In Duplicity, the newest thriller from former speaker of the House and best-selling author Newt Gingrich, such an invisible hand overseeing havoc worldwide plays a major role. Gingrich has teamed with former Washington Post reporter and best-selling author Pete Earley to create a highly plausible mix of domestic and global action in this ripped-from-the-headlines thriller.

And, of course, it's set during an American presidential election.

When President Sally Allworth decides to reestablish America's Mogadishu embassy in Somalia weeks before Election Day, her challenger says she is playing politics with American lives. That turns out to be true when the embassy is attacked and hostages are taken. Embassy station chief Gunter Conner and marine captain Brooke Grant end up the unlikely survivors of this Benghazi-style attack. Suddenly they are the only hope for saving their captured colleagues.

The firestorm of drama is compelling, set off by the intersection of Washington power and politics, a fragile third-world Islamic country, and Somali Americans here at home.

Only Newt Gingrich's unique, in-depth knowledge of the political realities of friend and foe could weave such a spellbinding tale of events and personalities, one that could actually happen...if America's leaders aren't wary of a world full of duplicity.