The Lafayette Campaign: A Tale of Deception and Elections

Frank Adversego Thriller Series, Book 2

By: Andrew Updegrove

Narrated by: Roger Wayne

America is rushing headlong into another election year, but something is wrong - the polls don't match reality. It's up to cybersecurity super sleuth Frank Adversego to find the Black Hats who are trying to hack the presidential election, and stop them before they do.

The action begins when a nameless government agency recruits Adversego to find out who's manipulating the polls, but he soon learns that the voting results are at risk as well. From then on, it's a race against time to see who will stop who as the presidential election - and Adversego's life - hang in the balance. In this latest Frank Adversego thriller, you'll meet a scheming Native American casino manager, a scrum of presidential candidates too incredible to be believed anywhere outside of a real American election, a former Secretary of Defense who will stop at nothing, and an attractive French hitchhiker that Adversego rescues in the middle of a desert, and soon wishes he hadn't.

The Lafayette Campaign provides a satirical take on American politics and our infatuation with technology that will make listeners pause and wonder: could this really happen? Andrew Updegrove brings a rare combination of drama, satire and technical accuracy to his writing.

©2015 Andrew Updegrove (P)2018 Tantor

Even Better on Audible

I purchased the Audible version as an experiment, to see whether narration would make a book I had already enjoyed better still. It did! Roger Wayne’s rendition of each character’s voice brought them to life for me in a new way. And his voice also made the author’s sarcastic wit seem even sharper. I posted a five-star review previously on Amazon. If I could add a sixth star to reflect the enhancement of narration, I would!

To save you the trouble of looking for my original post, I repeat it here: “The Alexandria Project was my last summer read, consumed with sand and sun over Labor Day weekend, and it was one of my favorites, hooking me with interesting characters, technology insights, and plot twists. Updegrove has crafted a light-hearted, fictional look at serious issues and kept it moving briskly. When I finished I had not only grinned at his caricatures of feckless bureaucrats, egomaniacal politicians, and greedy venture capitalists, but had been deftly reminded that we really do need to get a handle on the security of our oh-so-critical IT systems, and that nukes in the hands of delusional dictators are a looming catastrophe, visible but ignored. So, hats off to the author for informing without preaching or fear-mongering. The hero is refreshingly human (well, pretty screwed up, actually), all of the characters are well drawn, and several end up delightfully skewered on Updegrove's incisive descriptions and satirical wit. And I guarantee you won't figure out the final plot twist until he wants you to!

I really enjoyed this book--order one now, don't wait for summer.”