Rampart

On a crisp morning at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, former Secret Service agent Sam Kilbrough stands only feet from the main stage as the president approaches. A 9mm Glock G43 is carefully tucked inside his sky blue Gore-Tex windbreaker. When he expertly withdraws the gun and shoots the man he was once sworn to protect, it sparks the trial of the century: against sitting vice president Elijah Styles. Did the nation's first gay VP conspire to murder his own boss, or was he the victim of a masterful set up? The jury, and the reader, must solve a mystery fit for the Washington Post or the National Enquirer in our Trumpian times.

As the trial begins, the nation is divided - was Styles a scheming climber fixated on taking the Oval Office by any means, or a hero devoted to derailing a mad ruler's tyrannical plans? Lawyer Mandela Briggs and his tiny defense team are determined to save their client from the death penalty, while the ambitious U.S. attorney is hell-bent on securing a conviction that will launch his campaign for the Senate. Through it all, Chief District Court Judge Carolyn Bering must navigate the courtroom as tensions rise and the political stakes escalate.

But the decision ultimately lies in the hands of twelve jurors, each with their own biases and motivations. Among them is an inner-city high school teacher studying the combatants like she would her students, a local celeb restaurateur forced to confront his own prejudices, and a surfer dude law student who envisions himself trying the case. As they untangle the Styles conundrum, the reader is transported into their minds and those of the dueling lawyers, powerful witnesses, the leader of the free world, and his accused traitors.

This thriller exposes the cultural petri dish of an "Us" versus "Them" society, diving behind the scenes to lay bare the human impulses driving both our nation's justice system and its politics. Was the assassin a trojan horse sent by Styles to kill President Magnus Thorne and propel the Veep into the White House, or a lone wolf with a warped sense of patriotism? Did Thorne stage the spectacle to evoke sympathy, justifying troops on American streets and his war on dissent? Were Styles and Kilbrough lovers?

Follow the trial's twists and turns, from the West Wing to the courthouse to the court of public opinion, to see if anyone can bridge the gap between the search for truth and the quest for power. The fate of the nation rests on the jury's decision.

If you enjoy the political intrigue and high-stakes drama of Grisham and Turow, you'll love Rampart by Truscott Jones.