The Candidate by Lis Wiehl – A Mixed Bag

Since I like books with mystery and intrigue, I decided to read author Lis Wiehl’s new book The Candidate – A Newsmakers Novel written with Sebastian Stuart.  I’ve watched Lis on Fox News and like her keen legal analysis and hoped that would translate into a good book.  Unfortunately, I found The Candidate to be a mixed bag.  

What’s  good?  I found the plotline intriguing.  Is top Presidential candidate, Mike Ortiz, as good as he seems at first glance?  Or will Erica discover there is something nefarious going on behind the scenes when she takes a closer look?  Coming on the heels of a very contentious election cycle this should be a very interesting book. 

The story is action packed and the main character, Erica Sparks, is somewhat interesting.  Her background is revealed during the course of the story but there was not a lot of depth to this character.  I liked her fiancé Greg, while not perfect, he showed himself to be there for Erica in the end.  But overall I found the characters were not well developed.  What the reader learns about the characters is very surface level details, some action of course, but there seemed to be an obsession with physical appearance.  In fact, it was almost to the point of distraction.

What’s not so good?  The story was predictable.  After the first big event in the book, I found myself guessing what the next plot development would be throughout the book.  

While somewhat veiled, there were some rather sick sexual relationships in this book that cross the line in a book released by a Christian publisher.  While not described in detail, enough is said that makes it clear what’s happening.  Also, Lis took a swipe at Donald Trump by including a nasty comment from one of the characters about him.  It was unnecessary to the story and not value added.  My overall impression was Lis tried to be edgy. 

If this book had been published by a secular publisher, I would only put a cautionary note about some of the content which may be offensive to people of faith. 

I have higher expectations from Thomas Nelson Publishers.  On their website, this publisher is self-described as, “Thomas Nelson is a world leading publisher and provider of Christian content and has been providing readers with quality inspirational product for more than 200 years.”

There was nothing whatsoever Christian about this book.  There was nothing about faith.  There was one curse word as I recall and I appreciate that there was very little profanity.  But some of the content of this book was not fit material from a Christian publisher.  

I would like to thank BookLook for the opportunity to read The Candidate by Lis Wiehl.  I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.