The Hellfire Club

By: Jake Tapper

Narrated by: Jake Tapper

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

The debut political thriller from Jake Tapper, CNN's chief Washington correspondent and the New York Times best-selling author of The Outpost - 1950s DC intrigue about a secret society and a young congressman in its grip.

Charlie Marder is an unlikely congressman. Thrust into office by his family ties after his predecessor died mysteriously, Charlie is struggling to navigate the dangerous waters of 1950s Washington, DC, alongside his young wife, Margaret, a zoologist with ambitions of her own. Amid the swirl of glamorous and powerful political leaders and deal makers, a mysterious fatal car accident thrusts Charlie and Margaret into an underworld of backroom deals, secret societies, and a plot that could change the course of history. When Charlie discovers a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of governance, he has to fight not only for his principles and his newfound political career...but for his life.

©2018 Jake Tapper (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"Tapper uses his storytelling chops to deftly put you in the moment when Joe McCarthy was waving his infamous paper and the Congress was at peak skullduggery. Hellfire is a potent thriller, replete with well-developed characters that made me think that history does indeed repeat itself." (David Baldacci, number one New York Times best-selling author of End Game)

"The Hellfire Club's first, thrilling scene pulled me into 1950s Washington, D.C., and didn't let go until the last, satisfying page. Tapper's passions for history and politics shine through in this remarkably timely, page-turning debut." (Alafair Burke, author of the New York Times best-selling The Wife)

"Here's your chance to get up close and personal with John and Bobby Kennedy, Nixon, Eisenhower, Kefauver, LBJ and Joe McCarthy. Jake Tapper puts you right back in the 50's. At the same time, Tapper has written a superior thriller that I couldn't stop reading. To be completely honest though, Tapper is an irritating bastard. Journalists like him are supposed to be writing dusty non-fiction tomes that help us get to sleep, not thrillers that keep us up half the night. The Hellfire Club is a helluva good read. Now Tapper should return to writing non-fiction." (James Patterson, number one New York Times best-selling author)

Awful!

A disappointment in every way. My instinct was to abandon the book after 15 minutes but I thought, it’s Jake Tapper, there has to me more here. But there is nothing. Atrocious writing, lame plotting, total absence of suspense. And Tapper gives the worst reading I have yet encountered. This is one where I really wish no stars was an option.

Author and narrator again

A fine job by the author as narrator. Interesting characters, timely. Perhaps a new political series? I do hope so.
It has been a long time since Allen Drury penned
Advise and Consent.

Fascinating read/listen

It's what you would call a page-turner! The complexity of historical facts and figures are a challenge if you're not a history buff like me, but I persevered because the characters and storyline captivated me till the end. Who knew a journalist could write such fiction? (besides David Ignatius) Parallels to current times included...

Excellent first novel! 4+ stars!

Journalist Jake Tapper does a nice job with his first novel after 3 earlier non-fiction books. The Hellfire Club is set in 1954 Washington where recently appointed Republican congressman from New York Charlie Marder and his wife step into political intrigue which includes murder. As a long time admirer of Jake Tapper's journalism until he lost his journalistic perspective in mid-2016 (and has not yet regained it), I'm happy to see him earn his success as a fiction author. Narration by Tapper himself is adequate. Rob Shapiro narrated his earlier non-fiction audio book and would have been a much better selection here.

Tapper does a very nice job with the many historical characters, mostly US Congress members, in The Hellfire Club. His historical accuracy with those characters is impressive.

Narration

The narration was terrible - so bad that I couldn't finish listening to make a judgement on the story itself. As others have stated - he really should have hired a pro to read the story.

Could be happening now

Never knew Jake Tapper to be so talented , his reading ranks with the best & ive been listening audio for almost 20years ! This is well researched & Jake’s impressions of famous characters brings it to life . Love Audible ! Keep bringing us titles to educate & entertain !

Too Jumbled, Big disappointment

Jake Tapper should have hired a professional audiobook performer. The plot is terribly jumbled. The entire book felt forced with the author’s attempt to jam in as many “historical” facts as possible.

I tried.

Couldn't listen, Mr. Tapper should have gotten an actor to read his book, sorry, but it's a terrible performance. I also don't really care for fiction, but it's trying to listen that's so hard, I really am very sorry, but he sounds like a ten-year old reading, it's laughable.

Disappointing

I love and respect Jake Tapper. He is an incredible interviewer and very smart and fair. I bought the book because of Jake and the reviews. But I was quite disappointed. Firstly the book is overly long and dragged in places. The story line was interesting but kind of sophomoric. While it may be regarded as a good first novel. I think Jake has to hone his skills until he really gets to the major leagues in terms of writing skills and story lines. At the end one has to judge the book and not the author- my 2 cents.

Listing famous names and historical events doesn't always make a good story

Lots of unnecessary killing and although famous names and events come up often, There was not much of a story

Perfect political thriller

I’ve had too many late nights listening to this. It may have taken 6 years to write, but it was worth the wait. Loved the man himself narrating. So many parallels with today’s politics, this is a fantastic debut Mr Tapper.

Fantastic story brilliantly read

This is the best audiobook I've listen to in some time. The plot was gripping, the characters were engaging and the reading was superb. with such well known historical figures included, it was brave of the author to take that on and would have been all too easy to sound like caricatures, but that was far from the case. I may just have a new favourite author. I hope he finds the time to write many more!