DEEP STATE by Chris Hauty

A political thriller that really will keep you on the edge of your seat, and as the pages are turned and devoured, increasingly difficult to put down. The author is a successful LA based playwright and screenwriter, and it is very clear that this story has been written to be adapted into a movie or a series at some stage. He even probably has in mind who he would have play the main parts, but don't let that eye for a commercial opportunity detract you from this excellent story.

Hayley Chill is 25 years old, the product of a tough southern upbringing, who found a place to belong when she joined the army. She is one tough, strong, kick-ass young woman. In the first chapter we see that she is not to be trifled with - enigmatic, street smart, instinctive, and possessed with a photographic memory. Chapter two opens with her leaving the army,  an excellent army record that leads her to becoming an intern at the White House. A new man is the POTUS, Richard Monroe - a divisive figure, charismatic, hugely popular with the electorate and yet for a certain section of the great and powerful in Washington too dangerous to have around. The elusive Deep State - 'a body people, typically influential members of government agencies of the military, believed to be involved in the secret manipulation or control of government policy'

Hayley is not your typical intern, putting her colleagues and others around her on guard from day one, but her unintentional closeness to the sudden and mysterious heart attack death of the Chief of Staff instantly sets her on a path of self preservation. She stays true to her reason for being instilled in her by years in the military - loyalty to the death of the office of the POTUS, with the words of the now dead Chief of Staff 'trust no one' ringing in her head. When her own life comes under threat, her instinct for survival and army training keep her alive and one step ahead of the bad guys.

Hayley reminds every much of Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series. Hayley is not as much of a social misfit as Lisbeth, and does not have her extraordinary hacking and computer skills, but similar in that she is scarred by her child hood, she has been alone for a long time, and she is very very smart. The characters in this novel are very well drawn which one would expect from such a writer - Hayley's immediate supervisor is a seriously unhappy woman, frustrated in her career going nowhere and now having to deal with this unusual intern; Hayley's co-worker Asher Dennis who has aspirations of becoming the first gay POTUS; the deputy director of the CIA who by the end you even feel a little sympathy for.

The White House has also been made a character in its own right, the place where all this intrigue, danger, lobbying, back stabbing, rivalry and fear takes place. Made me think it is much like what the court of Henry VIII would have been. Not a nice place to be. Politics has always been a hideous place to immerse oneself in, I have no idea why people are drawn to it other than the narcissitic power kick and opportunity to feed from the public trough. In this novel the possible destruction of democracy is at the heart of the story, and highly topical with the current state of many governments and countries  around the world. Putting the whole political doctrine thing aside, this is an absolutely cracking read, perfect escapism for the times we currently living in.