you an enemy.

As a piece of writing, it's not dry, but it is somewhat overwhelming to review what we are -- and have been -- living through. Here's an example of the clarity in presenting a key issue:

The Unitary Executive theory argues that all Executive power belongs to the President, meaning that the President controls all decisions and all employees in the Executive branch, and that he may fire any of them at will. Dissenting, Justice Sotomayor wrote that the court was handing the President "the power to repeal statutes by firing all those necessary to carry them out. When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary's duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it. . . ." The Chief Justice is presiding over the end of the rule of law in America.

 

Toward the end, McQuade explains the many ways to try to put the country back on the track of its constitutional and historical values. They're not easy, and not for everyone, but again, it's documentation of an upside-down period of American history.

[Beth]

I have long said that Donald Trump operates like a mob boss. University of Michigan Law professor Barbara McQuade gives copious evidence with 1600+ citations in this 400+ page book as to how that is actually true. If you have anyone in your life who is wavering on their support and is willing to entertain documented evidence, I highly recommend this book... even if all you do is convince someone to read it and tell them to try to refute McQuade's claims, it would still be a valuable exercise. It's also incredibly readable. You need not worry that a law professor's writing might resort to legalese. This book is written for the masses, not for people with a special interest in law.

The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that a lot of McQuade's "how to fix it" still feels overly aspirational and something a cynical person like me would say, 'There's no way that would work." And while I understand that all of her suggestions are meant to be cumulative and no one thing will solve everything, it's written in such a way where it feels very no nonsense. Like she's saying, "Oh if you just do this, it will be fixed." That is still a very minor critique because the overall purpose of the book in my mind is to frame the people running our government right now as running a mob operation... and she absolutely succeeds in that endeavor.

[Bruce Williams]

What do you do when traditions and norms fail when a president actively seeks to test the perimeters in search of weaknesses to exploit and for whom a law with no enforcement or penalty (such as the Hatch Act) is just an invitation to break it? McQuade draws on her years as a prosecutor, with examples of crimes committed and criminals convicted to explore and examine Trump’s criminal method.

Then she turns policy and legal remedies the US could put in place in the post-Trump era.

Chapters often begin with a mob boss or crime or social controversy, which is used to demonstrate Trump’s project and method, as well as to demonstrate what brought the criminal to justice.

The writing is crisp and direct. McQuade is used to making her case to juries rather than to academics or the boardroom.

One very minor irritant is that, especially towards the end, sub-chapters such as ‘Education’ begin with sentences like ‘Another area that needs addressing is education.’ As an editor, I would have deleted sentence like this.

You don’t need to be fully immersed in US politics to enjoy this book, which is an exploration of the nature of corruption and the levers available to keep corruption in check.

[Myles]

I found this book disappointing on a number of levels.

For one thing, it regurgitates a lot of what we already know and has been well documented in the "lame-streeam" media.

For another, the book is already well dated just a month after publishing date. The Administration is constantly pushing the boundaries of the acceptable. For example, the book also misses myriad ways the Administration is trying to curb Democrats getting to the polls in the upcoming mid-term elections.

Lastly, I don't find many of the prescriptions for fixing things after the current Administration is out of power all that convincing. The housing situation has been tackled in many recent books and I'll be darned if can see any clear-cut way forward.

And they aren't out yet. Even were the democrats to take control of the Senate and House there's plenty more mischief Trump can accomplish in another two years even if he is a complete lame duck.

Trump will continue to lie. In the highest office of the land. And nobody can stop him.

It is an extraordinary situation.

[Glenda]

A former federal prosecutor at the US Attorney’s office in Michigan, the author is attempting to help us understand how the legal system works, the reason the process works in particular ways. She learned about mob- bosses and their methods of “racketeering”, “pay to play” tactics, treats, intimidation, corruption in an official capacity.

