First published 2003
Vi Asplund carries a gun and watches for threats. The Secret Service agent protects a vice president who wants to become president. Vi grew up visiting accident scenes with her father, an atheist insurance adjuster who showed her and her brother Jens the worst of human damage. That early exposure to violence shaped both siblings. Vi became comfortable with danger and death in her work. Jens designs bloody video games for a living. Chief Gretchen Williams tries to hold the protection team together as the campaign intensifies. Agent Tashmo remembers better days guarding President Reagan. The vice president campaigns for the Democratic nomination while his guards struggle with their own messy lives. Vi and her colleagues face external threats to their protectee every day. Their personal problems may pose the greater risk to his safety. The agents must decide whether they can keep their private chaos from compromising their professional duty.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, action, political-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: United States
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
360 pages · Paperback · Mariner Books
Content warnings: violence