The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Penny, Louise; Clinton, Hillary Rodham. State of Terror: A Novel. Simon & Schuster/St. Martin’s Press, Oct. 12, 2021. Kindle Edition.

In the novel, State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton, new Secretary of State Ellen Adams fears there is a traitor in the White House. A strange coded message was received by a junior foreign service officer before multiple civilians were killed when bombs exploded on buses in three European countries. As Ellen investigated the source of the message, she stumbled upon a plot by ultra-right activists to bomb three major United States cities including Washington, D.C.

When Ellen took over the position of Secretary of State, the American government system had been weakened by an incompetent President Eric Dunn who fired people who did not agree with his views and demanded ultimate loyalty to his ideas, regardless of how uninformed they were. Relations between allies and the United States had also been damaged by Dunn’s bad decisions.

In its weakened state, the American government was not ready for a crisis, but it was still faced with one when bombs exploded on buses in London, Paris, and Frankfurt. Ellen’s son, Gilbert “Gil” Bahar, was on the bus in Frankfurt. He learned from a source that nuclear physicists hired by Bashir Shah, a world enemy responsible for selling arms to terrorists, had been on each of the buses. It is later learned that these bombings were diversions to draw attention away from the fact there were also three bombs set to detonate in America.

Ellen worked with President Douglas “Doug” Williams; her daughter, Katherine; Gil, her best friend and counselor; Elizabeth “Betsy” Jameson; and Anahita Dahir, the FSO who received a message that was an attempt to warn the Americans about the bombs and to identify a traitor or high-level informant (HLI) in the White House.

Betsy worked with Pete Hamilton, Dunn’s former press secretary, to search the White House files. Pete found information that seemed to suggest Albert “Bert” Whitehead, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, supported the release of Shah from house arrest during Dunn’s administration.

Meanwhile, Ellen confronted leaders in Iran, Pakistan, and even Russia in an attempt to keep the bombs in America from detonating. Ellen and Betsy locate at the last minute Al Chen, a man who moved out of the country and changed his name after he was threatened when he researched the HLI. Al was able to give them the address for the HLI, which he described as a group of people, not an individual. He said he was never able to find an access code. People had come after him and threatened him before he was that far in his research.

At the same time in the Oval Office, there was a showdown between Whitehead and Timothy “Tim” Beecham, the Director of National Intelligence. Whitehead, who pretended to still be in custody, announced that new information had been located that cleared his name and placed suspicion on Beecham. Before Beecham could be arrested, Whitehead took the President as a prisoner by holding a gun to his head. Both Beecham and Barbara Stenhauser, the President’s Chief of Staff, were confused when he began giving them orders and claiming to be the HLI. Both of them, who were the true traitors, recognized him. The confrontation forced Beecham and Stenhauser to admit they were involved in the HLI. The standoff ended with Whitehead shooting blanks. Beecham and Stenhauser are arrested.

Meanwhile, Ellen has recorded the locations of the bomb, as noted on the HLI website, on her phone and sent them to Betsy. Betsy called to have the bombs located and defused. A third bomb was located directly under the Oval Office in the infirmary of the White House. The bomb was defused.