It’s every administration’s worst nightmare – a terrorist attack on an assembly of the high-ranking government officials. It’s the entire reason the Designated Survivor policy was put into place – putting one official in a protected site away from the assembly in case something happens. With the Capitol under siege by an unknown mastermind and a black ops team working to free the president, the public is on edge and the Designated Survivor is poised to take the lead of the nation. Will the team rescue the president and find the criminals before more people die?
John Matthews’ 2016 novel Designated Survivor is the domestic thriller readers will love. With military drama reminiscent of Jack Ryan novels, this book takes readers into the depths of Capitol politics both figuratively and literally. In today’s political climate, this book shows you how divisiveness can destroy both the people leading the country and the country itself. This is a book about taking caution with who you can trust and the value of good teamwork in politics.
I give Designated Survivor 5 out of 5 stars. Matthews delivers vibrant scene and character descriptions that pull the reader into the book. The plot kept me guessing till the very end and left me wanting more of the protagonist. The book had decent chapter length and I couldn’t bear to put it down once I started. While it didn’t earn a perfect 5.0, this is one of the best books I’ve read so far this month!
Given the gun violence and death throughout this book, I would gear this book to mature audiences over 16. This would also be a great book for readers who enjoy military and police thrillers like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series. I’d also recommend this to readers who like the Kiefer Sutherland-led TV series by the same name – while not connected directly, the plots and situations are similar.
I chose Designated Survivor for the Read With Lindsey Reading Challenge prompt “Inauguration Day”. This prompt could be taken in a few different ways – you could read a book about a president, written by a president, or about the event. In this case, there is a near-miss of an inauguration and plenty of plot with a president. With the American Inauguration Day next week, I thought this would be a great time to read about our government and what can happen when we put personal acclaim above the good of the country and focus more on hatred. What are you reading for this prompt?
This post contains affiliate links.
What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Follow Me to Africa, Penny Haw
- Current audio book: Girl, Serpent, Thorn, Melissa Bashardoust
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Lethal Prey, John Sandford
Discover more from Read With Lindsey
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
One thought on “Designated Survivor”