State of Terror

By: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Louise Penny

Narrated by: Joan Allen

Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

A Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller!

Take a ringside seat in the high-stakes world of international politics...

After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in. Secretary of State, Ellen Adams, is determined to do her duty for her country. But she is about to face a horrifying international threat...

A young foreign service officer has received a baffling text from an anonymous source. Too late, she realizes it was a hastily coded warning. Then a series of bus bombs devastate Europe, heralding the rise of a new rogue terrorist organization who will stop at nothing in their efforts to develop their own nuclear arsenal.

As Ellen unravels the damaging effects of the former presidency on international politics, she must also contemplate the unthinkable: that the last president of the United States was more than just an ineffectual leader. Was he also a traitor to his country?

State of Terror is a compelling and critically acclaimed international political thriller co written by Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 67th secretary of state, and Louise Penny, a multiple award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling novelist.

©2021 Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Ltd

Critic reviews

"A rip-roaring, brilliant page-turner, but it’s also timely, cheeky, important and wonderfully, courageously provocative. What great fun!" (James Patterson)

"Clinton and Penny are each a force on their own - put together they are unstoppable." (Karin Slaughter)

"Smart and fast and twisty, State of Terror is a dazzlingly unpredictable political thriller. I loved it." (Kathy Reichs)

Best fiction in a long long time!!!!!

The entire book is very close to a possible reality even if it is a fiction. It is just great. I advise anyone to read r listen to it.

Rushed ending

Starts with some solid setting up of the chess board but then degenerates into a rushed endong. Some super cringey flag waving to boot.

Dreadful, caricatures, grudges

Returned this. My curiosity about the plot was not sufficient to put up with the terrible writing and utterly implausible characterisations. Narrator did her best but must have been cringing throughout.

Cheap plot - caution spoiler

The last thing you want to read, or listen in this case, for a thriller involving the US President is when everybody surrounding him is a bad guy conspiring against him. I’m struggling to finish the book because of this bad taste that I have to swallow. Next time, try a more convincing plot.