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What flashes through your mind when you hear the term "Secret Service?" I'm sure you don't think of the unobtrusive way that the waiter refills your water glass at your favorite upper-crust restaurant. No, the Secret Service handles a lot of different things, but the biggie is the protection of the President of the United States. The immediate image that pops up is a bunch of big guys in nice suits and serious sunglasses, all of them flanking POTUS and looking grimly in different directions. It's not an act; no one wants another Dallas on their watch. The agents clustered around POTUS constitute the Fourth Perimeter; there is no fifth. Four is as close as it gets and no one is supposed to breach that. So what happens when a former Secret Service agent, someone who has been there and knows all the precautions and all the preparations, decides to kill the President? One answer is provided in THE FOURTH PERIMETER, the latest novel by Tim Green.
Kurt Ford is the ex-Secret Service agent who is driven to breach the Fourth Perimeter. His motivation is nothing less than heated, single-minded revenge. Ford, a retired agent turned successful technology entrepreneur, rules a perfect world with more money than he could ever reasonably spend, an intelligent and beautiful wife-to-be who is successful in her own right and an adult son who is building his own successful career in the Secret Service. Ford's perfect world is shattered, however, when his son is found dead in bed, a victim of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The official explanation is that young Ford committed suicide, but his father refuses to believe that and begins a relentless hunt for justice for his son. When he is told by an unimpeachable source that his son was murdered at the behest of the President, Ford's only focus is on bringing the most powerful man in the world to rough and personal justice.
He begins to meticulously plan his revenge, with his biggest problem being how to breach the Fourth Perimeter. He finally hits upon a brilliant scheme: rather than invading it, Ford will build it around himself. Ford slowly and carefully constructs every detail of his plan --- meeting the President, executing his plan and the man, as well as his escape. It seems as if the plan cannot fail. But a number of pitfalls and surprises await Ford as he rushes headlong to his fateful, carefully planned meeting with the President.
Green continues to hone his craft well, bringing together elements of suspense and thorough research to create readable and enjoyable novels with tales that are grounded in the real world. He will continue to bear watching --- and reading.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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