Hope Never Dies

Book 18 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from February 9 - 14

Hope Never Dies

by Andrew Shaffer

Book 1 of the "Obama Biden Mysteries" series

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2018

It's been several months since the 2016 presidential election, and "Uncle Joe" Biden is puttering around the house, grouting the tile in his master bathroom, feeling lost and adrift in an America that doesn't make sense anymore.

But when his favorite Amtrak conductor dies in a suspicious accident, Joe feels a familiar desire to serve - and he leaps into the role of amateur sleuth, with a little help from his old friend President Barack Obama (code name: Renegade). Together they'll plumb the darkest depths of Delaware, traveling from cheap motels to biker bars and beyond, as they uncover the sinister forces advancing America's opioid epidemic.

Part action thriller, part mystery, part. bromance. and (just to be clear) 100 percent fiction, Hope Never Dies imagines life after the Oval Office for two of America's greatest heroes. Together they'll prove that justice has no term limits.

My Opinion

3 stars

I was really really excited to get this as a Christmas present.  It didn't quite live up to my expectations but I understand why...since it's not clear if Joe Biden is done with politics I think the author didn't lean into the satire of his reputation as hard as he could have.  But the touches were definitely there and I think that if he writes more (PLEASE write more!) there will be lots of opportunities to expand on the "bromance" and shenanigans.

Quote from the Book

"The longer I thought it over, the more I realized just how far over our heads we were. Barack and I weren't detectives. We weren't even politicians anymore. We should have known better than to go around poking bulls. One of us was liable to get gored."