Hillary Clinton pens political thriller for Pan Mac

Former US secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has co-written a political thriller, State of Terror, with long-time friend Louise Penny, to be published in the UK by Pan Macmillan.

The book will be published on 12th October 2021 in the US jointly by Macmillan's St Martin’s Press and Simon & Schuster, and in the UK and the rest of world by Pan Mac. The book is billed as a “high-stakes thriller of international intrigue features behind-the-scenes global drama informed by details only an insider could know”.

The story follows a novice secretary of state who has joined the administration of her rival, a president inaugurated after four years of American leadership that shrank from the world stage. A series of terrorist attacks throws the global order into disarray, and the secretary is tasked with assembling a team to unravel the deadly conspiracy, a scheme carefully designed to take advantage of an American government dangerously out of touch and out of power in the places where it counts the most. 

Clinton said: “Writing a thriller with Louise is a dream come true. I’ve relished every one of her books and their characters, as well as her friendship. Now we’re joining our experiences to explore the complex world of high-stakes diplomacy and treachery. All is not as it first appears.”

Penny, bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels, added: “When it was suggested my friend Hillary and I write a political thriller together, I could not say yes fast enough. What an incredible experience, to get inside the State Department. Inside the White House. Inside the mind of the Secretary of State as high-stakes crises explode. Before we started, we talked about her time as Secretary of State. What was her worst nightmare? State of Terror is the answer.”

Simon & Schuster, St Martin’s and Pan Macmillan acquired world and audio rights from Robert B Barnett of Williams & Connolly, who represented Clinton, and David Gernert of The Gernert Company, who represented Penny in the deal. Jennifer Enderlin, president and publisher of the St Martin’s Publishing Group, will edit the novel.

Jeremy Trevathan, Pan Macmillan publisher, commented: "State of Terror is as exciting a proposal for a global thriller as I have ever read. The scope, ingenuity and ambition reflects the strength of the creative chemistry that exists between Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny. It’s a unique pairing of global real life experience at the highest level and brilliantly honed narrative craft. The characters, their nuanced backstories and the tense, all-too-believable plot leap off the page. This is emphatically a story for our times and we are confident it will establish itself as a bestseller for years to come, read both by thriller fans and by Hillary Clinton’s and Louise Penny’s legions of admirers around the world.”

The book sees her join husband Bill Clinton in becoming a thriller writer. The former US leader released The President Is Missing with James Patterson (Arrow) in 2018 and the pair are penning another.