In this book, she details how Trump and his cronies act in similar ways as a mob- boss like Vito Corleone in the “The Godfather”. Or John Bravata, a con man who defrauded investors of 50 million dollars who also performed a flashy invincibility theater.

All interesting, convincing and factual, but the part I found most useful was Part 3 -How We Take it Back”. As well as the chapter 14, “Vision For the Future”, There are suggestions for actions we can take now, plus changes that can be made for the long term betterment of democracy, so we have no more Trumps.

[David]

I'm about halfway through Barbara McQuade's new book, The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government, and it's stopped me in my tracks more than once.
McQuade isn't a pundit — she's a former U.S. Attorney who spent her career prosecuting corruption and national security cases (including the Kwame Kilpatrick case in Detroit). She brings that same prosecutorial eye to how she lays out what's happening in government right now: corruption, cruelty, and chaos, not as chaos for its own sake, but as tools of control.
What's struck me most isn't any single headline — it's the depth of it. Agencies stretched thin, people covering multiple jobs, expertise hollowed out. It's less "one bad decision" and more "turning a 700-foot freighter around." That's a hard thing to see clearly in the day-to-day news cycle, but a book like this lays out the whole shape of it in a way scrolling headlines never will.
I'm not done yet — she gets into the "fix" part next, the actual remedies and how ordinary people can push back. But even just the diagnosis has been worth the read. If you've been feeling like something is off but couldn't quite put your finger on why, this might be the book that helps you see the whole picture.
Anyone else reading it? Would genuinely love to compare notes as I get further in.

[David]

Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy.

At the start of the book, I thought mentioning the vast corruption of Donald Trump and his administration was overkill and would probably turn people off; however, upon further thought, this is the only way to press upon people the mob-style government that he has enacted.
I hope the other side would agree if someone from the opposite political persuasions would be doing the things he has done, there would be tremendous pushback. Sadly, many on his side have ignored his corruption and mob tactics.
McQuade's shortcoming is presenting 90% of the material with only 10% on how to fight back and fix the situation. Additionally, McQuade could have provided more hands-on tactics.
Otherwise, solid political criticism of our current dilemma.

[Fred Pandrok]

Without a doubt, the most insightful book that I have read so far about the Trump Administration. Her insights on how our government is running much like the mafia are a spot-on analysis of what's happening.

Seeing the pressures being applied to law firms, universities, and businesses to fall in line or face investigations, financial threats, and defunding tactics really shows that nothing about this administration is principle-based; it's all power extortion.

I wish every single member of our government would read this book and understand that we're not being governed by an administration that has any idea of what they are doing from an ideological standpoint. We are being governed by mobsters out to steal everything possible from the country, the world, and most importantly, the citizenry of the United States.

Well done, Barbara McQuade.

[Fritz42]

4.5 Stars. Even though we have lived through the machinations of this regime, having them organized and spelled out over the several hundred pages of this book brought me clarity. Especially when they were tied to and compared with the mob and corruption cases that Ms. McQuade has prosecuted and studied over the years. We really are being ruled by a mob boss.

My favorite section of the book was the final one: "How We Take It Back." I loved seeing Ms. McQuade's recommendations on how to use the system to fix things, how to make changes to the system to impede another wannabe dictator, and how we as citizens can do things now to impede and make those changes. All of that gives a sense of hope that we can take back and repair our democracy.

[Jeff]

Chaos, corruption, and cruelty is how Ms. McQuade describes the Trump administration. Rather than an authoritarian regime, she likens its running to that of a crime family. Being a former US Attorney who prosecuted criminal and public corruption cases, she builds a convincing argument. Drawing from public accounts of the administrations actions of the first year of Trump's second term, she explains how much they deviate from past administration and how close its actions border to the criminal.

What makes Ms. McQuade's book different from other books critical of the Trump administration is the final third of the book lays out solid ideas to fix the mess, prevent future public leaders from building upon its actions and what actions concerned individuals can take.