Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
International politics is never easy. The power plays, the egos, the risk of war. With a calm history between them, it’s always appeared that Canada and the United Sites have been great allies along their 5500-mile border. But that all changes when a scheming politician decides it’s time to unite the two countries to fight against a common enemy. The question becomes is that enemy the threat of nuclear war, or is it common political maneuvering?
Originally released in 1962, Arthur Hailey’s In High Places feels all too real and relevant in the 2025 political climate. Immigration challenges, freely elected officials turned dictators, and political corruption abound with Hailey’s characters on both sides of the border. Readers will question if national security and politics are worth moral failures and if turning away those in need trumps the desperate need to hold on to whatever political power you have left. Where Hailey originally intended this novel to be a diatribe against Cold War strategies, his work has found new relevance 60 years later with the chaos that developed with political positioning on both sides of the international boundary. With mystery and romance, Hailey brings readers through a story reminiscent of the golden age of Camelot while feeling like a peek behind the curtains of the Trump administration.
I give In High Places 4 out of 5 stars. While I liked this book, pieces of the narrative felt disjointed and unnecessary. The political positioning was spot on, but the affairs and personal stories did little to further the plot for the majority of the book. I also had a hard time connecting to several of the characters because of the failed personal story inclusion. Hailey fills this book with characters of similar title and office, as well as name and personal plot, that I found myself having a hard time telling a few of the characters apart. Some of these chapters were longer than I had expected and Hailey’s use of language and terms common to Canadian politics in the 60’s but not American readers today made me pause several times to review or look up definitions to better understand the novel. With that said, this is a book I could easily see being made into a TV show or limited series – several scenes felt like they belonged on “The West Wing” or “Designated Survivor”.
The upcoming release of the audiobook version is giving Hailey’s work life among a new generation of readers. With references to adultery, murder, and impending nuclear threats, this may not be a top choice for all readers. I would recommend this to readers who have enjoyed other works by authors like David Baldaci, Jeffrey Archer, or Mary Higgins Clark. If you have a reader who enjoyed this book when first released but may be having a difficult time reading written novels several decades later, I would also suggest this audiobook as a great gift for them – the narration and flow made it an easy listen.
The audiobook for In High Places will release on December 9th. Preorder yours today on our Bookshop.org page!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Cold Zero, Brad Thor
- Current audio book: Zachary Taylor The Complete Life Story, Brilliant Bio
- Book I’m most looking forward to: How to Be Okay with Nothing is Okay, Jenny Lawson
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