Howard Weiner

If At First Howard Weiner

Drawn from recent current events, Weiner's latest thriller weaves the threats posed to U. S. democracy in the 2016 presidential election. If at First is the ruthless intersection of a lethal crime family, the intelligence communities of two countries, and the White House with secrets that will prove deadly to all concerned told only as Weiner can. A mafia underboss escapes a sanctioned act of retribution by his family's patriarch. Rescued by a Russian oligarch with close ties to Putin, the underboss is hidden in a London outpost operated by the Internet Research Agency. This outpost is ground zero for many of the tactics exposed by the American intelligence community: hacked emails of political actors, disinformation campaigns in social media, and targeted ads designed to foment social unrestand disruption to the national political discourse. The underboss steals this information to secure safety on his own terms. Yet his former boss still wants him sanctioned. The Russian Federation fears premature disclosure of its new form of warfare will destroy its carefully crafted treachery aimed at the heart of U. S. democracy. Weaving fictional events through Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, London, and Provence, Weiner carries characters known and new to readers of the Blood Relations series into its third installment. You can start the series with any of the three novels but starting with If at First casts recent real-life events in a way that is at once engaging and entertaining.