In Sheep’s Clothing by L.D. Beyer

Psst, interested in a fast-paced, action packed, political intrigue novel? Well then, you should read In Sheep’s Clothing by L.D. Beyer.

Title: In Sheep’s Clothing
Author: L.D. Beyer
Series: Matthew Richter Book 01
Publish Date: September 1, 2015
Genre: Political Thriller
Source: Provided by the author

Publisher’s Description: Caught in a game of chess he didn’t know he was playing until it was too late, the President makes the only move he can, plunging Washington and the nation into chaos. Stunned and reeling, Vice President David Kendall takes the oath of office and tries to heal a nation in mourning. But what the new president doesn’t realize is that things in the White House aren’t always what they appear to be, and sometimes what looks like the best option may turn out to be the worst. When one fatal decision triggers consequences he never envisioned, President Kendall finds himself caught up in the same game that cost his predecessor his life.

Although there was nothing he could have done, Secret Service Agent Matthew Richter is haunted by the death of the man he had vowed to protect. When his girlfriend dumps him and his boss tells him that his job is on the line, he thinks his life cannot get any worse. He soon realizes how wrong he is when he finds himself fighting to save another president from the deadly forces that he has unwittingly unleashed.

This new release by L.D. Beyer is a fast-paced, action-packed political thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Possible spoilers beyond this point.

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Agent Annie says…

In Sheep’s Clothing is about the search and rescue of the President of the United States after Air Force One crashes into the mountains in rural Idaho during a blizzard. The set up to the story makes it clear the crash was a deliberate attempt to assassinate the President, but keeps you guessing at who’s behind the attempt. The preliminary chapters introducing you to the characters were a little slow but once the crash happens and the excitement ensues, the novel was hard to put down.

There were so many different variations of what could’ve been happening, who might’ve caused this accident/terrorist event, will they survive the harsh elements, much less the evade those pursuing them, that this story really keeps you guessing. The different characters and their first person narratives all added to the story, but at one point I realized the switching of the narrative and shortness of each narrative seemed a little too much. For example, there was a short chapter from the perspective of one of the crash investigators that went into the details of the state of the bodies recovered from the crash site and was very descriptive, but didn’t add to the plot nor was the character referenced in any further chapters. It seemed unnecessary but didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the novel.

I did ask my husband, who had served in the military and is familiar with military protocol, whether or not this was believable and based on what the military might do in a real life situation. He confirmed that most of the actions and the tools/equipment used by the military were pretty accurate, although there were a few things that you just had to accept in order to make the novel move faster.

Overall, this novel is well written and has no spelling or grammar errors that jumped out at me. I wasn’t ever jarred out of the story by the writing. However, there was one statement that kind of threw me because I was expecting an additional player at the very end to be revealed as the mastermind. One of the villains in the story says in passing, “I wonder if they know how deep this really goes.” I kept expecting to have one more shoe drop and that never happened.

I give In Sheep’s Clothing by LD Beyer a solid four and I look forward to the sequels.

On a side note, shortly after finishing this novel, I had the opportunity to watch the Finnish movie Big Game starring Samuel L Jackson and Onni Tommila which featured a similar plot with Air Force One crashing in northern Finland and the President needing rescue. I was expecting to be disappointed since the storylines were so closely related but I was pleasantly surprised by how well Big Game was and would also recommend it.

Other reviews…

See the reviews on Goodreads.

If you like this book…

…you might like the Jason Bourne series by Robert Ludlum or the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.