Rude Awakenings, by Keith M. Donaldson begins with a nuclear bomb destroying a major American city and killing millions on President Mike Macdonald’s first day in office. None of his cabinet designees have yet been approved by the Senate, and because voters disenchanted with the 2-party system have elected a President and several senators and representatives from the new Centrist political party, no one party has a majority. The attack was timed when the Government would be its most vulnerable.

Cleverly interwoven themes of international terror, global financial manipulation, investigation, espionage, romance, brilliant management, and enduring personal relationships makes for an engaging mystery. The story’s hero, President Mike Macdonald, is very effective in dealing with the disaster, a government in disarray, and the country’s need for revenge. His ability to organize, delegate, and manage the vast resources of the Federal Government with the help of friends he met when he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford; a graduate student in finance at Wharton; and the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait, when he was a Marine ForceRecon Captain running covert missions in the Middle East, really held my interest.

There are a large number of secondary characters and I found myself wishing I had made a list of names, nicknames, titles, and abbreviations of titles. There is some help deciphering government abbreviations in a Nomenclature at the back of the book. Also, on an occasion, Mr. Donaldson explains what President Macdonald knew after he relates some action that depended on that knowledge. Because I wanted to understand the story from the President’s point of view, my personal choice would have been knowing what the President knew at the time he learned it.

The ending left me uncomfortable, but it mirrors the way many despicable acts are dealt with in the real world. I hope it sets up a sequel in which the relationship between Macdonald and this book’s antagonist, who was left standing, is more fully developed. My comments are deliberately vague so as not to give away the story. If you like mysteries, international intrigue, heroes, and heroines, I think you’ll enjoy reading Rude Awakenings.

--Marvin S. Schwartz, Ph.D.