I'm pretty conflicted about this read. I love the idea of a strong badass female character but somehow the style of writing put me off. I was also not keen on the references about what would happen in the future to some of the characters. That seemed irrelevant.
There were a few good twists in the story and maybe I will enjoy the book more on a second read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a fast paced thriller which I enjoyed reading. It was intricately plotted with several twists- the final one I certainly didn’t see coming.
Hayley Chill is ex- army, a boxing champion and now an intern at the White House - trying to settle in and indeed fit in with the other interns it becomes apparent that she has some very unusual skills.
President Monroe is a war hero, best selling author and now holds the top position in the United States. However he has many enemies and when Hayley discovers a plot against him, despite her lowly position, she knows she must do her patriotic duty. Working alone, Hayley does not know who she can trust and is forced to rely on her own abilities to outwit the conspirators.
I liked Hayley as a character, she is plucky and brave. Nothing seems to faze her and she remains calm at all times, even when she is being attacked.
The other characters are rather two dimensional and the author inserts strange comments about what their future holds after the events in the book. Once I got used to this I thought it was fun although it was a bit disconcerting to be told that someone would die in a car crash in five years time!
The political side of the novel did get rather complicated at times but it did hold my attention. Motivations were somewhat murky among the plotters- did they think it was ok to go around killing people including Hayley in order to rid themselves of a President who was not acting as they would wish? Was the reader meant to think of current events and leaders?
Although the story was rather far fetched, it is after all a novel so I was prepared to suspend belief and take it for what it was, a really good yarn that had me gripped from page one.
By the time I got to the end I had the feeling that this was going to be the first in a series and I for one would be pretty happy to read the next book when it is published as I’d like to see what Hayley gets up to after the events in Deep State.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Deep State captures your attention from the first page. Corrupt officials are rampant, the author successfully weaves in hints and clues which become apparent in the conclusion. Only thing that would make this better is a bit more character development as some felt flat and hard to connect with.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Given some of the plaudits that accompanied this book I expected a top-notch read. However, this was not to be. Unfortunately, ‘Deep State’ has a number of fatal flaws. Firstly, the entire concept of ‘deep state’ was underdeveloped and largely non-existent - apart from a number of obvious baddies, of course. As to a shadow government of VIP’s operating behind the scenes to undermine the power of elected representatives of a country, well, this was only faintly discernible in the book. But largely MIA. I was certainly expecting something a little bit more complex and thought-provoking. We all know how governments are hamstrung by the interests of the powerful and wealthy, even to the extent that this dictates official policy. A concept, I feel, the author could have explored more. Our heroine, Haley Chill, was rather one-dimensional - a walking billboard for cliches of the true American patriot. Other characters largely passed me by. The twists in the final stages of the book were of mild interest but a little obvious. Indeed, some heavy hints about under fire President Monroe were dropped rather like bricks in the early stages of the book. So much do that the vast majority of the book felt like a long prelude to the anticipated ‘unmasking’ of the main protagonists in the final denouement of the story. A bit too light-weight for me, unfortunately. A great concept for a story but the execution is flawed and largely underdeveloped.