Sleight Of Eye by Elaine McCullough is a futuristic action thriller set in 2040. Sam Wolf is a former Secret Service agent. Even though he’s left his former profession, he continues to work with a force bent on keeping law and order in a fractured United States. While returning from a mission, Sam and his partner Lenny are attacked on his family’s lands. His partner dies but Sam manages to crawl out of the grave his would-be murderers had buried him in. Driven by a burning need for vengeance, he pursues his partner’s killers. He soon finds out that Lenny’s murder is anything but a random shooting and the men he is chasing will do anything to protect their secrets.

It's been a long time since I have read about a Native American of Sam Wolf’s ilk and I’m not disappointed. Sleight Of Eye focuses on a potential future two decades after the current coronavirus pandemic. They have a new coronavirus in the future but that’s the least of their problems. Religious fanatics are everywhere and they are not Muslims. I liked that a lot because Elaine McCullough shows us that every religion has the potential to become dangerous - if not now then perhaps in the future. And Sam was the perfect hero who didn’t let what others believed stop him from doing the right thing, even at the cost of his own life. There’s also a romance tastefully done and satisfying. I enjoyed the sense of family. There is nothing like a caring community to help someone in troubled times and I saw this as a recurring theme from start to finish.

In Sleight of Eye by Elaine McCullough, America has begun to recover from the nightmare that was 2020. Until the coup. In 2040, the White House has been inhabited by a theocratic president for 10 years and everything has changed. There are no real laws in the heartland; only the coastal states are surviving, fighting federal control. Sam Wolf, a former secret service agent, still fights for justice and after his best friend Lenny dies after being shot and thrown into a pit, he vows vengeance. Crossing the heartland, he heads from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the California Delta, crossing dangerous land to track the killer down, finding a spellbinding woman with bionic magic as well. Joining a maverick group of Ojibwe residents and renegade FBI agents, Wolf sets out to discover the secret of the pit, and what he finds out could have far-reaching consequences for a nation already divided.

Sleight of Eye by Elaine McCullough is a proper dystopian thriller, with plenty of action and a scary look at what the future could very well be, given current world events. It is a political thriller packed with suspense and tense, nail-biting action with thoroughly well-developed characters. The two main protagonists have real lives, real problems, and real flaws that make them likable and relatable, with in-depth stories that make them into who they are. This is a real page-turner, a fabulous plot that keeps you flipping the pages, not wanting to put the book down. With plenty of twists and turns, this book will lead you on a thrilling, sometimes terrifying journey. The real question to ask – is this just a novel or is it a warning of what the future may hold for us all? This excellent story is recommended for anyone who wants a futuristic thriller to get stuck into.