How Do You Stop A Determined Assassin?

If you enjoy watching thrillers,  if you enjoy stories set with the backdrop of the white house, if you have seen the movie Air Force One; you'll likely find Carol Leonnig's book Zero Fail a compelling and fascinating read.

How do you keep a President safe?  Especially in this 21st century where there are drones, and Havana Syndrome, and 3-D printers able to print plastic guns. This book examines the decades-long struggle of the secret service to protect the President of the United States, their families, and candidates for office.  The push and pull of trying to protect a highly visible person, one who wants and needs to interact with the citizens of the United States as well as travel the world spending time with foreign leaders and dignitaries, is a real sticky wicket. 

I listened to the audio version of this book while I was out running over the last week or so. It was very interesting to learn about failures on the part of the Secret Service that may have played a part in the shooting of JFK, a near-miss with George HW Bush as well as the shooting of Ronald Regan.  In each case, one small slip, one lack of imagination, or too much deference to the person being protected lead to disaster.  And on the other hand, we will never know how many times people or organizations were stopped by one small thing going right. Lack of funding and resources has plagued the Secret Service--with many of those who were part of Presidential details working an untenable amount of hours on a regular basis. 

It came as no surprise to me to learn that often thanks to booze or men not being able to keep their pants on -(be that the President or secret service personnel)  Presidents have been thisclose to being assassinated or compromised by a foreign agent.  And also there is the usual BS you find in any office situation where people are trying to climb the corporate ladder.  I'd been busy with raising kids and I have to say that I completely missed the sex scandal the Secret Service was embroiled in during President Obama's second term--there was a real frat-boy culture. 

 5- stars for Zero Fail from me. This is a very comprehensive look at an incredibly important agency. 

#TheSundayPost May 30th: Are You Ready For The Summer?

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Yes! Yes, I am!  The weather here is more like early April, but I am ready for my summer!  My pool is open!  Marathon training starts tomorrow! #1000wordsofsummer starts tomorrow! 

This will be my third marathon and I'm running as a charity runner for Imerman Angels there are still spots available to join the team and run the Chicago Marathon for Team Imerman this fall! If I can run a marathon, you can run a marathon! Imerman Angels is a non-profit group that connects cancer patients and caregivers with peer support.  They call the peer's Mentor Angels.  Mentor Angels are that crucial listening ear, a person who knows exactly what you are going through and is on the other side--able to remind you that even if things are really tough now, there will be better days ahead. 

On the same day marathon training begins,  the two-week writing challenge invented by author Jami Attenberg.  As the name implies the challenge is to write 1,000 words every day for two weeks. It might actually be 15 days now that I think about it, I believe the end goal is 15,000 words which is a nice start to any writing endeavor. I am going to go back to writing the cozy mystery novel that has been lingering unfinished and ignored by me for months. I have a few changes I want to make to the outline and then get back to writing.  Or maybe I'll wind up writing something completely new.  Who knows! 

This week I have 3 books I'll be blogging about:

 A #NetGalley pick-up, New Series!

I'm trying to add some non-fiction to my audiobooks listening.  This book is really fascinating! 

I'm also trying to read down my physical TBR pile.  I like to read my books and pass them on so if you want this book when I'm done, comment and let me know! ( will send as media mail) 

So, what's on your agenda to start the summer?