Line of Succession: A Thriller

Blake Carver Thrillers #1

by William Tyree

Tyree’s debut novel delivers one of the most original political thriller concepts in years. After a series of political assassinations throw Washington leadership into disarray, a group of Pentagon insiders begin retaliating against Islamic radicals abroad while several forces seemingly vie for control of the White House behind the scenes. All is far from what it seems, however, as Tyree’s hero, ex-CIA counter-terrorism agent Blake Carver, begins unraveling a sinister plot that has little to do with religious extremism. This war isn't about religion, foreign policy or oil. It’s up to Carver to stop a group of powerful Washington insiders battling over control of the planet’s most precious resource: water.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Action

491 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2010

About the author

William Tyree is the author of Rogue Empire, The Fellowship and Line of Succession, as well as dozens of short stories and articles appearing in Harvard Review, the Atlantic, the Japan Times and elsewhere. His Blake Carver series was an Amazon #1 political thriller bestseller.

Research for his stories has taken him to Italy, the UK, France, Germany, Romania, Cambodia, Korea, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Turkey and many other locations around the world.

He lives and writes in California.

Visit him at William Tyree Books.

Reviews

[Jedidiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, after a year of "heavy" reading, I decided to do a year of guilty pleasure books and have been devouring books in the spy/war/political thriller categories over the past 13 or so months. Read some by Tom Clancy, 3 Daniel Silva, 2 Forsyth, 3 Brad Thor, half of Vince Flynn's bibliography, 2 Robert Ludlum and a few lesser or newer authors like Joel C Rosenberg and Andrew Britton and Steven Gore. So far Line of Succession ranks 4th out of those 31 books. I may adjust that number after I reflect on it, but so far it is sitting pretty well with me.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the leaders of the nation are going on vacation there is one assassination after another. Who is behind it and who is next in line to be president. Blake Carver, counter-terrorist agent for the president is trying to figure out what is going on. President Hatch cannot be contacted. What is going on? This is a fast pace look at what happens when a power hungry general starts running the country.

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fever dream about a coup in America, over water.

[Rebecca Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not that bad. Certainly a very interesting premise for a story. Definitely a page turner.

[Robert Scullin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The most disjointed and far fetched book I've read in years. There were too many plot elements and it was very disconnected. Also very poorly edited.
I would have rated it zero if not for the events of 1/6/21, which is just close enough to be scary.

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a complex spy thriller with lots of fast-paced twists and turns. It begins on a military base with a soldier barely out of training camp directed to drive a vehicle loaded with Stinger missiles off base in the middle of the night. Once he gets to his location, he's assassinated by one of the coolest villains I have ever read in suspense thrillers - this guy is a killing machine who is employed by a private security firm that is a little like an evil version, or I should say a MORE evil version, of Blackwater. I won't spoil what happens next but we don't realize what the Stingers are for until a few chapters later, and it's one of the best political assassination sequences I have ever read.

One warning: Tyree is not afraid to kill off major characters. This creates lots of tension, which is good, but there is one good one that I am bummed about about not coming back in the series. I am only assuming more books are planned - we get closure in the second to last chapter, and the very last one reads like an epilogue that is gearing up for a second book. Let's hope!

[T.W. Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great unexpected thriller. I bought this book but had not read it for awhile and forgot what drew me to it.

This was one of those rare books that I could not put down. I recommend this is any action/thriller readers out there.

The only two criticisms I can give are that there were a few times that a character had important information for another character and they never say anything which seems really odd and the other is that some times an author creates an incident so large that when they have to switch between the different fractions and locations the user loses perspective because it can take a chapter or more and inevitably a lot of good story pieces are never followed because the author has to rush to get to the end or the whole book would be about a particular arc in the story. That happens here with the middle east part of the incident is all but a foot note when in reality could have been one of the best parts but there were so many parts and escalations to the other arc that it was just basically ignored.

[Ken Rossignol · Rating 5 out of 5]

While anyone familiar with the people who actually serve in our military, the reactionary way they are portrayed in this book is REALLY fictional, but once you accept that premise, get over it and enjoy this book. It truly is a good read, the author did a lot of work pinning down the locations in good detail. One point to modify might be the scene where the Sec Def is out on his fishing boat in the Chesapeake attempting to hook into a White Marlin. While there are no fences on the Bay to restrict such fish from being there, a catch of such species is unlikely.
This book does what it is supposed to do, capture the attention of the reader and tell a story. So at this point, I would say get busy, buy it and read it. It is worth your time and moves quickly.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyree really puts a lot into this story that runs the gamut from political thriller to military coup to high powered action. Even after setting it aside for a couple weeks there was little problem picking back up with the plot. A lot of twists to the story which made it entertaining but with so many characters involved it added perhaps a bit too much complexity. Overall, a rather good read with plenty of excitement, some "oh man" moments, and an entertaining storyline. The only disappointment was the abrupt ending that left a lot of loose ends and questions rather than tying things up nicely.

[Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is about what might happen if a group of Generals decided to overthrow the government and make it look like a terror attack. It comes like a bat out of hell right out of the first chapter and you get the feeling that this writer cares about every sentence as much as he cares about the plot. It's a good one.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining political thriller posing an unfortunately realistic scenario of a US military coup. Shoddy proofreading in the final third of the book cost it a star. Homonym errors are especially grating, even when amusing. As an example, unless the bindings are quacking, wrists are never "duck-taped" together, nor is anyone ever kept on loose reigns.

[Anandh Sundar · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the blurb mentions, the plot is quite original and frighteningly realistic. While the themes of meglamania and the industry-military complex are not new, the way they have been used in the book is certainly new. For anyone who likes a fast paced original action thriller, look no further than this one.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. On the surface it was an interesting story. I didn't like the abrupt ending and I didn't think the story really got deep enough into the issue of water shortage that is what instigated the events in the book. I don't know, something was just not quite there for me.

[Maya Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great political/spy thriller with lots of surprises. There are lots of characters and lots of action in the first third of the book, but by the time I got there I couldn't put it down. Agent Carver is a great hero - I hope to see him back in another book.

[Luke W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked early. For a bit I thought maybe it was heading down the typical Islamist plot route that so many of these books seem to, but then I was rewarded for my patience with one of the best action books I have ever read. Highly recommended.

[Dwight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made for TV with an obvious ending but kept me entertained for a few days just the same. Plot is fairly simple, characters are not badly developed. The only thing i didn't like was the cliff-hanger at the end, leading to the next book.

[Steve Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping tale with real possibilities

Though some parts were predictable, Line of Succession was fast paced and written as though this could really happen if the right military psychopath were to gain power.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little far-fetched for my liking, but well written. A very busy book with many things going on. If you can just roll with all of the crazy way out there plot lines you will love it.

[Ryan Rauber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plausible plot of a military coup within the US. Over the top ending, but enjoyable read.

[LA Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than I thought it would be. Good plot, kept my interest. I'd read other work by this author.

[Chilton Treakle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good plot...if you ever thought that a coup was impossible in the U.S., Mr Tyree makes it seem not only possible but far too easy. Great, fun summer thriller.

[Daniel Bustos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent plot just on the edge of reality, a protagonist that is entirely believable (not Arnold Schwarzenegger meets MacGyver) and decent plot weaving.

[Ben Belchak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring story, wooden one-dimensional characters, predictable plot. Zzzzzzzz

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book!

[Oma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A political thriller that could happen in the US. Some of the characters seemed cartoonish, mostly the "bad guys" but it held my interest for the most part.

[Pam Strachan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good thriller. Couldn't always follow the military jargon.