ISBN: 978-0-9792451-4-5 $16.00 Fiction/Politics, paperback, 252 pages, 6 x 9, February 2008
About the Author: Betsy Hartmann writes fiction and non-fiction about key national and global issues. Her first novel, The Truth about Fire, a thriller about neo-Nazis in the American heartland, was praised by Booklist for its “well-drawn women [who] lend real drama to a tense multi-layered story.” Her interest in how political passions shape personal choices informs both of her works of fiction. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts where she teaches and directs the Population and Development Program at Hampshire College.
For more information about Deadly Election, please contact its author, Betsy Hartmann by email at
or by telephone at 413.559.6046 or on her website HERE
Description of Deadly Election: A mysterious suicide in a military prison… a president whose thirst for alcohol may overwhelm his thirst for power…a White House advisor who takes matters into his own hands. With the country’s future in the balance, a Supreme Court justice, a young congressional aide and a grieving mother are swept into a fight for their ideals – and their lives. As timely as tomorrow’s headlines, Deadly Election is a searing tale of intrigue, courage, and the lust for power.
Betsy Hartmann has written an elegant mystery story, a political thriller that confronts the darkest imponderables of our post-9/11 world. Deadly Election is that rare thing: a thoughtful page-turner. - Kai Bird, co-author with Martin J. Sherwin of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Betsy Hartmann has done something extraordinary: created a virtual reality version of the Bush administration that is both utterly convincing and even more bone-chillingly scary than the real thing. Like Richard Condon did in The Manchurian Candidate, she's grasped something that few other writers have: there are times when only a distorting mirror gives us back a true image of ourselves. - Anthony Giardina, author of White Guys and Recent History
Deadly Election is more than an electrifying thriller. It’s an insightful investigation into the human conditionwhat makes some of the most promising people turn evil, and what turns some unlikely people into heroes. This is a dangerous book, and should be required reading for anyone who takes our democracy for granted. - Corinne Demas, professor of English at Mount Holyoke College and author of Eleven Stories High: Growing up in Stuyvesant Town, 1948-1968
Deadly Election is a seductive thriller that leads us into the beating heart of present day American politics. I turned the pages for the brisk plotting and lively characters, then found myself caught by Hartmann's profound and chilling understanding of the grave danger faced when fear of terrorism is used as cover for savage political ambition. This is a novel that is a pleasure to read quickly, and that needs to be read urgently.- Roger King, author of A Girl from Zanzibar, winner of the BABRA award for best novel.
By 
Betsy Hartmann