Former Vice-President Joe
Biden is having a tough time in his friendship with President Obama. The change
in administration in Washington has seen much of what was accomplished undone.
It has also meant that Biden has not heard from Obama since while Obama has been
busy living the high life doing one fun thing after another all around the
world. It seems like Obama is not so privately auditioning just about everyone
for the role of his new best friend. Biden is more than a bit bitter and
jealous as Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery begins.
It is with those dark
thoughts in mind that Biden happens to notice a small orange light outside his home
office window. He goes outside to investigate and finds at least one agent of
the Secret Service in the woods just outside his home in Delaware. Since former
VP Joe Biden has not had Secret Service protection in months that agent is not
for him. The presence of that agent as well as the distinctive odor of a
certain kind of cigarette can only mean one thing- President Obama.
It is the man himself, but
his sudden visit isn’t about the status of their friendship. President Obama brings
the news of the death of Finn Donnelly, and wanted Biden to hear it from him
directly and not see it on the news first. A conductor for Amtrak, Biden and
Donnelly were friends when Biden was riding the trains to and from his home to
the Senate in Washington. Once Biden was Vice President, riding the rails was
too problematic due to the Secret Service rules and security issues, so Biden
quit riding the rails and the two men lost touch. Biden had meant to get in
touch in recent months and one thing and then another happened and he didn’t. Now
Donnelly is dead and Wilmington PD thinks that the fact he was killed while sprawled
out on the tracks was just an accident. They also think the man might have been
stalking Biden since he had a map to Biden’s home in his pockets.
With Biden not under
Secret Service Protection, they won’t investigate and claim it is an FBI
problem. Of course, the FBI refuses to investigate and argues that the issue is
one for the Secret Service. President Obama found out what was going on and
thought Biden should know. Hence, the meeting in the woods between the two men
who have not spoken since their White House days.
Biden doesn’t believe for
a second that Donnelly meant him any harm. Why he had the map and what he was
up to are just two of many questions Biden has. Biden may be out of politics,
but he still has his old contacts in and outside of law enforcement. As a
private citizen who does not believe the man was any kind of threat or a drug
user of any type, he knows something is going on and isn’t of a mind to just
let it go.
First in new series, Hope
Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery is a fun read as long as one accepts
the premise that Biden and Obama could go around doing things without being
noticed and/or attracting crowds of people. While it is a mystery, this is not
a read that takes itself too seriously and neither should the reader. Some of
the escapades Obama and Biden get into on the course of finding out what
happened and why are bit out there, but so too is the basic premise. The result
is an enjoyable read with occasional humor and political insight.
The
next book in the series, Hope Rides Again, is scheduled to be
released on July 9, 2019.
For
another take on the book, go over to the Bookblog of the Bristol Library and
read Kristin’s review from last October.
Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery
Andrew Shaffer
Thorndike Press (Gale)
October 2018
ISBN# 978-1-4328-5841-4
LARGE PRINT Hardback (also available in
paperback, audio, and digital formats)
385 Pages
$31.99
Material
supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2019
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